youth group stuff

Open

by Erin Smith
posted on 2005-12-04

When Jake asked me to write about “openness“ I agreed right away. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I thought, “What does openness have to do with any of this? Could he think of a more vague word?“ In my reflections, I see meaning in the vagueness and a gift in the “openness“ of the topic.

Lutherans, for the most part, tend to embrace the gray areas of life. Instead of seeing the world and ourselves in black and white, we are able to live in the gray-tinted tension between saint and sinner, law and gospel, Black Friday and Easter Sunday. It is in these gray areas that God opens us to new possibilities, and new ideas. God also opens our heart to seeing the old in new ways, as Martin Luther himself influenced the Reformation by viewing the concepts of faith, grace, and God’s unconditional love through a new lens called the Gospel.

Creating a safe space within your group, to allow youth to share what God is opening to them (as well as sharing what they have opened themselves to) is important. In order get comfortable sharing with each other, youth must get to know each other. I’m sure you are all aware of the plethora of “ice-breaking“ materials out there.

However, youth also have to know that their offering to the group can happen without judgment. Despite what your youth may show up to group wearing, just thank God that they are there! Whatever kind of accessories, hair color, music selections, or piercings show up for a meeting ““ remember that there is a youth sitting there, a person in their own right, not summed up by the number of pins on his backpack.

Kelly Fryer wrote a great book about being a Lutheran called Reclaiming the L Word: Renewing the Church from Its Lutheran Core. Chapter 6 is called “Everybody Has Something To Offer.“ Be open to the gifts of your youth; because in service to each other and in service to the larger church and the world, they live out their baptism by becoming a part of the ministry of the priesthood of all believers. “˜Nuf said.

Along with providing time for the group to open up to each other, I challenge you to work on yourself. Take a class on the Lutheran Confessions, the Augsburg Confession or the Book of Concord. Or better yet, read the Cliff Notes The Lutheran Church is a confessional church, and these statements of belief are what hold us together. Dig in.

In order to open yourself, you must ground yourself in the Word. Fix yourself to the Good News, and fix the Good News in your heart. Only when you’ve got someplace to start from, can you be any sort of leadership to youth (or adults!) surfing the waves of religious pluralism, questioning their own faith, and bringing new ideas to the group.

Good theological grounding requires listening to all points of view. Simply memorizing scripture does not give teens or leaders the ability to think critically about their own faith or the choices they make. Be knowledgeable about other religious traditions, or at least know where to go so when a youth shows an interest in Buddhism. you aren’t caught flat-footed Expose your youth to some other traditions, and point out similarities, but be careful of generalizations.

Be open and honest with your youth. (And be open and honest with your youth’s parents ““ except when they insist on a scriptural basis for needing 8 pizzas, 5 bag of Doritos, and endless liters of soda for each meeting ““ in that case simply refer them to the second half of Leviticus 3:16.) Direct answer work best, even if the answer is, “I don’t know.“

Be open to suggestions from your youth. Instead of a committee of adults deciding what sound like fun to a youth group, make a committee of youth. Give youth the resources, and ask them to make a decision ““ whether it’s a fellowship/fun activity or a service project.

Be open to the Spirit moving in your group. If you scheduled a meeting about baptism, and a youth brings up a question about Intelligent Design, be ready to shift gears. You don’t have to scrap your whole meeting, but you have to be responsive to the needs of the group.

This website is all about sharing ideas for youth ministry. I’ve heard several pastors say that there’s no “stealing“ within the church, it’s just “re-appropriation and re-allocation of resources for the Gospel.“ As humorous as I find that, I think that’s one way to describe what this website is about.

How does religious pluralism affect our ministry? How do we live in the gray areas and confess the true Light? Here are some of my ideas — we’re open to hearing yours.

Tags: theology open

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