youth group stuff

Organic

by Charlie Roberts
posted on 2005-08-15

“Ministry, least of all youth ministry, was never intended to be a service profession. Ministry is the grateful response of God’s people, whose activity in the world and with one another suggests a new way of being alive. Ministry is not something we “do“ to someone else. It is a holy way of living toward God and one another.” The God Bearing Life Preface, Kenda Creasy Dean & Ron Foster

As a young youth minister, I used to strive to find the best “program“ to motivate my youth to learn more about God and to better appreciate Christ’s leadership and sacrifice. It was foolish folly! The lessons of “living“ this ministry is that it’s less about planning a program to meet teenagers needs, and more about being present with them, even when it means wandering into the dark corners of adolescence.

We can tell youth the stories of the Bible, subject them to memorization of Luther’s Small Catechism, even expose them to powerful speakers and preachers, who articulate the Gospel in ways we never could. But, until youth have had an opportunity to experience the real presence of the living Christ, to meet God face-to-face, they often do not adopt this faith as their own.

This process of helping youth to find Christ in the creases and intricacies of daily life, means being about the business of accompaniment. It has to do with this “holy way of living toward God and one another,“ that Dean & Foster speak of in “The God Bearing Life.“

We often make the mistake as youth ministers, when using the analogy of the story of the Road to Emmaus, that we are the Christ-figure, ambling up alongside our youth as they journey down life’s road, and imparting faith knowledge upon them. Well, I love the story, and the accompaniment that I spoke of earlier comes directly from this text, however, we have misidentified the characters. In fact, we are the one walking or accompanying our youth, as we walk the road, frustrated, unsure, burdened with life’s questions, when Christ does in fact appear, ultimately teaching both of us.

See, to me, youth ministry is “organic,“ life itself; a living, a crazy mix of emotions, with living, breathing, flawed creatures we refer to as our “kids.“ Well, they’ve always been God’s kids, and we are just fortunate enough to be called to accompany them on this journey of discovery. When we are doing our ministry really well, is when we are accompanying, listening to their stories as well as sharing ours. Being present, so that when the opportunity to point out or share the presence of the “living Christ“ with them arises, we are present with them in that moment. Walking into the wilderness that is adolescence with youth, is as “Christ-like” a witness as any program we can scrounge up.