But personal contact and chatting over coffee seems to be really helpful for a lot of these workers. Haha.. it seems as though all I do lately is eat and talk and drink coffee and talk more. I also use social media to keep in touch and provide whatever help or support I can. With 1200 churches in Indiana, I can’t possibly be able to deliver that same level of attention to everyone. I am working on creating mentor groups in geographical areas throughout the State, with experienced youth workers heading the groups.

I am also working on building a resource list for our workers to find free curriculum and teaching helps for their groups. I have created a lot of curriculum that I share with them as well.

There is so much work to do! But, I can already see the benefit of it all. I LOVE to see youth workers and their ministries grow!

This could be viewed as a large vs. small church issue on the subject of money and who they can afford to have as paid staff. If that’s the case, salaries could possibly be subsidized by the conference on a sliding scale until the churches are independently able to pay their own salaries. During that subsidized period, required trainings or requirements could be suggested or mandatory for those individuals to assure that the money is well-spent and leaves the church with someone capable of leading their designated ministry.

I think that Youth Ministry Certification would help develop skills, but it needs to have clear applications with set goals to incorporate what is learned in their individual ministry settings. Those goals could be worked toward in unison with pastors or conference/district staff.

And great action items about following the context and demographics to avoid the “one-size-fits-all” approach.

Thanks!

~Charles

What a great movement it would be to utilize the holistic ways of being, doing, thinking that you advocate here and allow it to pull all generations together rather than segmenting.

So, if you were in charge of the world, what practical first steps would you take to bring the generations together?

~Charles

Here is my long winded reply. I got a little carried away, sorry
- kelly

Agreed that the church needs to go back to it’s original purpose of faith building and hiring for that purpose, with children and youth pastors being trained in dealing with those age groups (in addition to their seminary/theology training). Volunteers could then focus on the coordination, logistics, and event planning. I think partnering in this manner would be more possible with younger generations of parents, who are tech savvy and could use smart phones and many free tools for communications and planning (Jot Form, Mail Chimp, websites, Facebook, etc).

Of course, a big part of the issue is budgets – why are they down? Well, in many cases, church attendance and membership is down. To bring people back to the church, it needs to be a center of spiritual connection and community, which many mainstream churches have lost. I find many of my generation (X) find community/connection/spirituality through other groups outside the church. I myself, admit with hesitation, that I rarely spiritually connect or encounter “thin places” in my own church during worship service. I attend to meet other spiritually minded folks, but most of us find ourselves connecting more through small groups, music, being out in nature, etc. Much of my group attends our Sunday School class and events, but don’t attend service as they are unable to connect spiritually in this atmosphere (particularly those who didn’t grow up in a church service like it – the words and practices are foreign to them).

A previous fundamentalist, I have gone to many non-denominational and mega churches. While not agreeing with much of their theology anymore, I believe we can learn from many of them on spiritual and community connection. Between the prayer groups, small groups, easily accessible music (for people who can’t sing, like me), passion, participatory experiences, etc…. I found myself much more able to spiritually connect at many of these churches.

So many mainline protestant denominations are overly intellectual and lack the sensual/experiential qualities of the Catholic, Orthodox, or Non-Denominational churches. As an intellectual myself, who very much enjoys dry theology reading, I appreciate the academic/theological sermons of mainline protestant churches. But my soul/spirit also longs for a more full sensory experience, that taps into our sense of sight (iconography), sound (chanting and bells), smell (incense), and participation (genuflection, lighting of candles kneeling).

Any thoughts about why we’ve spent more time on “bricks and mortar” than on people’s faith formation?

My suspicion is that the fundraising is easier for something tangible like a building as opposed to faith formation which is as tangible as jello but jello that is still in powder form and not yet jelled.

~Charles

How can we better reach t “resource” what I call “The Other 80%” meaning the churches where there is no paid worker with Youth or Children and no budget for the ministry? I am concerned that all the resourcing on the National level is aimed at paid staff with budgets. But I believe the vast majority of folks doing vital ministry with children and youth are in the other 80% of churches that don’t have these.

Ideas? What can we do on a larger scale even across conference or jurisdictional boundaries?

Thanks!!!!

~Charles

If you were in charge of ministry on a Meta Level what would be your first few actions steps to “Go and Do” something?

Thanks!

~Charles

What a grand idea to learn from fraternity about uniting around values! GREAT! And I think you are onto something thinking through Confirmation as a repeatable rite that we need in an on-going way.

Great thinking!

~Charles

Humble with a dash of cynicism.

I’m a youth minister at a small church in Georgia, and I think where I shoot myself sometimes is when I ask what the topic of Sunday’s class was.

They don’t know. They don’t care, well generally.

And, when I think back on my time with the youth ministry that I grew up in, I couldn’t tell you any of the best lessons. But, I can remember the entire process.

We must take the good with the bad, and avoid finance committees.

As a youth ministry equipper, I spend a lot of time thinking about how to equip and encourage our churches and youth workers to build programs focused on making disciples and effectively incorporating youth into the church body. This is actually a passion of mine! I am working on a training weekend now to offer this fall that will follow with mentoring as they begin to implement changes in their program. I have found many times that people truly want to have fruitful youth ministry but they lack the training and experience to know how to create a strong program. They also need encouragement and guidance to implement change.

I believe that a strong focus on discipleship is necessary in all areas of the church, not just children’s/youth ministry. I feel as though our “adult ministries” have passed on some bad habits to our youth and children. We are dealing with multiple generations of church members who have grown comfortable receiving religious goods and services. They attend worship and Bible studies (maybe), programs and fellowship events and even sit on committees, but are not being challenged to truly follow Christ in all they do. Of course, this isn’t the picture of every congregation. There are many doing wonderful things!

How would you develop systems for churches that made sure leaders were fully equipped?

~Charles

So what is needed then at the “macro” level of leadership? How do we develop these folks? What is the “farm system” so to speak.

~Charles

How would you begin to shape the “support” that you think is needed if you had power to make it happen?

~Charles