Keegan Lenker's Musings....

Risky and Experiential

It seems that almost every time I'm in a circle of people giving their lives to youth ministry and students, the conversation seems to turn to how we go about doing that effectively and what needs to change. 

As the conversation progresses, we often find ourselves in agreement that there are changes that need to continue to happen, but when it comes around to being the sacrificial lamb for moving the cause forward, everyone looks at their feet (just like a student does when you ask them to pray) and we probably all fall into the same mindset that there are expectations parents have, boards have, trustees have, elders have, volunteer staff, etc. on what youth ministry is supposed to be. Especially when we have bills at the end of the month and mouths to feed at home. 

There is plenty of changes to discuss  when the phrase "youth ministry" infiltrates our ears. Sometimes that phrase even loses some of its meaning because it is thrown around so much, but I just want to to highlight on a "small risk" that we take in our ministry that begins to break some of those molds or expectations we sometimes default to.

Let me preface this by saying I am a part of a denomination over a 100 years old and there are some "sacred cows" about our tradition just like many of yours. 

My admin and I get together in late November and have an "Advent Station" meeting. We believe the best gift we can give to our students rather than a tangible gift they'll forget about or lose is an experience with the Messiah.

Every year on our final mid-week night for the year, we re-create our youth room around themes or concepts within Advent and give the students free reign for our entire time to be with Jesus. What started as "let's give it shot" 3.5 years ago has turned into a greater partnership with the church as more adults have started to attend. 

For those of you that have had "stations"  before this isn't anything new, but for those that haven't, I'd like to share what these experiences do for the life of our ministry and the church.

We dream up the ideas and usually have about seven stations. This being our 4th time doing this, this year we had stations called, Black Friday, Peace and Good Will, Salt, Light, Take the Time, No Room, and Center. 

We research The Word and explain the theme as the scripture weaves through it and provides an opportunity to experience or participate with what they have just read. 

What's great about nights like this that prove to be so hard is we are required to trust the work of Spirit within each life as they experience God. 

So often as leaders we love to dictate and tell students what they are supposed to learn and let's be honest, we love to have our fingerprint on everything sometimes that we run the risk of snuffing out what the Spirit may be doing in the life of another. 

The only fingerprint we really have is what we write and create and I believe what comes out creatively is a reflection of what God is doing in and amongst us as Immanuel. 

It's great to watch students interact and engage. It's a privilege to pray over them as they walk through the stations. It's even greater to know that God doesn't always need my big mouth to speak into the lives of others. 

Doing stuff like this tends to move away from some of the expectations that others sometimes place on us in youth ministry. It can even invite the criticism to be stereotyped by the many different words being thrown around today. 

I'd like to think that what we do is chipping away at some of the expectations and paving the way for a newer way of thinking about how we invite students to be Followers of the Way. 

Let's continue to come together as the Body of Christ to hold to the truths of the Jesus we follow and yet continue to think in ways that help us grow and step out of "this is how youth ministry should be done." 

On an all-church level it gives greater validity to the youth ministry as people watch and see how things are done differently. On a larger scale each year, we gain greater support from the church as a whole. It helps that our Senior Pastor loves to participate and be in that space alongside our students.

I've got a lot to learn and I believe it's through my brothers and sisters that are taking risks of their own that we can continue to pave avenues in this thing called youth ministry. 

You're loved.

 

Becoming "Bilingual"

I've recently been working through Kenda Creasy Dean's "Almost Christian." It's a fantastic read on the realities of the faith of students. What's humbling about it is it tells us that students are learning this type of faith from adults around them. 

I think at this point it is easy to play the finger-pointing game and look at all the reasons why we aren't personally responsible for this or we can look internally and see how we have contributed to this. 

In an effort of humble honesty, I'd like keep the finger pointed at me and share how I feel I've contributed to this mess as a youth pastor:

It's easy to get caught up in a style of youth ministry where you keep the expectations low. It's easy for me to plan mid-week kind of stuff (what I call Old School YM) where we "play games, sing a few songs, and have a quick proof-texted devo," and dismiss. Quite frankly, it's the easy way out as far as planning is concerned and helps to feed into an entertainment-based ministry that the world offers. 

I've often planned calendar events around the entertainment value. I think these may have a place in ministry in a balanced setting, but when they become the sole element of what we do, we're abusive of Reggie Joiner's statement that "we have only 40 hours of influence a year with a student as youth pastor's while parents have over 3,000 hours of influence." 

I've been more concerned with giving them information about Jesus week in and week out and not allowing them to experience the Jesus they already know. If I've honest with myself and many in the youth min world reading this, our egos are often filled by that funny story that made them laugh that had nothing to do with the teaching or the affirmation of what parents may see we are doing that fits into their expectations of us and maybe not the expectations God has for using us in the context we are currently serving. 

As guilty as I feel for feeding the apathy of teenagers' faith, I also feel as though we maybe need to learn to speak appropriate languages when it comes to the church and culture. 

Somehow in my context there is feeling of separateness between what students experience at youth group and what they experience on a daily basis in their everyday world. 

A high percentage of our students would say that faith, God, and Christ are important at some level in their lives and it has its time and place to speak into their lives. (Moralistic Therapeutic Deism) Yet I don't feel as though the language we're speaking into their lives in our community is a language completely different than the language they are speaking in their everyday living. 

For example, speaking of grace and loving God is great, but how are we helping them to understand that in a world where facebook, Black Ops, texting, success in school at any cost, Friday's party, and how much ecstasy they'll drop at the next rave dominate their thinking? 

We in the church have got to learn how to speak the language of faith into this culture and be informed by what the culture is saying and learn to ask the right questions. Some of the things we do and say is merely a validation to what they are questioning. 

Becoming bilingual means we've got to speak both languages well, but not continue showing them that God is just a vending machine we can tap into, but that God wants to not just be a good teacher, but Lord of our lives. To hear a great sermon on this concept, click here and click on November 21st. 

One person that speaks well into this idea of a common faith language is Steve Argue who is on staff at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids. He did a teaching you can listen from the Fuller Youth Institute Website found here. 

As we become a bilingual people, I believe we become more missional. The times I have had the most meaningful times with students are the times where a greater experience is created for students to participate what they are hearing. Alas, it's more work and the default of "Old School YM" make take it's place. 

Perhaps our reasons on this default is there are too many things in our lives which distract us from being all we can be in our calling. May God help us to become a bilingual people effectively moving forward His Kingdom Cause. 

You're loved.