Youth Ministry Insight from Total Church

I’m not sure if I’m legally allowed to do this, but I wanted to share a couple of pages from Total Church with my youth ministry friends. If I get arrested for copyright infringement, please bail me out.

The authors give the following contrasting glimpses at different ways of discipling young people:

“Brian dropped into the chair exhausted. It was 11:30pm, and he had just got in from another Friday night club. He had been employed as a church youth worker for six months now. It has been a good night. Nearly thirty kids had turned up, around half from non-Christian homes. The games had gone well as always. Most people had joined in, though a few preferred just to flirt. The band had been great. Some of the kids had joined in enthusiastically, while others found it a bit outmoded—but then you can’t cater to everyone. The talk had gone okay. He always worked hard at adapting to youth culture. His opening story had held their attention for the most part, though as usual most got fidgety when he moved into Christian application. Yes, it had all gone well. But he couldn’t help wondering what had really been achieved.” (Total Church page 183)

“Angie dropped into the chair exhausted. It was 11:30pm, and she had just got in from another Friday night with Hannah, Tracey, and Tracey’s friend Kath. For a few weeks now she had been meeting with Hannah and Tracey every week or so. Sometimes they went shopping, sometimes they went out for coffee, and a couple of times they had been to the movies. Then they went back to Angie’s apartment to study the Bible. Jo had been part of the group at the beginning but then lost interest. Hannah and Tracey were really interested—at least most of the time. And this week Tracey had brought her friend Kath along. Angie was thrilled. Being accepted at school was a big deal for Tracey; so inviting Kath had been a huge step for her. Angie spent a moment or two in prayer for the three of them before stumbling upstairs to bed.” (Total Church page 184)

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In these same pages they also offer the following comments:

“Providing fun activities for young people may do some social good. Many parents like it because they fear the alternative. They would rather have their children in a church than wondering the streets. But does it nurture young people through the gospel, and does it build Christ’s church? Where it is successful, most of the fruit is borne from activity around the fringes–the relationships that develop and the ad hoc conversations that ensue.”

“Brian has contact with far more young people than Angie. But that does not equate to gospel contact. The numbers suggest that Brian is being more effective. But if we are convinced that the gospel changes lives, Angie’s work is more significant.”

“They key to successful youth work is the Bible. This is how God does his work in young people. And the measure of success is not attendance but gospel fruit in their lives.”

I find this compelling. What do you think?