Youth Ministry has been going through a big identity crisis recently.
I'll say it has less to do with "Youth Ministry" and more to do with "Youth Pastors". We've all been watching the generations change and seeing that they need different stuff in order to connect with or even hear about the Gospel of Jesus. In the past 10 years, there have been different approaches and several different ideas as to how to fix the growing angst against formalized youth groups. Many approaches have been tested, weighed and found wanting (that's from A Knight's Tale BTW). Youth Pastors have seemingly tried everything and found themselves still being ineffective or slightly effective at best.
When it comes to the paradigm discussion, I feel like few have gotten it right, with the exception of a couple, like Mark Oestreicher in his book Youth Ministry 3.0, where he expounds upon the shifts in youth ministry and why the older models are failing. To see my 3-part review of this book go here: Youthmaster-Mark Oestreicher.
However, a new thing, which isn't really a new thing is coming into view for more and more youth pastors: Student Leadership is what should drive the ministry. Part of the old model (Youth Ministry 2.0) as Marko calls it; is this myth that it's all about the youth pastor.
"He's the one being paid, so he must do all the work." Is a myth that many of us have bought into which has been perpetuated to us from our: Senior Pastor, our parents, our church board and sometimes from our leaders. When we follow along with this type of ministry it gets dangerous. We begin to burn out, we begin to offend our leaders and worst of all, we begin to push teens away.
We must insist on Student Leadership, they must OWN the ministry they are part of so it can stop being a show for them and begin to be training for missional living. The youth team I am a part of has started to really recognize this piece of youth ministry and has begun to make strides to put a lot of the ministry in the hands of our teens.
I am blessed to have a Director who sees God's vision for our teens and is leading us down this path. The idea of student leadership wasn't on my brain...I had fallen back into the Youth Ministry 2.0 model and made it all about what I could do, but he has re-directed my thinking and re-sold me on the need for student leadership.
During this time of understanding student leadership and it's importance, I got an email from Leadertreks about student leadership which contained a free e-book written by Doug Franklin, President of LeaderTreks on Student Leadership. The title is Student Leaders are Church Leaders. I have read this book and believe it to be a great manifesto for student leadership. It provides reasons for student leadership and tools to begin handing the ministry over to them.
Once teens own something, truly own it there is no telling how far they can make it go with the power of the Spirit of God within them. I am excited to be able to offer the link to the FREE e-book, which is below. I know the team I am a part of as well as myself personally will be wrestling with these principles laid forth in this book as well as the idea of Student Leadership in general...will you join me? Because Student Leadership- It's IMPORTANT!
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