Hello Leadership and Management of Ministry Students!!! I think you should give me an "A." Thank you for looking at my blog. Come back often.

Kevin

The Failure of Youth Ministry

The Failure of Youth Ministry by Mike Yaconelli

What is the most important function of youth ministry? A) Introducing young people to Jesus B) Providing healthy activities C) Involving young people in service D) Abstinence pledges E) Good theological training F) Worship

Answer: None of the above. The most important function of youth ministry is longevity. Long-term discipleship. It's my contention that the vast majority of youth ministries focus all of their time and energy on the none-of-the-aboves and very little on longevity. How do I know? Look at the results. Attend any youth group in this country and notice the "ageing effect."Attendance is directly proportional to age. The older the students, the fewer are likely to attend youth group. Typically, there are more freshman than sophomores, more sophomores than juniors, and more juniors than seniors. I'm sure there are many reasons for this phenomenon. Older students are more likely to work, more likely to have a car, and more likely to be extremely busy. But the real reason is that older students are much more likely to lose interest in Christianity, lose the desire to stay close to Christ, or don't lose the willingness to pay the price of commitment. In the everyday battle for the souls of the older students, the lure of the secular is just too strong. Almost every study out there shows that when it comes to moral behavior, there's no difference between secular and Christian students. They drink as much, screw as much, have oral sex as much, and party as much. Why? Youth ministry doesn't have any staying power. Young people flock to Christian concerts, cheer Jesus at large events, and work on service projects. Unfortunately, it's not because of Jesus; it's because they're young! The success of youth ministry in this country is an illusion. Very little youth ministry has a lasting impact on students. I believe we're no more effective today reaching young people with the gospel than we've ever been. In spite of all the dazzling super stars of youth ministry, the amazing array of YS products, the thousands of youth ministry training events, nothing much has changed. Following Jesus is hard. Faith is difficult.Discipleship requires a huge investment of time. Most of us don't have the time. Or we chose not to take the time. Or our current models of ministry don't allow us the time. So let's be honest. Youth ministry as an experiment has failed. If we want to see the church survive, we need to rethink youth ministry. What does that mean? I don't have a clue. But my hunch is that if we want to see young people have a faith that lasts, then we have to completely change the way we do youth ministry in America. I wonder if any of us has the courage to try.

Discuss…

Text Messages

I found this on another youth ministry blog today and thought I would share. Note, newsletter articles are not on the list.

Tim Elmore and Growing Leaders recently conducted a focus group of 16-24 year olds and asked them how they wanted to receive information from us. Here are the top 8 answers:

1. Text messaging
2. Internet (i.e. MySpace or Facebook)
3. iPods and Podcasts
4. Instant messaging
5. Cell phone
6. DVD / CD
7. Books
8. Email

I want you to notice a few things about this list. First, note that email is last on the list. One student described email as “a way to communicate with older people.” Second, with one exception, this list moves from more personal to less personal in nature. They want something customized not generic if they’re going to pay attention. Third, and most importantly, these students prefer a “screen” for six out of their top eight favorite methods of communication.

The fact that text messaging landed at number one on the list tells us a lot about students today. Bear with me as I venture some observations about why text messages are the preferred method of communication:

1. Text messages represent very current communication.
More so than voicemails, a text means I need to interact now about something relevant to you.

2. Text messages are generally sent from someone you know.
Unlike phones, you generally don’t get a “wrong number” or generic call on a text message.

3. Text messages are brief and to the point.
The person texting doesn’t waste words; in fact, they usually abbreviate the message.

4. Text messaging is in your control. The receiver can stop when they want to.
This kind of control is attractive to students today. They want communication on their terms.

Students today are inundated with messages, from every side. I believe they’re most likely to respond to a text message because it allows them fast, current, relevant communication with friends–but at a safe distance. They like intimacy without a lot of vulnerability.

How can we leverage this information to be more effective in reaching this generation?

My Trip to the Mall

For my adolescent development and culture class, I had the unfortunate project to go to the mall and observe teenage culture at the mall. I realized again that I do not ever want to go to the mall again. Here are my report...

As I walked in to Macy’s department store for my three hour escapade to the Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, IN, I was unprepared by what I was going to find there. Today’s mall is very different from the mall I grew up going to. As I walked through the hallways, sat in the food court, and ducked into the “hot” stores, I began to notice many things about the adolescent culture of today. There were things to celebrate, there were things to decry, I discovered two major ministry implications the church must address. Let us look at these thoughts in detail.

One major item from my trip to this retail center that I believe needs to be celebrated was the “global community” that was on display. I first noticed this when I sat down in the food court. There were five restaurants. One was “Subway” and the other four were ethnic. There was a China Place, a Thai food place, and a Cajun place; the fifth one was a pizza restaurant, but its name was “Pizza Di Amore.” I thought, “Wow, the world really is flat.” My thoughts were strengthened when I started to walk through more stores. Almost every store had for sale items from other countries. The music store “FYE,” for example, had a candy rack. They had the things that you would expect like “Snickers” and “M&Ms,” but at least half of the candy bags for sale were from different countries with letters on them that I could not understand. This should be celebrated because students now have awareness of the size and scope of the people on God’s earth. They are more apt to appreciate the work of foreign missionaries who slave away in other countries to bring them the Gospel. Also, they are likely to understand more clearly what Heaven will look like (people from every tongue and tribe and nation).

The mall offers this disparaging issue. I received this revelation in the store Hollister. It was with Chap Clark’s book Hurt that I walked into this, the pinnacle of all teenage stores. To start with, there was no noticeable sign above the entrance; there were no “sale” signs in the windows or in stands near the entrance to welcome patrons in. The whole store is an enigma. The floor is raised two steps at the entrance as if to say, “This store is on a whole new level.” Then, you walk through the aisles filled with blaring music that sounds like it is straight from a rave. Whoever designed the lighting in this place must be a genius. Every other store in the mall is brightly colored and their items are easily located; Hollister is totally dark, except for a few strategically placed spotlights highlighting the clothes that they sell. In addition, in every other store, I was greeted warmly by a person who wanted to know if there was anything that they could help me with, not so with the purveyors of sweatshirts and denim of Hollister. Every single person working there, all in their late-teens or early twenties ignored me, totally. There was even one point where an employee saw me coming and completely turned his back to me. I left Hollister with a feeling of sickness and dread and I could not help but compare this store to “The World Beneath” as described in Clark’s book. There was sadness about the place that I could not really put my finger on until I was back into the brightly lit corridors that smelled of cinnamon roasted almonds. One theme that was overriding to me was, “You are too old; you are not welcome here.”

The mall is obviously very popular amongst teenagers. As I meandered through the hall ways, I saw many “clusters” of them aimlessly roaming the halls, “hanging out” in the food court, and shopping the overpriced “retro” t-shirt racks. There are several ministry implications and many things that need to be addressed by the church to the “Hollister Generation.” Let us focus on two areas, since I believe these to be the areas that need the most attention.

First, it is no secret that the mall is driven by teenagers looking to buy expensive “stuff” that they cannot afford and which they do not need. Consumerism is a disease that has infected our students’ lives and has had major ramifications on their spiritual health and the health of our churches as a whole. Why should they be generous when being generous means that they cannot afford the newest fashions or gadgets? Why should they care about making church, which is run by and caters to adults, a priority when they have the mall which is open at their convenience and caters to their every whim? With the massaging chairs, the endless selection of clothes and gadgets, the lure of people at your beck and call willing to “serve” you at the mall; church can often take a back seat. We must go to war against this consumerism. We must preach against it. We must lovingly help students to rip this addiction out of their lives.

Second, how do we minister to the “Hollister-shopping” generation? With the “World Beneath” atmosphere on full display in this, the most popular of teenage shops, this store reinforces the idea that students today feel abandoned by adults and are seeking to retaliate against the norm for that abandonment. The whole idea of community with adults seems to be lost on this generation; this is bad because the major goal of student ministry is to provide just that. We must figure this out; we need to invest our resources into figuring out what it means to provide community to a generation who says they do not want it.

In conclusion, I was surprised by the mall of today. While I celebrate the idea that the different cultures are revered by this generation, I was disturbed by the store Hollister and its non-welcoming and “World Beneath” atmosphere. The Church, if it wants to remain relevant, must attack consumerism and seek to be a place that loves students and is willing to invest many resources into becoming a place and a people willing to love and reach out to students. There is much competition for mid-adolescent loyalties and the Church must be willing to go to students to seize their hearts and minds for Christ out of the grasp of the evil one.

The Church of 2018

I am sitting here in class on a Tuesday night and Gary Johnson just mentioned this article. I looked it up and read it and brought it here. The article details the 10 trends that the church will follow by 2018. Is the Church prepared? What of these are good things? Which of these will fade?

The article is located at http://www.rev.org/article.asp?ID=2820.

The 10 differences are:

• Fewer mega-campuses, more mega ministries - You don't see a 200 seat Starbucks because it is not what people want.
• Diminishing Christian Orientation - 70% of Christians go to church 2 Sundays a month.
• Movement towards being simple - Specific focus on mission; We are going to do a few things well.
• Discipleship will be happening through service -Particularly when those things are enriched Biblically.
• House churches will continue to morph -Increase in number as people look for simplicity of faith in a complex society.
• Growing ethnic diversity will be present - "...require new ways to share diverse cultural values and understand Christianity in a much different light."
• Training will happen in a decentralized way - Hey I started a blog for that reason.
  
• Mergers and transfers of physical assets will happen - Denominations especially will sell their stuff.
• Family Ministry will be emphasized - Yes!!!
  
• America will not be the Christian Center anymore - They will hit a Spiritual "Tipping Point."
  

The Past Four Months

The past four months have seen a hiatus of blogging activity. I am going to ramp it up again with a new site and with new ideas.

I am establishing three blog goals for myself to meet...

1. I am going to designate at least one hour a week to this blog.

2. As the goal of this blog is to strengthen community between leaders of ministry, it will not only contain youth ministry content, but other content as well.

3. I will look for ways to generate more discussion.

So, check back often to see what is going do on Kevin Tomeo's Blogging Experience.

KT

This Blog

I have a wife, two kids, and a dog, I have been a youth minister for almost 8 years, I am, with others, starting this new Sunday service aimed at students, and I have recently taken up Seminary classes. I am starting this blog as an outlet for the journey that God is taking me on.

In the pages of this blog, there will be thoughts on life and ministry, thoughts on Christ and the Church, supplementary information from the sermons I am preaching and assignments I am writing, and other such insights that I am able to glean from my travels. Happy reading everyone.