7.20.2006

Comprehensive Youth Ministry

Ifound this on the net. I find it to be a very helpful framework:

Essential Componets of Comprehensive Youth Ministry

Ministry of Advocacy: As a church, we need to provide strong moral leadership, to stand up for adolescents, especially those who are voiceless and powerless in society. We are called to use our resources to shape a society more respectful of the life, dignity and rights of adolescents and their families.

Ministry of Catechesis: the ministry of catechesis assists adolescents in learning how to connect Scriptures and Tradition of the Church with real life. It helps youth develop their relationships with Jesus and the family community. Genuine faith is a total response of the whole person and catechesis addresses all dimension -- mind, heart and will.

Ministry of Community Life: Community life is developed by activities that build trust, encourage relationships and are age appropriate. Communal life is nurtured when the atmosphere is welcoming, comfortable, safe and predictable -- youth ministry calls all young people, as valued, gifted and cared for, to their rightful place in the community.

Ministry of Evangelization: Evangelization calls young people to bring the good news of the Gospel into every human situation, through witness, outreach, proclamation, invitation, conversion and discipleship.

Ministry of Justice and Service: Our faith is profoundly social. Justice and service are essential to who we are as God's people and how we live our faith at home, in our community and in our world. We are called to work for justice, serve those in need, pursue peace, defend the life, dignity and rights of all our brothers and sisters. This is the call of Jesus, the urging of the Spirit, the challenge of the prophets and the living tradition of the Church.

Ministry of Leadership and Development: Every person is graced with certain gifts and talents. It is the role of youth ministry to help young people gain the skills needed to make the most of their God-given gifts for the service of the human community.

Ministry of Pastoral Care: The heart of pastoral care is most fundamentally a relationship -- a ministry of compassionate presence. As young people face life's decisions and make moral choices they need loving and caring adults who will walk with them. It is the role of youth ministry to make available the resources needed to help young people move toward wholeness.

Ministry of Prayer and Worship: All of us search for ways to experience God. Youth are no exception. Communal prayer, participation in the sacramental life of the Church, especially Eucharist, celebrate and deepen young people's relationship with Jesus Christ. Young people are called into active participation in the liturgical life of the Church.

Forming Students in an Evanescent World-- Part 2

It took me a while in my ministry life to realize how important Christian adults are in student formation. I had a cognative knowledge of the importance of an "in-the-know" adult mentor; however, it has been over the past two years that I have watched the remarkable effects of such an approach. During this time, we have made slow changes to orient our entire youth ministry to have an intergenerational involvement focus-- having our students share stories with the oldest people of the congregation; having our students work together with our children in VBS, wrapping Christmas gifts, etc.; having our students interact with many volunteers, mentors, and small group leaders; involving our students in significant conversations with our governing elders; having our students paired with an adult in the church who is their prayer partner; having our students participating and partnering in the leading of all-church activities in ways that do not exploit and market them; and finally having our students participate in BBQs, service projects, etc. with their families. I have watched as these experiences have signficantly shaped our students, our families, and our congregation. Our congregation also has developed a very healthy view of our students and our ministry because of their interaction with our students. My church is the only one in our area that had an increase in the number of students that were going to summer camp-- one of the reasons I think this has happened is because of the volunteer leaders that counsel our students at camp. We send volunteers who love being around teenagers, who know the right balance of freedom and boundaries, who know how to listen and get kids to open up, who know how to encourage and exhort kids rather than be hard on them. Intergenerational involvement is key to youth formation both corporately and individually. The thesis of Chap Clark's book Hurt is that this generation is an abandoned generation. Erik Erikson's classic work on adolescent identity makes the case that teen identity formation rests on a good undergirding of adult involvement in students' lives. Christian Smith's now very famous study sounds the alarm very clearly-- in order to form teenage faith identity both now and for the future, intergenerational involvement is the key.