I’ve spent a fair amount of time thinking on The Protestor as well as the Occupy movement.

Our challenge with the next generation is to make space for them to “protest” towards change for justice….  But we must also engage them in the ability to “profess” what it is they believe and why they believe change is neccessary.

In the words of a Billy Joel oldie, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” but we do have the spiritual tinder by which to fuel it.

You are on the ship when the Costa Concordia runs aground near Italy’s Giglio Island on the evening of January 14. You hear a crash. Glasses and plates fall down and as you leave the dining room, you are told it wasn’t anything dangerous. Yet, the light are now our and you were navigating darken crowded hallways and stairwells until you found the outside decks. Everyone who walk past shouts instructions, but the instructions contradict each other. (taken from eyewitness reports)

Acts 27 tells of Paul as a prisoner on a ship:  But they struck a sandbar and ran the ship aground. The bow was wedged in and could not be moved, but the stern began to break up under the pounding of the waves… Those who could swim {were ordered} to jump overboard first and get to the shore, and then the rest, some on planks, others on debris from the ship. In this way, all reached shore safely.

We may be moving beyond new maps.  We need new vehicles. There is no righting of the Costa Concordia that will be getting us to where we are aiming to get, to where we need to be.  No ship working for you means it’s time for figure out another way.

Get off the boat safely and begin figuring out your next mode of getting to where you need to be.

< Filippo Monteforte / AFP / Getty Images source >

Statistically speaking you are flatlined. (As in– no heart beat!) You’re reaching just about the same percentage of people you’ve always reached. That may be OK from a church politics situation but I’m not sure I’m OK with that from a theological position.

And I’m positive that this flatlining has lead to the following problems in youth ministry over the last decade:
> A general cynicism about youth ministry internally and externally.
> A decrease in youth ministry staff and general budget funding.
> An increase in expectations that new youth ministry staff grow the program immediately.
> Lots of great youth workers moving on to other ministries or careers.
> The rise of family ministry models designed to circle the wagons. (Historically, youth ministry existed for evangelism. Popular models today are primarily interested in keeping church families engaged.)

Adam is NOT providing answers in his post, but he is asking perhaps the right question. Do we set up youth ministry, or church for that matter, for the very slight percentage that can dedicate a thin sliver of the pie chart of their lives for us? Or to utilize the language of the Occupy Movement…  Are we designing our ministry to the 1% when the great commission calls for us to go out and make disciples of all the nations… ahem, the 99%.

So, what changes to kick life into the flatlined?  It doesn’t make sense to step up our present efforts… We can only provide those eclectic paddles of more intensive efforts so often before before we admit our same old, same old solution won’t work…

Maybe we have to expect more of the 1%… not just to treat them as recipients or customers, but as actual collaborators. Perhaps, we have to also find new ways to collaborate in the lives, in the arenas, where young people are spending the pie charts of their lives. Perhaps we need to understand ourselves as the Church that occupies… like Jesus did.  We need to find ourselves within meals of others, not just at our Eucharistic meal. We need not to enclose the Living Waters within our  Churches, but to share them in the Samaritan Woman’s wells of young people’s lives.

What changes if we re-configure our church, our ministry efforts to occupy on behalf of the 99% we are not reaching?

In a statement from the meeting, the European bishop identified evangelization as “the manifestation of the Church’s life and vitality. It should not be understood simply as a pastoral activity, but as the manifestation of its very nature and mission." They identified the "new evangelization" as not just for fallen-away Christians, but for everyone.  "It seeks to proclaim Christ, true God and true man, crucified to bear every human grief, raised from the dead that we might have life," they stated. "Through their baptism, all believers are called to take part in the new evangelization: families; young people who are generally the most open to being missionaries; but also parishes, the movements, and new communities.” (You can read more from the Zenit article)

Meanwhile, a Presbyterian elder and writer for the daily  Kansas City Star’s Faith Matters blog, Bill Tammeus recently advocated that we evolve our thinking from church as not a "place where" but a "people who."

The line oft-accredited to Saint Francis of Assisi is “preach the Gospel at all times… if necessary use words.”  When we are using words we are most often using words within a place where WE feel comfortable.

If all believers are called to take part in the new evangelization…to being missionaries, then the church is to be a people who.

Kenda Dean suggests that we all suffer from ascension deficit disorder…  that the ending of the gospels is a little too special effects-y for us and, therefore, we have a tendency to act as the the future that God has promised is Jesus Christ comes off a little too fairy-tale-ish.  If we suffer from being able to deal with faith, Jesus, Resurrection, and Ascension as truth, our ability to hope is diminished.

And, if that is the case, we find ourselves, as church in the mode of putting up with stuff, I’m just getting by addressing the limits (or the lid)  We should not find ourselves looking towards the skies awaiting the Reign of God.

If we do, we find everything in faith just a little beyond  our reach – holiness, sainthood, Pentecost, and a missionary audacity to respond beyond a "place where" but a " to a call to an evangelization that aspires for us to be a “people who" seeks to make disciples of all the nations.  

Benedict XVI is asking European bishops to be audacious in thinking of new ways to spread the Gospel message. "Places of catechesis and Catholic schools must also be and become ever more places of evangelization. (…) There is also question of seeking new ways to evangelize, such as, for example, new technology, the Internet, and social networking sites. But all this is only possible if, following the example of the Christians of the Acts of the Apostles, we open ourselves up in a new way to the Holy Spirit: ‘There will be no new evangelization without a new Pentecost!’"

Make space in your imagination for a new Pentecost in our Church – or, in the vernacular of a generation or two previous to today’s youth – it’s time to blow the roof off of this joint

Jerry Goebel recently retold the story

The usual answer is the driver who we believe will know the route better because she experienced it, she didn’t observe it."  And, then, Diamond asks, "Do you have a classroom of drivers or passengers?"

And, that, there is one great question.   Is the journey of faith one to be undertaken actively or passively….? And how do you program your efforts accordingly?

Today’s YouTube for You will have an impact on next Tuesday’s YouTube to Use.

Years back, at a Youth Contact Meeting in the ArchBalt, then director Mark Pacione discussed the role of youth ministers as a conductor of talents within the parish.

There is a real beauty to the development of Eric Whitacre’s virtual choir here and I would contend that this is truly the gift of the WORLD wide web and the possibility for us.  How can we, as Church, engage social networking in such as manner as to convey the “you are not alone” in discipleship, that faith can be viral, and that one voce can make a difference and can be overwhelming when joined with others.  This sort of connection will never replace face-to-face incarnational relationships… But, WOW, what a hint towards connection as choir, as Church, as humanity.

What will happen in the fifty years following
[the publication of Hope for the Decade?]

Once can only guess,
but based on the growth and radical change
in the first half century of its existence,

Youth work should continue to be
an exciting and growing ministry in the Church

In 1980, (over thirty years ago) the National Catholic Youth Organization Federation (predecessor to today’s NFCYM) published Hope for the Decade: A Look at the Issues Facing Catholic Youth Ministry.

Throughout Fridays in September, we are pulling a few quotes, wondering about change and growth in our field.

Previously: Hope for the Parish, …for the Family, …for the Youth Minister, and … for Ministry

A true-life story, it talks about changing the game of tradition laden baseball, especially how talent was evaluated and utilized… not much of the action is on the field  Scouts used to be always on the lookout for a “five-tool player,” one who observably excelled at hitting for average, hitting for power, baserunning skills and speed, throwing ability, and fielding abilities. The movie suggested that scouts looked at other intangibles such as the hotness of the girlfriend as an indication of a player’s confidence. Scout were happy to find a player with two or three tools. It was high praise to find a five-tool player.

Well, the movie tells the story of what happened to the near–successful (as in short of making the World Series) under-paying Oakland Athletics after the 2001 American League Division Series. The A’s were up two games on the New York Yankees, a team with three times the payroll, before losing it all. In the post season, they could not keep Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, and Jason Isringhausen, free-agents who went to higher paying teams.

A’s General Manager Billy Beane has to rebuild the smaller market/ smaller budget team to again be competitive. As a formerly described five-tool player, he well understood the flaws in that system of evaluation and, therefore, latches on to a new system, sabermetrics, which boils down statistics to evaluate players’ value rather the traditional scouting techniques of observation and intuition.

The “Sabermetric Evaluation” of Youth Ministry

Hmmmm, I thunk and thunk to myself after the movie.  In the past few years, we have had book after book of statistics that call for us in re-evaluation of our efforts in youth ministry… If we moved beyond our own observation and instinct, what would be the sabermetric effect for youth ministry?

First off, what is the traditional view of the five tools necessary for youth ministers? (This is a tricky area and I’d appreciate your comments telling me if I’m on target or not…, but) Here’s my best sweeping generalizations…

1.)  Love of Young People –This is where they get their energy.  They enjoy the overnight lock-in, they can hang with kids in the coffee shop, hours matter not… They love kids and are happy to be with them.
2.)  Charm/ Wit/ Charisma -   They have the whole package – the winning smile, the pun-ster humor, an easy-going style (although I do think we have grown pass guitar playing…)
3.)  Committed to bringing young people to Christ – They have Good News to be shared and they are willing to go door-to-door, kid-to-kid attempting to win souls over to the Lord.
4.)  (Sergeant-style) One-on-One relationships with young people – <First a caveat: I am not inclined to use military metaphors for ministry such as spiritual warfare.. Nonetheless…> We are seeking a leader who is connected with and motivates “the troops” of our young people
5.)  Coach/ Leader on behalf of Young People - <I am not disinclined, however, especially after watching a great movie to use baseball metaphors!> We want someone who trains, guides, and leads the team (maybe of young people, maybe a core of adults, or a mix between) towards winning seasons.

Actually, there seem all quite reasonable and they are all certainly better than the five youth ministry stereotypes of messy offices/cars, competitive in sports, too much time spent playing video games, spending time trying to be being cool, and just generally irresponsible. (but, that is just an aside…)

I think we both hire and evaluate based on this traditional view of the five tools necessary for successful ministry.

What are the Tools We Need for the Future?

But, what if we looked at the stats from the NSYR and other sources and re-configured what five tools are necessary for future youth ministry players?  What if we changed the questions for our interviews and evaluations to reflect a different sensibility?

Again, this is my read on it, and I’d appreciate your views (comments) as well.  Further, I’m aware that this might feel like simple point/ counterpoint wordplay, but I do perceive this as a necessary attitudinal shift. How about…

a.)  Love of Church –  Ed Stetzer of Lifeway recently blogged about Do Denominations Matter? and Should "Broader Interests" Preclude Pastoring?  and my initial answers are Yes and No. Church is not a means or necessary evil towards our end of serving with young people… Otherwise go work with the Y or the Scouts. Our end is serving Christ in His Church and the means we have chosen for that is our service with the youngchurch.
b.)  Facilitation – The term facilitation is broadly used to describe any activity which makes tasks for others easy.  The longer and longer than any of us spends time in youth ministry, the more and more we become aware of the continuously growing task lists related to it. We need to collaborate and share the many tasks of ministry and facilitation is becoming a very necessary skill
c.)  Committed to bringing Christ – Adolescence continues to evolve and be re-defined. Yet, Hebrews 13:8 reminds us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The gospel of Matthew closes with the commission to make disciples of all nations… not just to the kids who we can personally reach. All the nations…, not to the kids that our church might be able to reach.  All the nations…, not just a age based demographic, but their parents and adults who might partner with us in servicie with young people.Why do we water down “Make Disciples of all the nations…?”
d.)  (Corporal-Style) relationships on behalf of young people – We can no longer be satisfied with a role so closely associated with foot soldiers.  We must take command of the systems that affect the foot soldiers and as well as their more immediate leaders and ensure their training and abilities to respond to the great commission.  We must assume the authority to prioritize, strategize, and implement vision.
e.)  General Manager on behalf of the Church – I recently had a youth minister grumble to me that she did not desire to become trapped into the role of “an administrator.”  They viewed it as a passion-less entrapment to their desk away from “real ministry’ with the kids. Well, from Moneyball, we learn that “winning seasons” are made from more than talented players or coaching decisions.  They are made from passionate leaders, like Billy Beane, who take a look at the whole system – from trades to the club house soda machine – and work the system on behalf of the mission. 
If you are a youth minister and you think the system is the youth group or Confirmation class or core team in need of some good coaching  – then your perspective is too limited. We can no longer be mere Youth Pastors, but we need to be Pastors of the Church with eyes towards the Church’s mission and responsibilities (not ours) with young people. That’s likely to be challenging for some of us as home-run hitters get baseball cards, no-hit pitchers get baseball cards, even coaches get baseball cards… but, ever see a baseball card for a general manager?

Ain’t Going to be Easy

Watching Moneyball, we can see that there will be also sorts of push-back on implementing changes in the game. Billy Beane received laissez-faire support from ownership, confrontation from his scouts, sabotage from his bench manager (responsible for the line-up), and was frustrated by players who were slow to mesh together as team.

It ain’t going to be easy, but to pull a quote from the Billy Beane character in the movie…

If we pull this off, we change the game.
We change the game for good.

On one level, the proliferation of inadequate defined ministries is a difficulty.
Some people and agencies have a high tolerance for ambiguity in this regard,
others require greater precision and clarity.

It is important that we clearly communicate to colleagues
the goals and assumptions that shape ministerial roles.
Since the rapid expansion in ministries causes instinctive defensive reactions in more traditional settings,
clear and affirming communication is necessary for joint progress.

In 1980, the National Catholic Youth Organization Federation (predecessor to today’s NFCYM) published Hope for the Decade: A Look at the Issues Facing Catholic Youth Ministry.

Throughout Fridays in September, we are pulling a few quotes, wondering about change and growth in our field.

Previously: Hope for the Parish, …for the Family, …for the Youth Minister

Enablement and advocacy take high priority in this leadership style.

In 1980, the National Catholic Youth Organization Federation (predecessor to today’s NFCYM) published Hope for the Decade: A Look at the Issues Facing Catholic Youth Ministry.

Throughout Fridays in September, we are pulling a few quotes, wondering about change and growth in our field.

Previously: Hope for the Parish, …for the Family