Tim Schmoyer over in his Life in Student Ministry blog pondered that he has been thinking that he’s doing youth ministry all wrong.  I’m re-posting a significant portion here because this is where my heart has been for the last few weeks and Tim was able to put it all into words faster than I could…

Despite knowing otherwise in my head, the way I actually lead my church’s youth ministry is mostly from the mentality that our youth ministry is a program or service we provide to families. It’s almost like I’m unintentionally feeding the consumeristic perspective by sometimes using language like, “We offer small groups…” and, “We provide connection points for your teens…” Since when was ministry ever supposed to be about what a paid staff member and a couple adult volunteers are expected to spiritually provide for teens and families?

Youth ministry should not be about how the church can serve the youth or even how we can provide programs that help them grow spiritually. That’s the parents’ responsibility. In fact, I don’t think youth ministry should even accidentally enable parents to outsource their God-given responsibility to us, something I know my ministry is all too guilty of. Support parents, yes, but enable them to outsource? No.

The Greek word for “church” is literally “ekklesia,” a community of believers who are “called out” to serve and edify each other and the people around them.

Instead of fueling the consumerism mentality of what a church “offers” or “provides” and which church in town does it best, youth ministry should probably be about helping teens use their God-given gifts to serve the body. It should teach families that youth ministry isn’t just about what the church does for them, but that they are “called out” to think beyond themselves with a servant’s heart. I bet teen church drop-outs would decrease if they actually served as a valuable and essential part of the local body of Christ.

Please read all of Tim’s post. It all comes down to the perspective of “Ask not what the church can do for young people, but ask what young people can do with and for the church.”  And, always remember that the church is the whole body of Christ not just the few adults with maybe a professional staffer off in an obscure corner of the church

Mark Cannister is Professor and Chair of Youth Ministries at Gordon College in Wenham, MA.  He recently wrote for YouthWorker.com on Growing Up Without Selling Out: The Professionalization of Youth Ministry.  In it he likens our growth as a profession from the technique and skills needed for soapbox racing to the technology and fine-tuning necessary for professional Full Throttle Drag Racing.

The money quote: The takeaway from all this isn’t the standardization of youth ministry, but the general raising of the bar for everyone in youth ministry—broadening our scope, our understanding and our resources. Leading a ministry based on a single personality or one person’s experience, or driven by the views of one seminar speaker or one author, one resource will be short-lived in our complex, multicultural society. Read the whole article.

Is social media a fad?

Or the biggest shift since the industrial revolution?

Beyond the obvious push for the Technology Procedural Recommendations (opps, snuck that one in there, didn’t I?), we all have to work harder as church about wrapping our ministry around the right side of this.

Over at Fast Company, they made some recommendations regarding Twitter, but it true as well for Facebook, blogging, and the rest. Here’s my take on ‘em:

1). Take it past a hobby. Make it more than the time-killer it can be and invest some strategy and effort into it.

2). Give more than thou receive: Seriously, everything you post does not have to be about you, does it?

3). Be undeniably genuine: Everyone can eventually detect a fake, even on-line.

4). When others show a little viral love, say thanks. It’s that easy, show a little virtual manners.

5). Keep it simple: It’s all there, just figure out what you already have available to you.  Forget the programs or the classes, invite “that kid” (you already know which one) who can help you figure it out.

Mark Batterson is one of my daily blog reads and pastor of a dynamic young adult friendly multiple site “mega-church” in Washington, DC that houses their services in movie theaters and a coffee shop…  And he ruined my December beach vacation to Florida.

While on vacation, I made the mistake of reading an advance copy of his third book Primal that his publishers had graciously sent to me in hopes of a blog posting.

In the book, Batterson works through Mark 12:30 which is Jesus’ response to “”Which is the first of all the commandments?”  The first, or primal, commandment is You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.  I had entered the vacation weary and tired from a busy year of “doing ministry” towards attempting to give my all towards loving God. I was weary with the uncertainty that my efforts were enough.

Throughout the book, Batterson examines  his understanding of the primal elements needed to love God with your all: compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy. Our challenge becomes, not to love the ways we have chosen to manage our relationship with God but, to love God.  It is not our words, our actions, our vocation and ministry that makes a difference in our loves or our world, but it is God’s grace that is enough. If we can seek, discover, and attempt to reflect that grace with compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy, then we might be flirting with fulfilling Jesus’ primal commandment.

It’s a great book – a good and easy read – but don’t take it on vacation with you unless you are open to a vacation becoming a spiritual renewal.

Hispanics are the largest and youngest minority group in the United States. One- in-five schoolchildren is Hispanic. One-in-four newborns is Hispanic.

The Pew Research Center has just released Between Two Worlds: How Young Latinos Come of Age in America, a report that takes an in-depth look at Hispanics who are ages 16 to 25, a phase of life when young people make choices that-for better and worse-set their path to adulthood.

Young Latinos are satisfied with their lives, optimistic about their futures and place a high value on education, hard work and career success. Yet they are much more likely than other American youths to drop out of school and to become teenage parents. They are more likely than white and Asian youths to live in poverty. And they have high levels of exposure to gangs.  View the news release and the report.

Meanwhile, the Alliance for Catholic Education out of the University of Notre Dame notes that despite the advantages of a Catholic school education, only 3% of Latinos send their children to Catholic schools. Therefore, they have launched a campaign to double the percentage of Latino children enrolled in Catholic schools in the next 10 years, raising the number of Latino children enrolled in Catholic schools to 1 Million.  View the release and the full report.

Recently, Business Week had a cover story on the e Lost Generation” It talks about the impact on young adults when the unemployment rate in the U.S. has climbed for 16- to 24-year-olds from 13% a year ago to more than 18%

“For people just starting their careers, the damage may be deep and long-lasting, potentially creating a kind of “lost generation.” Studies suggest that an extended period of youthful joblessness can significantly depress lifetime income as people get stuck in jobs that are beneath their capabilities, or come to be seen by employers as damaged goods.”

Not only is this a concern for all of our young friends on college campuses but it has the strong implications for the future of our field as well.

“Equally important, employers are likely to suffer from the scarring of a generation. The freshness and vitality young people bring to the workplace is missing. Tomorrow’s would-be star employees are on the sidelines, deprived of experience and losing motivation.”  Check out the whole article here

I’m out this morning to attend  focus group meeting on Faith Formation 2020.  This is an effort with John Roberto of LifeLong Faith Associates.

Part of the day’s presentation will include Thirteen Trends and Forces Influencing the Future of Faith Formation in a Changing Church and World. They include:

> Declining Participation in Christian Churches
> Growth in No Religious Affiliation
> Becoming More “Spiritual” and Less “Religious”
> Influence of Individualism on Christian Identity and Community Life
> Increasing Social, Cultural, and Religious Diversity in the U.S.
> Growing Influence of Hispanic/Latino Religious Faith
> Identifying a New Stage of Life: “Emerging Adulthood”
> The Rise of a Distinctive Post-Boomer Faith and Spirituality
> Changing Structures and Patterns of Family Life in the United States
> Rediscovering the Impact of Parents and Families on Faith Practice
> Living in a Digital World
> Educating in New Ways
> Increasing Numbers of Adults 65 and Older

I’m looking forward to an intriguing morning.

Youth Ministry students from Franciscan University of Steubenville came to the ArchBalt for the weekend.  They met the many faces of the church, toured our historical basilica and lovely harbor, met with parish youth ministers, volunteered with some Sunday evening programming, and met with the division staff. They are pictured here with their professor, Bob Rice (Back row, second from  right, wearing an ArchBalt Division Of Youth and Young Adult Ministry sweatshirt)

Here’s what you need to know: They love Jesus.  They love the Church.  They love young people.

I know, I know, that might not seem enough… But you should also know – -  They are concerned about discerning the right parish fit, finding professional mentors, and developing collaborative relationships with their dioceses.  They are anxious about making mistakes over those first years.  They want to be able to develop strong adult core team.

If one of these faces shows up at your door with a resume, they deserve an opportunity.  We were honored to host such a good group.  God bless them all throughout their future studies and their future ministries.

Signed, Dashing Debonair David

Forty years ago, today, man first walked on the moon.

Neil Armstrong’s first words on the lunar surface were “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

But that step began with John Kennedy. He had just been humiliated in the Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba, a communist ally of Moscow. In his speech, he called for many measures to combat communism, requesting billions, for example, to stop red insurgencies in Southeast Asia.

Kennedy set the vision with these words:

“We have examined where we are strong and where we are not, where we may succeed and where we may not. Now it is time to take longer strides-time for a great new American enterprise-time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth.

I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary. But the facts of the matter are that we have never made the national decisions or marshaled the national resources required for such leadership. We have never specified long-range goals on an urgent time schedule, or managed our resources and our time so as to insure their fulfillment. . .

For while we cannot guarantee that we shall one day be first, we can guarantee that any failure to make this

effort will make us last. . . The very risk enhances our stature when we are successful. But this is not merely a race. Space is open to us now; and our eagerness to share its meaning is not governed by the efforts of others. We go into space because whatever mankind must undertake, free men must fully share. . .

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. . “

What visions are we declaring and setting forth today?  What steps are we taking?  What resources and talents are we dedicating? What risks are we taking?  In what race are we engaged?  What commitments are we making?

In the last days we commented about social media and it’s use with conferences and workcamps. (and you can see local youth minister Wayne Hipley blogging his own Base Camp experience this week.)  It is playing out in much larger venues. Twitter and facebook are the media of revolution that is occurring in Iran. Note that the US State Department asked twitter to delay a planned upgrade that would have cut daytime service to Iranians who are disputing their election. (see here.)

First, let’s please keep peace and the continued efforts towards valuing the dignity of each human person deep within our prayers.

Next, let’s learn from this… Again, we go to the brilliant TED series to learn more about technology and communication.  In this presentation (which was filmed in May) we have greater insights to the interconnectedness of the new media and our role in it.

The punchline quote (emphasis mine): The media landscape that we knew – as familiar as it was, as easily conceptually as it was to deal with the idea that professionals broadcast messages to amateurs – is increasingly slipping away. In a world where media is global, social, ubiquitous, and cheap. 

In a world of media where the former audience are now increasingly full participants. In that world, media is now less and less often about crafting a single message to be consumed by individuals and is more and more often a way of creating a environment for convening and supporting groups.

And the choice we face… I mean, anybody who has a message they want to have heard anywhere in the world… isn’t whether that is the media environment they want to operate in; that’s the media environment we’ve got. The question we all face now is How can we make best use of this medium. even though it means changing the way we’ve always done it?