Over the years I have found myself increasingly convicted that my main role as Pastor of Student and Family ministries is to empower our students to recognize and seize their God ordained position as a part of the "current generation" of the church. It drives me crazy to hear well meaning people state that the youth are the future of the church.
Though I certainly agree that our students are indeed a vital part of the future church; it is my opinion that to allow them to see themselves this way creates a passivity of faith that is extremely dangerous and I believe leads many of them to forgo their current role!
We need a paradigm shift in youth ministry and I am blessed to see fellow ministers and shepherds like Timothy Eldred, Kara Powell, Bo Boshers, and many others leading a charge to a radical and needed course correction in student ministry. I stand proudly with these cutting edge brothers and sisters and pray for a movement of youth leaders who will embrace discipleship, evangelism, and student ownership of ministry in our churches! In my own ministry in central Vermont we are seeing tremendous fruit as we hand over ownership of ministry to our students. I firmly believe that there are non-negotiable principles that must be implemented in any student ministry if we hope to see the needed transformation in the youth ministry culture.
I am not naïve enough to believe that these principles are solely mine nor am I an expert by any stretch of the imagination. However, I have been blessed to see the fruit created in our student's lives by implementing these principles.
The five principles are:
- The Bible must be the foundation upon which our ministry stands! We need to become solid teachers of the word who live out what it says and not see ourselves as merely entertainers who sacrifice depth for numbers and popularity!
- Have a clear mission and vision that is created by your students. Don't expect them to merely follow your vision or mission. Expect them to own their dreams and goals!
- Create an atmosphere of "Present ministry" within your church. It is not enough to say Youth are the present; your church must also create opportunities for them to function as the present in visible servant roles.
- The Ministry needs to be relational and not programmatic. While Jesus was among us He modeled incarnational ministry and we need to equip our student ministers to live out their faith while proclaiming their faith among the lost through relationships not simply some event.
- The ministry needs to include a succession plan. Just as Moses passed on Ministry to Joshua, Elijah to Elisha, and Paul to Timothy our youth need to be training their replacements in order to create ministry longevity.
I believe that following these principles and raising the bar of expectations on our students is the key to transforming student ministry! Thank you to all of you who have already started us in the right direction. I invite those who have yet to take the leap to join us as we create changed lives of faith that truly transform His church!!