From Andy Morgan’s blog…
Chp 1 – The issue for the authors is that the current method of student ministry is not working. The number of students who remain believers after college is dropping dramatically. The authors suggest 4 gauges which will indicate whether there is a problem or not:
1. Student retention rates
2. Student baptisms
3. Student Pastor tenures
4. Student Biblical literacy
The authors say #1 is poor, #2 diminishing rapidly #3 low and #4 low.
Effectiveness is diminishing – and its not because youth pastors are not working hard enough. They are! The authors suggestion is that the model of student ministry that has been inherited and embraced is not working.
What may be a major theme of the book is introduced in chp 2. There has to be a shifting of values of student ministry. A shift to where? The authors suggest:
Partnership with parents rather than separation
Student development rather than student ministry
Biblical faithfulness rather than cultural relevance
Championing the church rather than internalized ministries.
Parents are vitally important in the future success of teens but so also is the church.
Parents need to join the essential partnership with student pastors & volunteers to develop students.
Another issue in today’s model of student ministry is cultural relevance. There has been a greater value on being culturally trendy than on faithfully, accurately and biblically presenting the word of God.
I liked the emphasis the authors place on student ministry to “glorify God”, rather than “get more people.”
An unusual aspect brought up by the authors is the problem of competitiveness amongst staff – the attitude to out perform instead of locking arms and working as team. Competitiveness can lead to students falling in love with the student ministry instead of in love with Christ and His church.
Leave a Reply