Youth Ministry

For ten years, First UMC has had a faithful and dedicated youth director. Then, he was gone. His tenure far exceeded the eighteen months that youth directors usually serve and was ready for a change of focus. We wish him well as he begins his new ministry with children and adults in another church. So we are in the process of finding a replacement. All of this leaves me wondering what should youth ministry in 2009 look like?

First, I applaud the efforts of those who are thoughtfully and prayerfully considering the answer to this question for few things are more hot button within congregations than youth ministry. Everyone has an opinion and it is usually accompanied with quite a bit of emotion. In the past, good youth ministry was primarily programs, events and other gatherings. However, we are told that youth no longer want a cruise director; they want to do things that make a difference like service projects and mission trips. We are realizing that the relationships and role models have the greatest influence on the lives of our youth. Yet, adults seem to have difficulty moving beyond the memories of their own experience and want youth programs to mirror what was important to them. The challenge of bringing these threads of the discussion together seems insurmountable some days. We have a job description that includes everything but walk on water and expectations that are probably not realistic. How do we reconcile the wants and the needs for effective youth ministry? Perhaps, we should listen more closely to what our youth are saying about what they need as they seek spiritual direction and ask only one question of our youth director candidates. Will he/she show our youth Jesus Christ?