Six years ago I was sitting in a Tuesday morning church staff meeting. We were thinking about making some big changes to our Sunday school program. During our heated debate, one of my fellow staff people declared loudly, “It’s our job to make people fall in love with this church!” Hearing that shook me to my core. That concept had never crossed my mind. I asked myself, Is that really our desired outcome? Is that what we’re working to accomplish?
I enjoyed reading Tony Jones’ article. Tony’s description of the youth ministry he attended sounded eerily familiar. We enjoyed the same practices and fellowship each week in my church. There was a heavy emphasis on missions, and the church regularly recognized the youth ministry as an asset. I certainly fell in love with my church. But I am not sure that was enough.
As a youth ministry consultant, I’ve noticed a worrisome trend among the churches I have served. Kids are growing closer to the church and each other, but they’re unable to articulate what it means to grow closer to Christ. Recently, I was meeting with several students, and one youth suggested, “Closeness to each other equals closeness to Christ.” Is that correct? And is that all we want students to articulate about their faith?
It would seem that we as youth workers have done a good job creating a culture of friendship, service and worship with our youth. It would also appear that we’re hoping they find Christ along the way. What would we have to change or adapt in order to put Christ at the center of our youth ministries? What would we need to tweak to ensure that the students who graduate from our churches are able to speak clearly about Christ and live boldly for him?
It shouldn’t be surprising that young people often struggle when they graduate into life away from home. We’ve been feeding them the gospel message, but we may have forgotten to teach them how to feed themselves. They’ve left their support systems behind. Their faith has never been challenged or stretched, and they often struggle. The familiar feel of youth group is hard to find in adult church. The mixture of ages and backgrounds can be unsettling. The preaching style and worship music feel inadequate. Many young adults don’t stick around long enough to build supportive relationships in these strange new churches. Is it any wonder why so many young adults volunteer at youth groups?
Tony clues us in to his answer, or at least the answer that is working in his context. He’s helped build a church that has a “bit of a youth group feel on Sunday nights.” He even described a recent adult retreat that “had the feel of a youth camp, even though the 1,700 of us there outgrew youth camp years earlier.” But you have to wonder. Is this a good thing? Did these adults experience the same spiritual crash and burn that many youth experience in the weeks and months that follow an incredible week at camp? Or did the church provide the environment for continuing growth and support to keep them moving toward Christ? I wonder if adults struggle to find a new church after they transition from Solomon’s Porch.
Lately, I’ve been running into youth and young adults who are clearly growing older but have not been challenged to grow deeper. These interactions have reminded me of the expression, “Many people grow old in Christ, but not many people grow up in Christ.” Maybe we need to adjust our methods, turn our strategies upside down. What if our youth described their youth group in this way: “Growing closer to Christ builds unity and creates closeness with each other.”
Tony challenges us at the end of his thought-provoking article. “In the increasingly participatory culture in which we live, they’re only going to expect more of this when they move into adult church in the coming years.” This begs the question, Do we want to give our adults exactly what we gave them in youth group?
Ministry builds on itself. Children’s ministry ought to prepare children for continued growth in the youth ministry. The youth ministry should produce young adults with an abiding, sustaining faith that will undergird them as they move into careers and new communities.
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