For Your Reading Pleasure, Here Is That Essay I Was Talking About

I finished that essay that I was having trouble with. I let a friend proofread it and apparently my frustration didn't show. Either that or I turn my frustration into something positive occasionally. That is part of the point of this whole blog.

This is the essay I wrote for Dardenne Prairie Church of Christ in the St. Louis area. I hope you get something useful from it. This is basically an essay on how I approach youth ministry. And any suggestions are highly welcome.

How I Would Approach the Ministry at Dardenne Prairie

Every congregation is different. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, struggles and triumphs, people and personalities. I do not believe that there is one set program that works for all youth groups and churches. It takes time to get to know a church to find ways to best fulfill the churches purpose, which is to be God’s Kingdom at work on this earth. This essay will cover the principles that I try to bring to any ministry. The specifics as to how that will work out at Dardenne Prairie will take time. So I will give this essay two parts: 1) The principles that I adhere to for my youth ministry, and 2) How I will work to accomplish these goals.

Principles of Youth Ministry
The purpose of my ministry is to help make and equip disciples for service in His kingdom. I am much more concerned about accomplishing this than I am about numbers or keeping kids happy. Especially being in an urban setting, entertaining kids will only work for short amount of time, and there will always be “entertaining” things to do elsewhere. Don’t get me wrong, I am all about having fun, but fun is best accomplished when we understand who Christ is and the purpose He has for our lives. I am not interested in entertaining kids; I am interested in watching the Lord work wonders in their hearts.

Good youth ministry involves getting the youth group involved in the life of the whole congregation. I see myself as a minister of the congregation first and foremost, but with a focus on the youth. I want my youth group to know and pray for all the members in the congregation. I want them to feel like they are a part of the whole church. I have no interest in making the youth group its own “mini-church.”

Good youth ministry is family ministry. Youth ministry becomes nearly impossible without the help and support of parents. As a youth minister, I can never replace the job of parents to teach their children about God. I am there as a help and support, but what kids get at church they must get at home. We are all in this together and we want to see the same thing for our children; that they grow up with a deep love for Christ and His people, the church. I desire to work along side parents to help their children encounter the deep love of Christ for them and for others. I am not a spiritual baby-sitter.

Good youth ministry will be focused on others. It is a difficult question, but one that must be asked: If our church disappeared tomorrow, would anyone notice? In the church, we must look beyond ourselves to our community and the lost people that live all around us. Often youth ministry can become a place where it is only focused on pleasing and serving the kids who are there. We are called to something greater. As Christians, we must serve and love outside of ourselves. It is tough work, but I want to overcome the tendency we have to serve ourselves first (I have to fight this attitude in myself.) I want to find ways to stretch comfort zones, my own included, and show Christ’s love outside of our walls. I want to have a serving, other-focused youth group.

Mostly, my goals for my youth group are that as they graduate and move into adulthood that they would have a deep love for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for His Word, for His church, and for His people. I want them to live in joy through great and difficult times. I want them to be completely sold out to Christ.

How I Would Hope to Accomplish These Goals
The first year of ministry will mostly be spent getting to know people. I want to spend time with the families, the youth group, the elders and deacons, and the congregation as a whole. I want to get to know as best I can the strengths that lie in the congregation and help utilize everybody in a role that they can enjoy and excel in. I want to learn to love everyone as best as I can. I want to know the hearts of the leadership and make sure we continually work to be on the same page. I want to build trust so that we can work together to build up the body of Christ through encouragement and service. I want the elders to be my shepherds so they can lead me through encouragement and constructive criticism.

I believe very strongly in the power of Scripture, so I will always have at least one youth class a week focusing on Scripture. I will also start a weekly Bible study just going through, reading, and thinking deeply about what it means for us. I want to engage Scripture and really take seriously what it means for our lives looking past our culture and presuppositions to take God at His Word.

The other thing I want to do with the youth ministry at all times is to look for opportunities to serve. I want to help teach the youth to look beyond themselves to see how they can help others. I myself continually need this lesson, because I often time too quickly get caught up in my own world. But we are called to put others first, both friends and enemies.

I believe very strongly that God will work to draw people to Himself. My main job as a minister of Jesus Christ is to plant seeds and water, and enjoy watching God give the growth (1 Corinthians 3:5-9). My role as a minister in this process is to follow God and grow in Him as a disciple and as a servant. The best ministry I can do is simply an extension of what God is doing in me. But it is only God that can change hearts and call people to Himself, and may I simply be someone He uses in that process.

What I try to do with my ministry is to point the way to Christ. Ultimately, no one’s faith means much if it is in another person or anything besides Christ, and I try to point the way to Him as best as I can. My role as a youth minister is to be loving and encouraging, patient and kind, being honest and truthful in love, and to do my best to be an example of what following Christ looks like. I want to set an example through being a disciple myself and through healthy Biblical teaching. I also make my best effort to “be there” because most ministry takes place in the celebrations and difficulties of life, and what is remembered is that “when so and so happened, you were there for me.”

God is alive and well and working in our world. I simply want to put myself under His leadership and be a vessel for Him to use.

--I accomplished posting this essay while listening to "Love Over Gold" by Dire Straits.