Phenomenology studies “that which appears” from the first person point of view.

When I entered youth ministry, I promised myself that I would take a long and hard look (aka observation and assessment) on what phenomenas were transpiring in the youth ministry in which I was serving.  I would do this observation and assessment by simply asking:  What seems to be automatically showing up in my youth ministry without my intentional and programmatic effort?  I would greatly benefit from this reflection because it allowed me to better learn the landscape of my student ministry even if it meant I had to change major programmatic pieces.

A youth ministry phenomena is a particular way(s) God is/was appearing in and through your students, youth ministry, and church.  Self observation and ministry assessment help lead youth pastors to discern what is appearing in their youth ministry. If ministry assessment and self observation are not practiced, youth pastors will never know how and where God is organically moving.

Assessment exposes what is really happening, which encourages the youth pastor to either change the course or continue on the course. All throughout the Bible God is always “appearing” (John 20, 21, Matthew 1, Exodus 3, 1 John 3.2-3, Luke 24, Genesis 18, Mark 16, 1 Kings 19, Numbers 16, Exodus 24, and Joshua 5) in obscure places.  For example:  burning bush, top of a mountain, on side roads, Bethlehem, weddings, and Samaria.  So does this mean God is appearing in weird places in our youth ministry?

My assumption: God is appearing in our youth ministries.

My question: But where exactly is He appearing?

There is no specific scientific hypothesis to test if God is working or appearing in and through your youth ministry.  There is no set model that can promise God will appear and reveal himself to our students, which means youth pastors have to quarterly schedule a time to observe how and where God is moving in their youth ministry.  The beauty about the philosophical idea of phenomenology is that it highly encourages student pastors to take a honest first hand look on how God is appearing or showing up in their youth ministry.

My fear: Our youth ministries are so inherently busy and programmatic we are NOT observing where God is appearing in our youth ministries which only leaves God to work on the outskirts.

My theory: The more and more I thought about how God appeared and worked in my youth ministry context, the more and more I realized that God was predominantly working on the fringes of my youth ministry context.  God was showing up on the outside edges of my youth ministry. It is difficult to admit God is working on the perimeter because “apparently” the action is always suppose to happen in the center.  But in my experience God was not always front and center but rather revealing Himself on the borders of my youth group.

As I studied Jesus’ 3 years of high action packed ministry, I concluded Jesus FIRST went directly to the outskirts of Jerusalem to perform His most powerful redemptive miracles.  Then towards the later portion of His ministry, Jesus traveled into Jerusalem to make His final statement–that He is the Son of God.  So does this mean God may be highly working on the sidelines in our youth ministries?

My questions to youth pastors:

How are we overlooking God’s activity in our youth ministry?

Would you agree that God is more likely to work on the fringes than being in the “obvious and predictable” places?  Why or why not?

How do we honor God’s work in our youth group?

Students need to see themselves as missionaries to the people around the world and to the people around in their neighborhoods and school campuses.

How many of our students really see themselves as a called and sent people to represent the reign of God? In our youth ministry teachings are we using this type of language? Do youth pastors really see their teenagers having the capacity and ability to usher in the Kingdom of God into it’s town?

Youth pastors need to develop a firm theology and understanding of missional leadership. According to Darrell Guder, in Missional Church: The purpose of leadership is to form and equip a people who demonstrate and announce the purpose and direction of God through Jesus Christ.

My assumption: students have the ability to be missional leaders.

So how the heck does a youth pastor figure out what the mission is for his/her youth ministry?

1. Clarify and observe the local context and identify the needs

2. Define the church culture and locate it’s values

3. Determine who are the committed students

Now the youth pastor will know the real needs of the community, the theology and sociology of the church, and what students see themselves as a committed called and sent people of God. Observing the context and locating the needs will steer the youth pastor and his/her students in the direction of their youth ministry mission that will mobilize them to bring the Kingdom of God here and now.

Having a contextualized youth ministry mission will make your youth ministry distinct and unique. And it will mean the youth pastor is being obedient to how God is working in and through their specific context.

I get excited hearing about youth ministries that are putting students on mission.

Top 5 ways to detect if youth ministries are NOT mission focused:

1. Budget allocation. How much money is being spent on equipping students to be missionaries vs program management?

2. Solus Pastor. The solus (solo) youth pastor doesn’t partner or work with other “people” or organizations outside of their church community.

3. Small groups are at the center of their discipleship program.

4. 80% of their youth ministry calendar involves being “at church”. Therefore the true missionary is the youth pastor on stage and not the students.

5. Students leadership means serving IN the church. Basically students serve the church and not the community.

Youth ministries across the country all have a different: sociological landscape, lifestyle, culture, a psychological mind-set, and ways to experience God. Having a contextualized youth ministry means having a working knowledge of your students, place, ideas, and experiences.

“It’s knowledge in practice that’s developed from direct experience and action, and usually is shared only through highly interactive conversations, storytelling, and shared experience.” (Blaber, The Mission, The Men, and ME, p 129)

The problem with Non Missional Youth Minstries: They import a generic model of ministry and don’t know how to contextualize it to their church setting. I think it is a big problem when we have roughly 70% of North American youth ministries following the same model. The Great Commission is great. We all get it— that we need to GO and make disciples. I think the great commission is just the starting place, when determining your youth ministry mission statement. Being a misional youth ministry assumes that you are already using the great commission. If the youth pastor is using the great commission, it is basically just stating the obvious.

Using generic and out of date ministry models are like feeding your youth ministry fast food every day. Yeah it is good, but it is processed, cheap, and not filled with too many nutrients.

Solution: Assess your youth ministry and design a contextual mission statement that is true for your context. Feel free to use other verses other than the Great Commission.

Warning: Assessing, designing, and contextualizing your youth ministry is hard because it requires the youth pastor to survey and learn the culture in which they are ministering to. This takes at least 1-3 years depending on the cultural norms. It also requires the youth pastor to use his/her brain– heaven forbid. It is not good enough just knowing the data; the youth pastor needs to architect and design a youth ministry mission statement around the data.

My challenge:

Is your ministry model a sacred cow? Can you ditch it?

Are you willing to put in the work in order to get a focused mission statement that mirrors the needs of the town and teenagers?

Define what your youth ministry does really well. Trust me, you are probably only doing 2-3 things really well, not 5.

Contextual YM Book list:

Models of Contextual Theology

Cultural Intelligence: Improving Your CQ to Engage our multicultural world (youth, family, and culture)

Presence-Centered Youth Ministry

Teaching That Makes a Difference

Youth Ministry 3.0

The way to achieve success is 1st to have a definite, clear practical ideal—a goal, an objective. 2nd, have the necessary means to achieve your ends—wisdom, money, materials, and methods. 3rd adjust your means to that end.
-Aristotle

Entrepreneurs have business plans that direct the course for their start up companies.

So maybe youth pastors need a ministry plan that executes their youth ministry mission.  Writing a youth ministry plan help spell out what God wants to do in your youth ministry.

As the Fall is in full swing, it is essential youth pastors know what they are doing and why they are doing it.

Components of a youth ministry plan:

*Objectives

Your plan objectives should be specific goals that can be measured. Keep the list to three or four because long lists make it harder to focus. As a youth ministry department, this topic is the best place to put emphasis on outcomes and measurements as part of your plan.

*Mission

Use your mission statement to establish your fundamental goals for the quality of your youth ministry. A good mission statement can be a critical element in defining what God is calling your youth ministry to do and communicating to parents, students, elders, adult volunteers, and your community.  I am huge proponent for knowing how to assess your youth ministry and executing a contextual mission statement that is true for your context.

*Keys to Success

Virtually every organization has different keys to success that can make the difference between success and failure.

The idea of keys to success is based on the need for focus. Remember less is more. In practice, lists of more than three or four priorities are usually less effective. The more priorities beyond three or four, the less chance of implementation. It is usually best to list the objectives either as a numbered list or as a set of bullet points.

*Youth Ministry Organizational Structure

This can be used as a summary paragraph about your youth ministry culture and context. Describe where your youth ministry is located, how long it has been around, and what is unique about it.

*Student Analysis Summary

Summarize the real and felt spiritual needs of your students.

*Student Segmentation

Identify what type of students are attending your youth group.  Make sure to answer the question of why these type of students are coming to your program.  Explain and define the different clusters of students and develop as much info as you feel you need about the students involved in your youth ministry.

*Target Student Segment Strategy

Explain why your youth ministry will focus on specific student groups.  Focus is key!  Youth ministries cannot be all things to all type of students.

*Competitive Edge

What makes your youth ministry different from every other youth ministry in your city?  Research what other youth ministries are doing in your city.  You don’t want to do the same exact thing the Baptist church is doing.  If they are attracting a certain kind of student, try to attract the other type of students.

*Fundraiser Strategies

Funding is everything.  Identify how you will raise extra funds to support your youth ministry mission.

*Milestones

Include as many specific programs as possible. For each program, give it a name, a person responsible, a milestone date, and a budget.

*Website Plan Summary

A web presence is a critical channel for many youth ministries.  There are plenty of opensource platforms that make having an online presence really easy and simple.

*Leadership Philosophy

It is essential to have a set leadership structure that explains the ideas behind the moves of the youth pastor.

*Personnel/Staff/Adult Leader Plan

Clarify how you will recruit, train, and pour into leaders/staff.

*Financial Plan

Illustrate the different categories in the youth ministry budget and the purpose behind each category.

*Annual Calendar

Plan out the programmatic flow for the entire year.  Make sure to schedule your vacation time.  Also make great starting and ending points through your youth ministry.

*Teaching Outlines

Knowing what you will be talking greatly helps the production of your talk and also gives students a unifying vision for your teaching.

The goal of writing a youth ministry plan is to think about every aspect of your ministry.

What things will the next generation of youth need in a youth ministry?

I argue there are three essential earmarks youth ministries across the nation will need to have in motion:

1)  Places and spaces that encourage belonging

Throughout history people need places to gather.  As time progressive and as families and student fragment more, students are going to need more places and spaces to express who they are.  I think the problems within youth culture are only going to intensify.  The future of youth ministry will hang on whether or not youth ministries are creating spaces where they [the student] can meet God in their pain. 

2)  Focused theological identities that have clear trajectories

Basically the youth pastor will need to have the tools to know how to assess their youth ministry in order to contextually design a youth ministry model. In short, the youth ministry will need to formulate a clear ecclesiology that spells out their theological values.  Every youth ministry will need to answer the questions of:  Who are we?  How are we unique?  How are we different from every other youth ministry in the country?  What should we focus on?  What ways are we restoring the world? What are our non-essentials?  It is imperative  for a youth ministries to know who they are and where they are going. 

3)  Adults surrounding clusters of students

Chap Clark argues that for every 1 adult there needs to be 5 to 8 kids.  Students need to encounter spiritually healthy and mature adults in their lives.  Every student needs to feel somewhat connect to an adult so they can take their spiritual/life questions to them.  Remember one of the goals of a youth ministry is to challenge students to take an ownership of their faith.  In order to take ownership, they need to ask a lot of questions to adults.  This is why youth ministries that focus on pulpit pastoring are problematic.  Students need interaction and confrontative feedback as they explore theological topics.  Adults are the connecting piece for youth ministries that are wanting their students to test everything, making sure it is good and true (1 Thess 5.21).