(cute pet pic brought to you by:  Some rights reserved by Apogee Photography)

I will never forget a particular prayer request I received once at the end of a middle school youth group.  An 8th grade guy nervously raised his hand, requesting that we pray for him because his cat had died earlier that day.  As he was sharing his request, he started crying–very intensely.  I could sense that this 8th grade student was literally destroyed because his little cat had died.  He wanted God to not only heal is pain, but also to know if he would ever see his cat again.  I was so moved by his sincerity that I couldn’t help but get a little emotional as well.

And then, 3 weeks later…

We had a question and answer night during youth group and guess what was the most frequently asked question was?

Do animals go to heaven?

After these 2 episodes, I was determined to explore why teens care so much for animals.  Here are a few of my brief observations as to why animals/pets have such a huge impact on teens:

-  pets unconditionally love, accept and play with their teenage owners even if the teens are awkward and smelly.
- many animated movies use animals to connect with early adolescents.  For example:  Finding Nemo, Lady and the Tramp, Ratatouille, Bolt, Jungle Book, Dumbo, 101 Dalmatians, Bambi, The Fox and the Hound, Lion King, Open Season and Lion, Witch and The Wardrobe (the list goes on and on).  So, the desire to care for and connect with animals has been engrained in the minds of children and adolescents in our culture through movies.
- pets have grown up with their teenager owners. Essentially the pets have journeyed with them through the good, bad and awkward years.  So the pets represent consistency, safety and unconditional companionship.

My theological answer: Your pet, because it doesn’t have a soul, does not go to heaven but……………  I feel like there is more of an ethical piece that early to mid adolescents are wanting to explore.  My middle school students wanted to know how they could protect animals here and now so I had to do a bit of research to figure out how other Christian scholars would address this question without being insensitive or inhumane.  So who do I turn to?

CS LEWIS.

Lewis had such a huge love for animals.

Wheaton scholar, Dr. Jerry Root , investigates a lot of Lewis’s work to make a case for human responsibility for animals.  Root concludes that Lewis does not believe animals exhibit signs of possessing a soul or self consciousness, therefore they cannot experience eternal life.  Although Lewis always stressed a very serious attention to the matter of sharing life with animals on this planet and the human responsibility to care for and love them.   Lewis had the same affinity for animals as today’s teenagers.  Today’s teens are wanting to know that God cares for animals just as much as they do.

My point:  It is undeniable that early adolescents have a natural affinity for animals.  Teens care for and are deeply compassionate towards animals.  So it may be wise for youth groups to capitalize on this opportunity.  In fact, I have been  corresponding with The Humane Society of the United States asking how youth groups can empower teens to care for animals.  The Humane Society of the United States has faith outreach programs that guide and educate the next generation to develop and foster humane attitudes and behavior toward animals.  To find out more about these programs provided by the Humane Society of the United States click here.  And feel free to email the HSUS faith outreach if you have any questions.    The HSUS is really helpful and want youth workers to understand the connection between teens and animals.

____________________________

Have you observed the same affinity between teens and their pets in your youth group?

Why do you think teens immediately connect with animals?

Have you ever been asked by your students if animals go to heaven?  If so, how have you answered this question?

I try to keep this blog strictly youth ministry focused, but I think it is fair to reveal what is happening to the dude, aka me, who runs reyouthpastor.com.

- wife and i switched roles.  my wife is working in middle school ministry and I am volunteering in middle school ministry. a year ago, i was working in youth ministry and she was volunteering.

-  i am co-leading a middle school boys small group and i love it.  i think middle schoolers teach me more about God– their  raw questions and fearless pursuit of Jesus is unlike any other age group.

- i read the book:  The Heart and the Fist:  The education of a humanitarian, the making of a Navy Seal and i loved it. i learned that strength comes from working through pain.  to be a Navy Seal is as much a question of moral character as it is a question of physical courage.  the best thing about this book was how Eric was able to discern when to apply unconditional love and grace and when to exert force.

-  we bought a home and have really sunk our heels into a community.

-  as of late, i have really been struggling with the philosophical question of:  when is one truly content-satisfied?  how does one arrive at happiness?  my rough answer to this question is:  God, wife/family, friendship, contemplation and great food.  I think this is how Aristotle would answer this question.  I heavily consulted the his book:  Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.

-  i finished the Insanity Workout as promise here.  it was by far the toughest workout i have ever done.

-  last week, i visited my old youth group in laguna beach and it has doubled in size since i left.  more about this in a later blog post.

-  i am love working with Orange/XP3.  some really sharp, creative people that are constantly asking the questions of:  How can we do family ministry better?  How can we reach the next generation?  I am learning a ton from a wide range of youth pastors.  make sure to check out the new XP3 Students blog here

-  excited for my friend Jared Herd’s new book More Lost Than Found.  this project started in his apartment in pasadena, ca as he explored the question of:  what message does the next generation need to hear most?

- became an auburn fan

(church planter picture  All rights reserved by planterguy)

Over the past year I have really been thinking about why so many youth pastors transition from youth ministry to church planting?

My emotional venting:  I have had many youth ministry friends get the church planting bug.  I have been so excited for them, but selfishly bummed.  I miss my ex-youth ministry friends and the rich conversations with them.  They pushed me to dream big all while thinking contextually and practically.

Seemingly, the youth ministry field is like college football and church planting is like the NFL.  Many of the talented guys and gals who know how to contextualize, fundraise, remain faithful to the Scriptures, and engage culture get drafted or called to the big leagues.  Some of the best church planters were former youth pastors.  The American teenage population is one of the hardest generations to reach.  If a former youth pastor can effectively reach disenfranchised teenagers he/she will most likely know how to strategically reach the 20-30 something crowd who doesn’t give a rip about church.

Let me be clear:  I am NOT bashing church planting.  I am selfishly looking out for the youth ministry field.  I love church planting and planters. I deeply respect and admire the peeps that just go for it, especially since planting is so hard.  I have learned a lot from church planters. In fact, I think there are a lot of similarities between practices of youth ministry and church planting.  There is no other ministry vocation in the church that compares to youth ministry, except for church planting.

My main question:  Why do some youth pastors stay in youth ministry for the long haul and others plant?

Why  (I think) Youth Pastors Decide To Plant:

-  Increase Impact

-  Frustrated with church senior leadership and church politics

-  Execute an ecclesiology that is rooted in Christology, missiology, and culture

-  Able to preach on a weekly basis

-  Utilize and cultivate all spiritual giftings

My secondary questions I need help answering:

(1)  What are the implications for the future of the youth pastorate when a lot of great ( and younger) youth pastors are leaving youth ministry to plant?

(2)  Why do youth pastors find church planting so attractive?

(3)  Do many of the ambitious, type -A, motivated, out of the box thinkers and doers, go-get-getters youth pastors eventually leave youth ministry for church planting?

(4) What in youth ministry/church needs to change in order to keep the church planter type youth pastors around longer?

(5)  How are church planters and youth ministers similar?

(6)  What are the general perceptions about the vocation of youth pastor?

The Orange Conference will be happening this week:  Wednesday, April 27 – Friday, April 29th.  For the past several weeks I have really been reflecting about what this year’s Orange Conference 2011 will be like for a youth pastor to experience.  My thoughts about The Orange Conference experience from a student pastor’s perspective:

The increased interest of family ministry in youth ministry.  Seemingly, over the past 7 years in youth ministry, the family ministry conversation has gained a lot of momentum and attention both in practice and in research.  More and more student pastors are valuing the insane importance to partner with parents and are wanting to know how to do it.  Many of us have been convinced parents are primary. So how do we better equip, partner, educate, inform, and encourage our parents?

But like anything, there are barriers that get in the way  when youth ministries partner with the family.  For example:  disengaged parents, technology, unconventional families, rookie youth pastors, busy parent schedules, and family finances.  I am just excited to be in the same room and have many conversations with other youth pastors who are doing everything to better partner with families.  It will be a blast to brainstorm some new practices and be reminded of the deep theological conviction of why parents are primary.

The Orange Conference Bloggers.  Obviously, I love blogging and bloggers.  So I am amped that Orange was able to invite some youth ministry bloggers.  The Orange Conference bloggers will be doing their social media thing all through out the conference so make sure to check out their site.  Here are some of the youth ministry bloggers:

-  Getting youth pastors and other church leaders in the same room.  Honestly I just think it is sooo good for us (youth workers – who are too cool for school, conferences, and other church leaders) to be in the same room with other ministry leaders.  It forces us to get out of our youth ministry isolation and observe, learn, and listen to senior pastors, associate pastors, family pastors, and children’s pastors.

Study on technology and family. The peeps at Barna conducted a study exploring how technology impacts family.  This year at The Orange Conference the findings will be public.  I am really interested in what the data indicates.  It is pretty clear teens are using technology– alot, but so are parents.  So how does technology (for better or worse) play apart in family life?  How much technology should youth ministries use?  Can technology be leveraged for the good?  Is it the job of the youth pastor to educate parents on how to use and monitor technology?  Needless to say, I have a lot of questions and I think this study will begin to speak to how youth pastors treat technology in relation to informing and training parents.  I think the future of youth ministry will have to clearly address the role of technology in family life and in their youth ministry even when it is changing so frequently.

Hanging with old friends and making new friends.  I love the many breeds of youth pastors.  I enjoy learning about their youth ministry experience and how God is using them regardless of their youth group size.  I am always excited to meet new youth pastors and reunite with my friends as we tell youth ministry war stories.  I just strongly believe there is a real power in listening to the youth workers who are on the ground sacrificing so much to impact the next generation of teenagers.

If you are coming to The Orange Conference and want to meet up contact me or come to our Student Pastor Networking Event on Thursday night at Dave & Buster’s at 7pm.  Chad Swanzy has a killer post on how to bowl a strike here.

Also if you are not coming to The Orange Conference feel free to tune in on the live stream.  For more info click here