Thursday, November 09, 2006
A New Kind of Youth Ministry?
TIME magazine has recently (of all sources) weighed in on the youth ministry debate. Discussion on the validity and biblical basis for youth ministry has many, including former youth speaker Voddie Baucham (http://www.voddiebaucham.org/Blog/Blog.html), questioning where youth ministry is heading in the 21st century and how it will be different than the older paradigm of the 80s and 90s. You can read the article here. Is their critique valid, and what legitimate concerns about historical youth ministry are proponents addressing?
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4 comments:
I still think that youth ministry needs to be based on Godly intentional relationships where spiritual leaders are formed for real life.
Thanks for posting Tim. You are officially the first to respond with a comment - but this blog's only a few days old!
Seriously though, I think your point stands that youth ministry should be intentionally relational and philosophically realistic. However, what Baucham and others are arguing for is a demolition of youth ministry and a more family-integrated approach to the church. And what the TIME article is suggesting is that youth ministry is basically entertainment-driven and superficial, and incapable of serious theological instruction and equipping students with a biblical worldview. I am interested to see what other youth-minded guys out there think about their arguments, and how youth ministry must change in the 21st century to correct some of our shortcomings in previous generations.
Look forward to seeing your response.
This is something that many youth leaders have been saying for some time. When the fluff is emphasized more than the meat, there's a problem. Believe it or not, Time is on to something.
I agree with Brandon.
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