an introduction of sorts

On one hand, youth ministries have failed the Church. They have created sub-pockets of Christian culture that have not been christian. They have been entertaining. They have been formative. They have tried to be faithful and have at least established some form of moral therapeutic deism. But often, this American experiment has failed. We only need to look at the decline of participation within churches to warrant this claim.

On the other hand, the Church has also failed its youth. Or rather, mainstream Christianity has set aside the role of forming the next generation and handed its responsibility to education systems that have not been trained to cultivate curiosity, critical thinking, or respect for religious perspectives.



In other words, youth ministries are a mess, but no more so than our churches. And contemporary culture has not given much helping.



So what are we supposed to do?



This blog is an attempt to help wade through the mess and reconstruct a way of looking at the world that will help youth understand Christianity and hopefully teach what it means to be faithful. This blog is primarily for youth workers, parents, grand parents, and others that deeply care for our next generation of Christians. And it is my hope that it will help. It might, however, sound more like deconstruction than construction at times. And I think this process is necessary to some extent because we all have to unlearn some bad habits.



However, if you are looking for a blog that will help your church find things that are engaging for people going through adolescence, there will be some of that too. It won't always. But there are some great resources out there that I hope to bring them to your attention.

As a foretaste of what is to come, the first resource I would suggest is the Fuller Theological Seminary Podcasts found on iTunes U. There is a lecture by Dr. Ellen Charry entitled "Psychological Theology" (it can be found in the Faith & Psychology Integration Symposium). And it describes the tension present between the Church and Psychotherapy. This is an important relationship that needs careful attention by youth workers, since youth ministry does deal, intentionally or unintentionally, with the psychological health of our students. Formal train would obviously be preferred, but that has not been a realistic expectation for youth workers in the field.

Going back to Charry's work, what I find most helpful is way she challenges the very foundation of the way I think about things. She states, “The entire individuation moment practiced in youth ministries are completely antithetical to Christian Theology.” And I think she's right. If youth ministries are about helping people independently find who they are, then youth workers are not doing the work of Jesus. Because it is our responsibility to help our students to realize that they are God's chosen people, created and loved eternally and unconditionally.



Who that God is will be the subject of the next post.