Comments on via crucis | via salutis: Just The Essentials: Building a Minimalist Youth M...

Really enjoyed this article, and it came at...

2010-02-06T17:10:30.694-08:00

Really enjoyed this article, and it came at a great time. We were in the midst of a proposal for a fancy new youth space (very Starbucks) in the basement of a house our church bought.
The youth leaders got together to pray about it and felt very uncomfortable with this awesome space we had created.
After the prayer we had a heartfelt discussion, and decided to move into the basement as-is. That means cement floor, bare sheetrock, no furniture, no decorations. We're going to meet there as a youth group to pray that the space will evolve into the perfect gathering place for our students and their friends. I am crazy-excited to see what comes of that.
Anyway, a well timed post, thanks for sharing.

Breanda, Shoot me an e-mail @ tatum.andrew@gmail...

2010-01-30T10:50:26.818-08:00

Breanda,

Shoot me an e-mail @ tatum.andrew@gmail.com with some details about what you're thinking and with some more info about the site.

Thanks! Looking forward to hearing from you.

Andrew

I love this thinking. Would you be interested in ...

2010-01-30T08:54:32.225-08:00

I love this thinking. Would you be interested in expanding these thoughts on minimalist youth ministry for an article for my subscribers at Wild Frontier? Check us out at www.wildfrontier.org. This is not a cheap plug but a serious request.

Andrew, I do, but haven't updated it in a lon...

2010-01-29T12:39:20.210-08:00

Andrew,

I do, but haven't updated it in a long time. It's a personal/work/everything else blog. http://theunlikelypastor.wordpress.com another really old one is http://aloneinthought.blogspot.com if you want to know more how I think (but hasn't been posted to in years).

for other thoughts you're free to follow @grahambuck

Graham, Do you have a blog of your own? Andre...

2010-01-29T09:12:00.080-08:00

Graham,

Do you have a blog of your own?

Andrew

Andrew... Every time I read posts such as this on...

2010-01-29T07:31:57.253-08:00

Andrew...

Every time I read posts such as this one my heart is overjoyed. Is that an overly effusive statement to get another's approval? No.

The church context in which I work is this: affluent, upper-middle class, well educated, white, suburbia. These kids are over-extended as it is: too much schoolwork, too many extra-curricular activities, and no 'space'. I would hazard a guess to say that this is because their parents don't understand what it means to have space.

They are 'good' Christians, love God, and really 'do' much good service to our community. But the expectation is that there will be many things going on with the youth group for kids to be involved in.

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who is pushing back against this and offering a more 'simplistic' youth ministry paradigm. Not that my students must all become contemplative theologians, just that they know that following Jesus is often not so much in the doing as in the being.

Keep offering your wisdom. We are listening.

I did, but I deleted it recently. I may start some...

2010-01-28T12:17:53.019-08:00

I did, but I deleted it recently. I may start something again soon though with a different feel to it.

Lukas, Do you have a blog of your own? I clicke...

2010-01-28T12:09:30.560-08:00

Lukas,

Do you have a blog of your own? I clicked your name but it was a dead link...

Andrew

Very well said. This is exactly what I am trying t...

2010-01-28T12:05:06.557-08:00

Very well said. This is exactly what I am trying to do with the youth program here at the Methodist Church where I work as well. Many people have difficulty accepting this philosophy because they are so used to the hyper-pseudo-youth ministry that has been popular for so long, and in which I grew up.

I'm told that "kids won't want this" and I respond each time with, "kids desperately need this, whether they know it or not."

Great stuff. And a great blog. I look forward to joining the conversation.

LK

Jason, Thanks for your comments. As I was finish...

2010-01-28T11:07:30.143-08:00

Jason,

Thanks for your comments. As I was finishing this post, I added the last couple of sentences about mission, evangelism and service - almost as an afterthought. I do think that service needs to be central but my thinking is that service should be the natural extension of obedient discipleship...make sense?

Andrew

Good stuff Andrew, your instincts are superb. It&#...

2010-01-28T09:05:45.392-08:00

Good stuff Andrew, your instincts are superb. It's an old cliche' in youth ministry, but for all the sins of this hype-oriented niche it still holds true: it's all about the relationships. If you eat, play, read, and pray with teens you will infect their lives with your own character. That was always my experience, at least.

My only gentle pushback is that I would encourage you to consider adding "serve" to that list for two reasons: 1) I have a superstitious prejudice toward sets of 5 (weird, I know), and 2) because mercy really is the heart of God, so, IMHO it can never be an "add-on" - doubly so in youth culture, which is so compulsively insular and myopic.

Of course, you could just make "serve" the essential trajectory of each of those four activities. Every one of them could be done as an act of inclusive mercy among people in need...but, you get the idea.

I couldn't agree more or have said it better.

2010-01-28T07:00:03.576-08:00

I couldn't agree more or have said it better.

Superb, my dear.

2010-01-27T17:04:31.914-08:00

Superb, my dear.