Youth sometimes ‘underestimated’

Youth are not ‘the church of tomorrow,’ they are part of the church today,” said Philip Briggs, a youth ministry specialist, during a presentation at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif.
   
Briggs, distinguished professor of collegiate ministry and youth education at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, said churches sometimes underestimate teenagers.
   
Youth want “something to believe in … something to give themselves to … something that answers the big question … something to live by.”
   
Too often, Briggs said, churches opt for less than what youth are looking for and actually need. He also advised caution on approaches that worked effectively in the past:
  
–Emphasis on entertainment. “When youth ministry focuses only on playing into the entertainment culture, it encourages passivity and reduces it to just another consumer item,” he said.
   
Reaching high profile high school leaders. “When youth ministry focuses only on reaching the high profile teenagers such as athlete/cheerleader types with the hopes that other teenagers will be attracted, it is failing to realize that there is no longer one group in high school that asserts an influence over all the others,” he said.
   
–Emphasizing numbers. “Now the question is, ‘Where are those kids?’” he asserted. “The problem is assimilation into the life of a church. The answer is found in church-based discipleship.”
   
Briggs listed three emerging models of youth ministry that has the potential for greater effectiveness in the future:
   
–Teenagers ministering to teenagers. “Shifting youth ministry from entertainment to long-term maturity and the discovery and implementation of spiritual gifts for church leadership, guided by a team of spiritually mature adults” is a better method for the future, Briggs said.
   
–Celebrating the established church. “A model that celebrates the established church while finding ways of integrating teenagers into its tradition” is better for long-term church health, he said.
   
–Teenagers and adults sharing leadership. “A cell-group model with an adult mentor and a student leader who meet weekly to pray and plan for the group meeting” is a strong model for youth ministry, he advocated.
   
One of the strongest forces in shaping youth ministry for the future is becoming a “family-friendly” church. “This must be a primary part of youth ministry. One of the biggest mistakes we make is forgetting the parents,” he said. (BP)