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Youth Ministry

• 05.15.08
  Examining Dare 2 Share’s Deep and Wide Youth Ministry Thesis: Part 2
  Youth Ministry (8)

  Previous Posts: • Introductory thoughts • Part 1 1. What Deep and Wide Youth Ministry is Not (pages 3-4) It is not just another approach to youth ministry I found it interesting that the thesis tries to convince us that “Deep and Wide Youth Ministry is not a gimmick or a method” (3) and then goes on to use words like “X-factor” (gimmick) and argues the necessity of this particular approach to ministry (method). Okay, it’s not a “method” in the strictest sense of describing exactly what needs to be happening in your ministry, but DWYM is talked ...
  
  
• 05.14.08
  Examining Dare 2 Share’s Deep and Wide Youth Ministry Thesis: Part 1
  Youth Ministry (8)

  Previous Posts: • Introductory thoughts Before I begin, I would like to applaud Dare 2 Share (D2S) for making their Deep and Wide Youth Ministry Thesis available for free rather than turning it into a book or a training tour that you have to pay to get access to (and if they do decide to do either of those things, that’s fine as long as we can still have access to the free stuff). If there is anything in the world that should be open-source, it should be things related to Christian ministry. I hope youth ...
  
  
• 05.13.08
  Examining Dare 2 Share’s “Deep and Wide Youth Ministry Thesis”: Introductory Thoughts
  Youth Ministry (11)

  For some reason I took a keen interest in Tim Schmoyer’s post last week regarding the fairly new document produced by Dare 2 Share (D2S) called the “Deep and Wide Youth Ministry Thesis.” I thought I would post my thoughts on the document, but I was hesitant to make the posts for a few reasons: Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of D2S, for various reasons. So, I was worried that I would be unnecessarily harsh and negative no matter what the document says. I’m afraid that people who read my critique will think I am questioning the intentions of ...
  
  
• 05.09.08
  Open Letter to Public Schools
  Youth Ministry (1)

  ...over at the Youth Ministry Hilarity! blog. He makes some really great points. A quote: You complain that our kids are too tired, but then you make them stay after school for HOURS of extracurricular practice! They lack concentration, so you lengthen their school year. You make them work at camps from 9:00 to 5:00 IN THE SUMMERTIME! I have teenagers in my church youth group who seem to be able to do NOTHING other than school! Does this produce well-rounded citizens? Why do we think that ALL their time needs to be occupied? Why can we not let ...
  
  
• 05.06.08
  Locution, Illocution, Perlocution, and Developmental Psychology: Age-Appropriate Cultural Texts
  Christianity, Theology, Youth Ministry (0)

  More thoughts have been spurred by reading the opening essay by Kevin Vanhoozer in the book he recently edited: Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends. If you are familiar with Vanhoozer, you will know that the orienting metaphor he uses in his thought comes from speech-act theory which declares that when we speak, there are three things at work: locution, illocution, and perlocution. In the essay, he is concerned with paying attention to these three layers when interpreting cultural texts. He explains the words like this: First, a cultural text, like written discourse, has ...
  
  
• 05.03.08
  What are the Best Youth Ministry Blogs?
  Blogging, Youth Ministry (0)

  To those who follow youth ministry blogs, what are some of the best ones you've come across? The ones I follow are in my sidebar, but I know there's got to be some other really great stuff out there. I like blogs that make you think and aren't satisfied with the status quo. Moderate to heavy doses of theology don't hurt, either. Drop any ideas in the comments.
  
  
• 02.27.08
  The Narcissism of Christian Education
  Christianity, Ecclesiology, Youth Ministry (6)

  A fairly quick and random thought that I had during a worship service a few weeks ago: Christian education is narcissistic. Well, I guess I should qualify that. The current status and priority that we give to Christian education is narcissistic. When a Christian desires to "go deeper" in their faith or to become "closer to God," we often point them to a weekly Bible study of sorts that is supposed to be "in-depth." This could be Sunday school, a Wednesday night study, or a home group. The context doesn't matter. What bothers me is ...
  
  
• 01.19.08
  More on “Mission Trips”
  Ecclesiology, Theology, Youth Ministry (3)

  My last post created a decent amount of discussion. Essentially, my question was, What might be a more theologically accurate name for a missional relationship (as opposed to the typical "mission trip")? Reminder: these are the (very basic) qualifications for a theologically-grounded missional relationship: Establish ongoing relationships by returning to a particular community rather than migrating to a different locale every year. Immerse the group in culture as opposed to making sure there is always something to “do.” Create authentic action out of these relationships and immersion. A few less-than-desirable descriptors came to mind: Missional relationship. Though this points towards the ...
  
  
• 01.15.08
  Mission Trips Suck
  Seminary, Theology, Youth Ministry (13)

  (Is it sinful to title something provocatively in hopes that people will read it?) Today in class we talked about mission trips. As tends to happen in seminary classes, we ended up quite critical of popular practice. Thankfully, we moved beyond deconstruction and towards construction of a proper mission trip-ish type experience. Something that tended to come out, based on the theological convictions espoused in the class, were mission trips that: Establish ongoing relationships by returning to a particular community rather than migrating to a different locale every year. Immerse the group in culture as opposed to making sure there ...
  
  
• 01.13.08
  Two Quotes…
  Seminary, Theology, Youth Ministry (0)

  ... from class this week that have been rolling through my mind (well, they may be close paraphrases, but you get the idea): Our ministries are not ministries to the world, but to God the Father God is not a theologian, but a minister Speaking of class--I was afraid this would happen--my amazon.com wish list has grown my six more items. Crap.
  
  

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