Rachel Blom is a seasoned youth ministry leader who founded Youth Leaders Academy: “a blog aimed at training youth leaders worldwide to serve better in youth ministry.” Recently she wrote about her understanding of the shift underway in the preferred model or paradigm for youth ministry. More specifically, she believes it is shifting
- from big youth ministry to smaller youth ministry;
- from event-driven and program-oriented to personal and relational;
- from making converts to making disciples;
- from one-size-fits-all to a tailored approach for each youth ministry;
- from bought to created;
- from entertainment to theological and reflective;
- from modern to postmodern (or even post-postmodern); and
- from a focus on numbers to a focus on people.
So What?
The ministry transition Blom describes above sounds just like youth ministry learning experiences I participated in during the 1990s. Of course, not all congregations adapt quickly (and some never do).
- How would you characterize the major shifts in your youth ministry model (or models) over time?
- Examine your congregation’s youth ministry in light of Blom’s list. How many of the “from” characterizations accurately depict the ministry as it exists today? Do you see these as troublesome? Why or why not?