Youth Should Take Ownership of the Church, Christian Leaders Say
According to the leaders who attended the forum convened by Mission America and the National Network of Youth Ministries Jan. 11-12, a paradigm shift is needed in youth ministry today.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Kids are leaving the church because of the lack of opportunities to take ownership, a ministry leader said last week during a special two-day forum in Orlando, Fla.
According to the leaders who attended the forum convened by Mission America and the National Network of Youth Ministries Jan. 11-12, a paradigm shift is needed in youth ministry today.
"My first car was always perfect," said Timothy Eldred, executive director of Christian Endeavor International, in one example. His dad's car, on the other hand, was always empty, muddy, and had cigarettes on the floor.
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"I didn't care," Eldred said.
"Why?"
"It wasn't mine."
Youth ministry should be changed to "youth in ministry," Eldred said. "If kids don't lead the church, they will leave the church.”
For two days, forum attendants discussed what could be done to help young people hold onto their Christian faith, even after entering college.
Different methods were presented and discussed, including one by Eldred, who advocated that youth pastors, parents, and senior pastors to trust the youths enough to give them responsibilities in their own youth ministry.
Studies show that 69-94 percent of youths are lost after entering college.
“Honestly, you can't sit around this table and not be a little bit ticked off,” said Eldred.
“You can't look at what we've invested in the last 30-40 years. We have everything – A to Z, mile-wide, inch-deep of youth ministry. You can't ask for more,” he added.
“Would it not be okay to consider a different paradigm of youth ministry to challenge kids to do now, not later, but now during the three years, the four years that we have with them?”
Paul Fleischmann, president of the National Network of Youth Ministries, said in his presentation that despite advances made in winning young people to Christ, finding out that they're all leaving the church after college was disheartening.
“After all this effort and creativity, manpower growth, and obvious advances in so many ways in youth ministry, it's very disconcerting to see that 69 to 94 percent of youth don't seem to go on in their faith," said Fleischmann.
According to Eldred, the students do not own their faith.
“The faith has not become theirs because the program is not theirs, the ministry is not theirs. We plan it. We schedule it. It's our idea,” he said. “Youth ministry is ‘2 by 4.’ It's to youth, by youth, and for youth. It's real easy to leave a church you have no stake in.
“If we would give them trust, which would give them hope – in themselves, in their own control, in their own destiny – that ‘Maybe I can really do something’ and ‘Maybe I'm here for a purpose,’” he said.
Christian Endeavor (CE), the nation's oldest youth ministry, has trained eight U.S. presidents and Billy Graham, but has declined in influence since the 1970s after adopting the new paradigm of youth ministry. Eldred is arguing for a return to the CE motto "Never do anything for young that they can't do for themselves."
On Feb. 2, CE turns 125 years and will launch All4One – a call to youth pastors to pledge to give ownership to kids.
Dr. Cornell "Corkie" Haan, National Facilitator of Spiritual Unity for The Mission America Coalition, was grateful that he got his start in ministry through Christian Endeavor. He told the story of how he received his first opportunity to preach at age 13 during a Sunday service because someone supported him.
"I had no idea what I was doing. I was 13 years of age, and [my senior pastor] was taking a big risk, as far as I was concerned," Haan said.
But at the end of the altar call, 50-60 men came forward, some old enough to be his grandfather.
"I'm in ministry today because he (my youth sponsor) trusted me enough to make mistakes," said Haan. "In those days, there weren't youth pastors. My youth sponsor trusted me and gave me a chance and patted me on the back; and I think that was very significant."
What is youth ministry after all if it isn't an “incubator for leadership?” asked Eldred.
“God has always used [youths] to bring revival,” he added.
But the trust isn't one-sided, said Bill Tell, U.S. Deputy Director of the Navigators. Not only must adults trust the younger generation, but the youth must also trust the adults.
“I would add that not only do we need to trust them, the youth, [but] I think the biggest gift to give a young person is to trust us,” he said. “If you don't trust, you'll never be able to be loved. It doesn't matter how much you're loved, but you can't receive it. When you can't receive love, you substitute a cheap alternative for love, and that's pleasure.
“That's one of the reasons we have a culture focused and that revolves around pleasure,” Tell continued, “because we have a whole generation of people who can't be loved because they can't trust.”
“It's the job of the leader to break [the stalemate] first," he added.
A leader may gain trust by living the life of integrity, which means to be honest.
"If I am struggling with something, I tell you so there's no surprises,” Tell said.
Jeff Schadt, a former campus minister and a major organizer of the two-day Orlando convention, said he believes there must be a balance between what is to be expected of youths and allowing them to live out God’s destiny.
“We might get a lot of students starting to do stuff but for all the wrong reasons,” Schadt stated.
“It's all about our motives. It might work for some of the kids that are ready,” he said.
Tell, who also expressed the need for a balance, added his comments.
“I want you to learn to live out of who God made you to be, not out of who I expect you to be,” he said.
“When you live out of who God says you are, then you can begin to move towards your destiny. If all you do is live to the level of my expectations, it’s performance, it's compliance, and that will kill you,” Tell explained.
“There [needs to be] a balance here.”
