Giving up on attractional

For those of you who don’t know me, haven’t been reading long, or are just not very good at taking hints, I’m involved in running our churches Friday night youth ministry for year 7 – 9 kids. It’s traditionally been you classic youth min setup – Friday night, 7:30 – 9:30 for fun, games, possibly some food, and a little bit of God stuff snuck in, based on the hope that kids will bring friends along and that they’ll get evangelised. And to a point, it’s been working. We’ve had a few kids bring friends along and seen them become semi-regular. It got pretty good for a while, and then dropped off around December. There was a little bit of unrest in my mind, but it wasn’t enough to have me break.

Then the sunday before last, I had the youth out for the morning sermon time, and just chatted about what they wanted to see in youth this year. And gradually, as the suggestions started rolling in, two very different patterns started to emerge. On the one hand, these kids wanted to have a super cool babysitter for a couple of hours every friday. The other was a much quieter thread, but somewhere underneath all that, there was a push towards doing some serious discipleship. And for involving the kids in running the nights. And having them share what God’s doing in them.

Which just broke me. Broken by the futility of running a teenager amusement park and shocked at the ever-widening gap between my ecclesiological theology (thanks to Alan Hirsch for the big word) and my practical application of aforementioned ecclesiology, I knew that I can’t keep doing this. So, now everything changes.

The focus is going to be on discipleship. We’ll have these kids learning how to incarnate Jesus into their English classes, and the only chance we’ve got is if the Holy Spirit comes and does something incredible. But I’m sick of settling for the old way, and sick of feeling like I’m not doing anything for these kids. So, maybe it’s time to put my emergent where my mouth is and actually trust that God wants to use teenagers to speak to teenagers, rather than me. I just get to have a crack at helping them out. It’s a frightening prospect.

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7 Comments

  1. Rodney Olsen
    Posted 30 January, 2007 12:55 pm at 12:55 pm | Permalink

    I feel your pain. :)

    It’s easy to feel tied to the old ways of doing things. They’re safe and can be comfortable but deep down it becomes harder and harder to keep working with something that’s broken.

    There’s an awkwardness in staying the same and you can feel the call to something new.

    I’m battling the same issues and am looking for ways to reach out rather than wait for the lost to find their own way.

    Great post. I’m sure you’ll keep us updated.

  2. Christina
    Posted 30 January, 2007 2:50 pm at 2:50 pm | Permalink

    Great stuff Geoff. At the last Forge intensive a guy called Mick Duncan (I think that is his name) spoke on youth ministry in an ‘emergent’ context. Might be worth looking into. His youth ministry was organised into tribes based on interest – say skaters, surfers, musos etc. The Christian kids hung out with their unchurched friends and explored faith in those diverse contexts. Looking forward to hearing how it all goes…

  3. Bec
    Posted 30 January, 2007 5:33 pm at 5:33 pm | Permalink

    I like it when you ‘freak yourself out in new and unusual ways’. I’m really looking forward to how it will all play out to be honest. For those reading, those of us involved would really appreciate your prayers, ideas and encouragement!

  4. Sam
    Posted 30 January, 2007 7:02 pm at 7:02 pm | Permalink

    sadly, i think you will find people drop off when it gets a little… intense maybe? serious? not just a fun place to hang out on a friday night? (though im sure it will still have some coolness).

    i think its an excellent idea, and im very glad that you’re doing it. might be tough, challangeing, frustrating etc, but im sure it will be rewarding if only one or two of those kids make a difference, let alone all of them. :)

  5. geoff
    Posted 30 January, 2007 11:37 pm at 11:37 pm | Permalink

    Thanks for the encouragement guys – I really appreciate it. I’m sure it’ll get hard, but I’m definitely looking forward to having a crack.

  6. Matt
    Posted 31 January, 2007 9:49 am at 9:49 am | Permalink

    No idea about how to lead youth, but I DO know you generally wind up where you aim, so I’m very encouraged that you’re not willing to put up with same old same old.

    We need dreamers/hopefuls/idealists.

    If you figure it all out (cool older person I just want to hang with V serious discipleship) and can write a manual, you’ll be world famous in three seconds, and making a real difference in like a billion kids’ lives.

    Worth working hard for!

    Encouragement to you.

  7. louise
    Posted 6 February, 2007 11:55 am at 11:55 am | Permalink

    You know… reminds me of when Jesus said you cannot pour new wine into old wineskins.

    I feel that He does want to do something new in your youth ministry, but that requires getting rid of the old way of doing stuff, and doing something new :)

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