YM ANSWERS PODCAST has become my personal obsession lately. The podcast run by Kenny and Elle Campbell from StuffYouCanUse.org (amazing resource website if you have never heard of it) who on a weekly basis answer questions submitted by youth ministers around the country. This podcast has been such a refresher to my spirit as the focus of the podcast is the educate, equip, and encourage youth ministers who are in the trenches. One this episode the Campell's interviewed Mark Oestreicher who is one of the founders of The Youth Cartel (another amazing organization seeking to equip and train youth workers) about how to work with apathetic students who are struggling to make any steps in their faith. I found the podcast to be incredible insightful and I believe Mark's perspective on adolescent development is dead on in relation to truly creating a ministry that allows space for teens to flourish. Here are the head points of the podcast on how to truly motivate students in their faith journey and some of my own personal thoughts on each: 1. Need relationships over entertainment Marko talks about how youth ministries have believe this false positive of discipleship. The false positive being that if we better entertain then we also better engage. I know personally this is a struggle for me because I want students to want to be apart of our ministry and so many times that means youth group has to fun and crazy. While having a fun environment is important, so many times youth ministry just becomes a bunch of games with a devotion on the end. This leaves no time for true engagement where student talk one on one about issues facing their lives and how to better develop their faith. We can't expect them to grow if we give them no space to properly wrestle with issues and connect with other who are doing the same. 2. Need to experience belonging This part absolutely blew my mind!! I love how he talks about a students "pathway to belonging" and how so many times the church has failed to make a place of belonging above everything else. Marko discusses identity (who am i?), autonomy (what do I believe is right?), and affinity (where do I belong). He shows how research in development has shown that a student must first belong in order for their identity and actions to align. He said "if a student is acting out... its probably because they doesn't feel as though they really belong." 3. Need to go and do "stuff" His conclusion reminded me so much of how you are suppose to end a sermon by saying "go and do likewise." This is true about adolescents faith. I think back to my time as a teen and how I identity and acting the way I did because of the people I believed that I "belonged" to. So this meant that I did stuff with them that was either beneficial or not to my faith depending on what that group did. Teens need to know they belong and then see through mission trips, volunteering, and "living" their faith alongside others. I listened to this podcast actually three times. Each time I was challenged more in more about how to better my ministry and refocused my efforts towards students who are struggling.
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AuthorMy name is Andrew May. Archives
June 2017
CategoriesAdamDorband.com |