One Body
Two weeks ago we had our Haiti themed worship service where the team that went to Haiti was able to share about their experiences. It was a great Sunday where we could thank the congregation for their support and tell stories from our trip. The thing I was so impressed with though was the amount of youth that wanted to have the opportunity to share. Our youth feel comfortable enough in our church to be willing to stand up in front of everyone and share something they wrote. There has been a shift in the way we do youth ministry and I think this is the fruit of that shift.
Youth and Adults sharing a song in Haiti
The traditional youth ministry structure is to separate youth into groups of their peers with a few leaders. The thought process behind this is that they will learn best and have more fun if they around people their own age. This has been the model for many years in lots of churches. But that thought process is changing. We are working hard to integrate youth into the whole church. There are several reasons for this and several ways we are trying to make it work. The main reason for this change is that studies show that youth are more likely to have a long term faith and be involved in the church after graduation if they are involved in the entire church and not just the youth ministry. Being with adults in worship, working alongside adults other than just youth workers on mission trips, and being given leadership opportunities are all proven ways to have long term effects. You may have noticed we often have youth involved in Sunday services. They often read scripture, serve communion, and play in the band. Given youth the opportunity to lead in this way shows them that they are an important part of the church. That church is not just for adults. That youth are not only the church of the future but they are the church now as well. Our Haiti trip is another example of integrating youth. The team was made up of youth and adults. Most importantly these were not just adults that normally work with teenagers. They were just adults from the church. The youth were able to get to know and learn from these adults and vise versa! Now when these youth and adults see each other in church they have a connection of this shared experience.
It’s still important to separate the youth at certain times. We still offer our after school ministry, youth bible study and Sunday school. But we also put effort into finding opportunities to worship and serve alongside adults in the church. Not only has this been faith forming for the youth in our church but I believe it has been just as faith forming for the adults in our congregation as well!
