Family and Youth Ministry

In my class at Tabor on Family and Youth Ministry we studied a book on family based ministry and I would like to share a couple of paragraphs from the paper I wrote on it. The most important point I want to make is the last sentence which I have bolded.

Family-Based Youth Ministry by Mark DeVries
Before I provide the thesis of the book, I would like to spend a paragraph sharing what the author thinks is a crisis in the youth ministry of many Churches. The author states the ways youth ministry is being developed and implemented in most Churches does not provide the foundation for the young people to become mature in Christ. His concern is that the young people are becoming ‘reactive Christians.’ He states, “. . . they are constantly waiting for someone or something to attract them, to involve them, to impress them. A reactive Christian always puts the responsibility for his or her spiritual life on someone else.” (p. 28) This crisis does not allow for the young people to mature in the faith to a point that becomes their faith. It is not becoming a faith that they own and fight for against all the ‘anti-Christian’ movements in society.
I think the best synopsis of the thesis presented by the author is stated in the introduction when the he writes, “One of my working assumptions is that the contemporary crisis in youth ministry has little to do with the programming and everything to do with the families.” (p. 17) The author then spends the rest of the book defining how the family is the most important factor in a young person’s life for helping them appropriate a faith of their own. It was interesting and encouraging to me when he made comments such as the most important things a parent could do is to talk about their faith in the home and bring the young people into ministry with them.

Web sites for the Family

Web sites for the Family
I am a firm believer in the idea of the family as the main influencer of children’s movement toward the Lord. To this end, I would like to offer some websites or stories in the next few days which I have found very supportive of this mindset.
Article on Celebrating Spiritual Milestones

http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/article_main_page/0%2C1703%2CA%25253D166281%252526M%25253D200824%2C00.html?emid=95

Here is a portion of this article.
Scriptural Spiritual Milestones - Throughout Israel’s history, numerous events held such great importance that the Lord designated them as celebrations, festivals, and days of faith practice to commemorate spiritual milestones. In doing so, He established a time when parents could highlight spiritual milestones for their family, both personal and extended. From the Passover (which celebrated the time Israel survived the plagues) to the Jewish celebration of a child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah (the recognition of a child’s progression into adulthood), events held spiritual significance. Each one involved the family in the celebration of their significance as persons of God. The example that God gave us is one that is worthy of repetition, even in today’s busy family.
Personal Spiritual Milestones
What are some of the significant spiritual experiences or milestones in your life? You may have been involved in some of these.
- Attending church for the first time

- Celebrating Jesus’ birth (Christmas) and resurrection (Easter) with church friends

- Learning various Bible elements (names of the books, disciple’s names, Paul’s
missionary journeys)

- Becoming aware of and discussing your spiritual condition

- Making a personal, individual decision to commit your life to Jesus Christ as your
Savior and Lord

- Obeying Jesus’ instruction by following Him in baptism

Others are listed in the article which also has suggestions of how to celebrate them.