Are You Asking the Right Questions about your Youth Group?
Few youth leaders disagree that there's a need for effective youth work--it's the how that causes problems. Here are four questions youth workers should ask themselves about their ministry.
David Veerman
October 1, 1980
Are you asking the right questions about your youth program? Too often we never get around to isolating the crucial factors because of our concerns for immediate pressures.
I'd like to propose four basic questions you might ask yourself about the youth program in your church.
The first is this: "What do we want to accomplish?" Many parents want the church to provide activities to keep their teen-agers "off the streets." Others see the youth fellowship giving hours of instruction-a "training union" emphasizing the denominational distinctives. My own church environment included a steady diet of "what Baptists believe," plus bonus social functions. Our goals, conscious or not, determine how we design our programs.
These goals should reflect and complement the purpose of the church "to build up the body and equip the saints to do the work of ministry" (Ephesians 4:12). Therefore, the purpose of the youth group should be discipleship; building our young people in the faith so they understand the lifechanging implications of true Christianity. Evangelism, large attendance, social functions, and church involvement may be byproducts of the ministry, but our goal must be changed lives. We must ask, 'What kind of adults will these teen-agers be five, ten, or twenty years from now?"
In my ministry I ask continually, 'Where are the students to whom I ministered ten years ago? Are they living for Christ? Are they involved in a local church? What about the quality of their marriages and homes?"
A youth group that exemplified the first crucial ingredient of discipleship stands out in my memory. They enjoyed being together, had a desire to know God, and had a leader dedicated to loving them for Jesus' sake. The high school fellowship seemed ...
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