4 Views Of Youth Ministry - The Inclusive Congregational Approach

April 12th, 2007

“So, what do we want to happen in our youth ministry? Honestly, as a church we have treated young people like foster care, not family. They’ve become problems to deal with, rather than flesh and blood to love. We keep thinking that they have to change to fit into our church family. Instead we should be adapting the family to include them, just like we did as children were born into our own families.”

The inclusive congregational approach to youth ministry is a holistic approach in which young people are an active and participating members of the community in every aspect of it’s life and mission, they are infact partners in the congregation’s ministry. It’s emphasis is on inclusion, finding ways that young people can be included in the church’s worship, politics, ministry, studies, training, education…

In this model we’d not see separate youth churches, youth groups, youth council, youth bible studies, instead we’d see a community who try to do everything together. There may be some need for age-centred activities, but they would be as a part of the whole and not the norm in this community.

Drawbacks may be that since a lot of energy is focused on inclusion of those already in the community there is less energy and interest in the evangelization of those who are outside the congregation.

Youths themselves are a part of the total congregational ministry and not a separate entity. It is an integral part of the congregational whole, in that the whole is never complete without youth ministry”

Mutations of this model might include churches who haven’t completely understood the model of inclusion, this may lead to young people being given token roles in the church, it may also lead to young people feeling left out if there are a number of activities for adults that don’t include or interest young people. Young people may also start to long for separate activities/programs, especially if they are seeing other communities offering a consumerist approach to their ministry and offering a large number of social events.

Some mutations may end up looking more like the preparatory approach while, and other mutations may look like a church where the young people have long since left due to lack of participation and ownership while the rest of the church professes to hold to the model of youth ministry…

“Youth ministry is not about finding an extra place for yet another ministry, but about finding a place for young people to serve within every ministry and amongst the people that the ministries are designed to serve…”

Implications for churches that adopt this model include:

Young people will not become a separate group within the congregation
In any decision of the church the wellbeing, opinions, faith life and needs of the young people will besought after and considered
Young people will never be neglected or ignored
The congregation will never think of the faith life of young people separately from the faith life of adult members.
Young people will be the congregation’s responsibility, not merely the responsibility of the “youth leaders”

It has to also be understood that the entire congregation has to be involved in the adoption of this model, this cannot be a vision that is adopted by the pastor, or teh church council without consultation with the young people in the community, that would be an incorrect way to kick off an inclusive congregational approach. Perhaps this is one of the more difficult models to hold to and understand, but I’ve seen it work in a number of cases, particularly in very stubborn, all aged family churches that have stuck to their vision like fly to flypaper forever asking how young people are participating in the community…

“Leadership and parents must return to the drawing board – this time with the young people. Together, an Inclusive Congregational approach and it’s consequences must be thought through and worked out…”