The Youth Ministry I Grew Up In
I grew up in a very different kind of youth ministry. There were no games. No gross foods. No small groups. No fun camp trips. What you ask was it? Mini church for students.
My youth pastor, Tim Kurth, had a new model for youth ministry that I’ve never seen anywhere else. First, we had confirmation for middle school. This is pretty common in a Lutheran church. We learned the basic doctrines of Christianity, the story-line of the Bible, and had to write out our testimony. I later leaned that my testimony was based on the two EE questions. Unfortunately, a lot of the youth group graduated from church at that point.
Second, there was Sunday School. I don’t remember much about middle school Sunday School but High School was basically a topical study small group with 10-15 people. I remember one lesson told from the perspective of the sheep at the manger scene, but I can’t remember anything else. But, I do remember liking my teachers.
Next we had Work Camps. Every summer we would take 80+ Students to a no where town to work. The camp had about 300-500 students there and it was housed in a high school. We used the gym for worship, classrooms for sleeping, and the football field for frisbee. We were split up from our friends everyday into an eclectic small group from kids from all over the nation (as a youth pastor I never wanted to repeat that, so I always ran my own camp and leadership training to keep our students together). Then, every day our new small group would fix a house: drywalling, roofing, painting, etc. I learned the value of hard work, getting along with people different from me, and some good basic construction tools. But my most vivid memories were playing frisbee everyday and Thursday being the "cry night."
Finally, the most unique and important part of my youth ministry was Soul Desire. This was a worship service for students. Every Sunday night we met at church to have our own worship service. We had a band, sermon, communion, dramas, videos, and even a baptism service. My sophomore year of high school I joined the band. I played bass guitar, had a goatee, and wore a backwards hat. I was a bit of a loner and nerd in school and I finally felt like I fit in somewhere. I had friends. They liked and respected me. It was family.
There were other parts to my youth ministry (meeting with my youth pastor one on one monthly, evangelism class, Pulse, BURST, SHROOMS [servants helping reach out to others more successfully]), but those were the basics. I first felt a call to ministry in this environment. I came to love the church and loved the community of misfits it brought together.
What does your youth ministry say about you? Did it shape you? Was it crazy, different, or non-existent? If you were a youth pastor, what would you do similar or different today?
My youth pastor, Tim Kurth, had a new model for youth ministry that I’ve never seen anywhere else. First, we had confirmation for middle school. This is pretty common in a Lutheran church. We learned the basic doctrines of Christianity, the story-line of the Bible, and had to write out our testimony. I later leaned that my testimony was based on the two EE questions. Unfortunately, a lot of the youth group graduated from church at that point.
Second, there was Sunday School. I don’t remember much about middle school Sunday School but High School was basically a topical study small group with 10-15 people. I remember one lesson told from the perspective of the sheep at the manger scene, but I can’t remember anything else. But, I do remember liking my teachers.
Next we had Work Camps. Every summer we would take 80+ Students to a no where town to work. The camp had about 300-500 students there and it was housed in a high school. We used the gym for worship, classrooms for sleeping, and the football field for frisbee. We were split up from our friends everyday into an eclectic small group from kids from all over the nation (as a youth pastor I never wanted to repeat that, so I always ran my own camp and leadership training to keep our students together). Then, every day our new small group would fix a house: drywalling, roofing, painting, etc. I learned the value of hard work, getting along with people different from me, and some good basic construction tools. But my most vivid memories were playing frisbee everyday and Thursday being the "cry night."
Finally, the most unique and important part of my youth ministry was Soul Desire. This was a worship service for students. Every Sunday night we met at church to have our own worship service. We had a band, sermon, communion, dramas, videos, and even a baptism service. My sophomore year of high school I joined the band. I played bass guitar, had a goatee, and wore a backwards hat. I was a bit of a loner and nerd in school and I finally felt like I fit in somewhere. I had friends. They liked and respected me. It was family.
There were other parts to my youth ministry (meeting with my youth pastor one on one monthly, evangelism class, Pulse, BURST, SHROOMS [servants helping reach out to others more successfully]), but those were the basics. I first felt a call to ministry in this environment. I came to love the church and loved the community of misfits it brought together.
What does your youth ministry say about you? Did it shape you? Was it crazy, different, or non-existent? If you were a youth pastor, what would you do similar or different today?
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