During his interview on Friday’s Life in Student Ministry Podcast, Mark Ostreicher made a comment about how Youth Specialties is trying to figure out how they are supposed to transition into Youth Ministry 3.0 type of mentality with their National Youth Workers Convention and approach to publishing.
Other people can comment on the NYWC, but here are some ways I would like to see YS try to move in a new direction in some of their publications.
- Books. Although Youth Specialties has lots of good resources, resources don’t get down to the soul of ministry. In order to begin a shift towards a 3.0 style of youth ministry, books are going to have to make that happen. With that in mind, the following are the kinds things I am looking for in a book that doesn’t conform to the status quo.
- Authors who have been in one place for a long time. Youth Ministry 3.0 necessitates doing youth ministry in a radically contextual way, which can only happen as the result of longevity. I don’t want to hear from someone who skips around to different churches, no matter how successful they may seem.
- Authors who are not “youth ministers” proper. As part of the process of making youth ministry radically contextual, we are going to have to listen well to voices outside of the typical youth ministry interest groups, namely youth ministers and youth. Books by senior pastors, parents, grandparents, elders, deacons, janitors, council presidents, bishops of synods, and single adults might bring some healthy perspective into what it means to move youth ministry in a different direction.
- Authors who have never been published before. If youth ministry is going to forge a new direction, we need new voices. Although people like Doug Fields, Bo Boshers, and [fill-in-your-favorite] have paved the way for us, its time for some fresh voices to enter into the conversation.
- Authors who are at smaller churches. Ninety-four percent of churches in America have an average attendance less than 500 people. Fifty-nine percent have less than 100 people. The vast majority of youth ministry happens in churches way different than most published authors and conference speakers. There are creative, faithful, theologically-grounded, well-trained people at some of these churches. Let’s have the opportunity to hear from them.
- Authors who are younger. This is probably a little of my own bias, but I see this initial phase of transitioning into youth ministry 3.0 as an exercise in imagination. Many of the veteran youth workers I have talked to lack a lot of the imagination we need to move forward in a new direction. I think they have skills and tools to get us there once we forge a new path, but some of the veterans have a hard time rethinking new possibilities for ministry in the first place. The fact of the matter is that as most people age, our imagination shrinks (read Dangerous Wonder by Mike Yaconelli). The people who are the widest-eyed, who have the biggest dreams, who are not bound by the past are those of us in our twenties. When you want wisdom, age is an asset. When you want imagination, youthfulness is an asset. I think Youth Specialties should give someone like this a shot.
- Authors who speak to the soul of youth workers. Who is the Eugene Peterson of youth ministry? Someone who is not flashy, but speaks with calm, wise, discerning words to youth ministers about the way they do ministry, but not necessarily about how to do youth ministry. Eugene Peterson’s church was nothing special. It didn’t have big fancy programs, didn’t have a huge network of churches that it started, didn’t make a lot of headlines. But that was kind of the point. Eugene Peterson has an uncanny knack for taking the ordinary things in congregational life that seem mundane, trivial, and pointless and illumining God in the midst of them. Who is doing that for youth ministry today? I say we could use someone to help us along that path.
Obviously, the above are just suggestions. You can’t have all of the above in one book, but Youth Specialties could incorporate a book a year with at least one of the above criteria into their publication schedule. Part of what is different about the above criteria is that it has more to do with the kind of people the authors are than their particular topic or accomplishments. If we get some of the new kinds of voices I mention above into the minds of fellow youth workers I believe we will start digging into the depths of the soul of youth ministry and begin moving forward together.
I would especially like to hear from Dan, Jake Bouma, Adam Lehmen, Adam Walker Cleaveland, and Jeremy Zach about what they would like to see from Youth Specialties moving forward. If you guys want to answer and tag more people, go ahead, but I’m just curious.
Awesome thoughts. Stay tuned! I feel like I say that a lot, but I think it’s just that you’re pretty forward thinking. 🙂
You do say that a lot! Okay, I am on the edge of my chair, waiting for great things.
I also hear you all are totally rethinking the NYWC, which sounds great. Unfortunately, I probably won’t make it to another one until about 2011 when I will (hopefully) be finished with my seminary degree.
I might be a forward thinker, but I’m not so good at being a forward doer. We’re working on that.
this post deserves an AMEN!
Matt—you and i are obviously smoking the same thing. I like how you think and you simply “get it.”
We need multiply voices articulating how to do multiple YM in multiple contexts.
“High on the Most High,”perhaps?
Jeremy/Matt- I think both of you will want to be a part of some conference call/webinar things we’re going to be doing very soon. I’ll be sending out details soon, but I’m pretty sure it’s 5/6 during the work day. (On the west coast that is)
That sounds fun. I’m in.
Can a brother get in on that action…?!
awesome, stuff, matt! yes, let’s do all of that!!!
No objections here, Marko. Thanks for commenting.
count me in. i am passionate about this stuff. give me a redbull, bible, and techno music and i am ready to “conversate” (my new word for having a intentional conversation about YM)
ps Matt you need to get that seminary degree ASAP. ; )
Haha, you’re telling me. Thanks to a very generous couple at church I have some more money at my disposal now and will be trying to take a heavier load of classes to finish as quick as I can.
Conversate. I like it.
matt
hopefully that money didn’t come with any attachments. ; )
You don’t want to hear from someone who skips around to different churches? Didn’t some of those guys you mention do just that? How many of them have been at more than one church in the last 3-4 years?
Hey, Kristen, thanks for commenting. I’m not exactly sure who you’re talking about, but I was saying that I want to see some books where longevity is a value of the authors. I never suggested anyone as an author.
Matt,
I just realized i was tagged in this post. i must have been drunk. on red bull. and coffee.
OK. So here are my thoughts. This is what gets my YM engine revved.
-Books that stretch. I think YS does a decent job at this. Keep pushing the envelope. Not so much theologically (like don’t pump out heretical books – though some may claim you do – just to be edgy) but keep challenging youth ministers deeper and deeper in ministry. Make the hard challenge that doesn’t let youth pastors off the hook. PUSH US!
-Conferences. I like the idea of a HUGE mega-conf that YS puts on. It’s a great place to YM peeps and volunteers to get really jazzed and refreshed. I’ve had several veteran ministers advise me, “if you take your volunteers to any conference, them them to one by YS.”
-Localities. I think the thing i desire more than anything is to be deeply connected with other youth workers. No one in churches – parents, pastors, anyone – understands what this stuff is like (or at least they sure don’t act like it). The reason I love the blog/twitter/facebook world is because I can connect with YM peeps and get that “oh-im-not-the-only-one-like-me.” YS would be amazing if it turned into a sort of networker of small churches (which matt points out: there are MOSTLY small church youth workers). YS could make that become a reality (as they’re already a hub of YM resources).
-Oh yeah. Younger authors to. Like me, Matt, JZ, and Jake. Sounds like a good crew (and i’m totally unbiased).
It’s interesting you say that you love both the huge mega-conferences and the local networks. I’m not sure where I stand on huge events in general, not just YS. It’ll be interesting to see the changes they are rolling out for this year’s NWYC.
You have some really great ideas, Adam. Especially that author list. 😉
Matt.
I totally dig ya on the whole “big” conference thing. I just think they are useful and have their place. A big conference could happen every year, but i would love to see the actual time and effort and intention dropped into a local network deal. I think that’d be the most encouraging/beneficial use of resources. In my opnion.
Adam