what are we passing on?
Laying awake in bed this morning I began to consider the question of this post. What are we passing on? In youth ministry are we passing on the Christian Tradition? What does that look like? I guess I am really thinking about the so-called conservative or evangelical brand of youth ministry - what is the (real objective and measurable) “tradition” or legacy we are handing over to our students.
Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come. [ Psalm 71.18]
When I think of that passage I wonder - what are we leaving the next generation with? (3 reasons to wait? have a quiet time? funny anecdotes? memories of other cultures?) As I was thinking about this I again was struck with the memory of reading Christian Smith’s book, Soul Searching. One of the factoids that I can’t escape is that after interviewing a bunch (that is a technical term) of adolescents about their beliefs - the most theological statement that emerged from his hours and hours of interviewing was, “Jesus died for me.”
This can’t be our heritage.
As a person involved in Youth Ministry - this can’t be the fruit of the hours and the energy and the resources that have been given and sacrificed.
Can I suggest that we return to the legacy of passing on a tradition of Catechism?
Let’s provide youth with a bit more substance than, “Jesus died for me” (that may be a good start but do students understand why Jesus had to die; and do they understand the obligations involved in appropriating that death?) - and augment that with helping them understand the meaning and memorizing the words of:
The Great Commandment
The Ten Commandments
The Lord’s Prayer
The Apostles Creed
Then let’s ensure they understand how to approach and participate in the Sacraments.
Any thoughts?
Substance. Is the flip side of that coin “substance abuse?” Not in the drugs and alcohol sense of the word. Rather, if we are not giving our kids spiritual substance, are we in the business of substance abuse?
Traditions are important, and in this time of national uncertainty, your message offers hope based on the unchanging certainty of a loving God and our communion with Him.
Nice play on words Carol Ina.
I think for teenagers/young people and young adults - we have to determine the “right” substance. It is not enough to just share our hearts - we need to share ourselves certainly (be authentic, transparent, real with folks) - and at the same time I think share what young folks need.
I think the old catechism approach has merit in meeting those criteria. Essential, meaningful substance that young minds can begin to grapple with; and young minds can begin to genuinely benefit from.
But hot topics, a few principles from scripture (taken from here and there) and/or a steady diet of “applying the word” (in other words topic driven preaching) is not going the distance in passing on the tradition to the next generation in my opinion.
Thanks for chiming in!
[…] Continuing on in the thoughts on the legacy of Youth Ministry - I am wondering in our current regime, “what are we passing on?” In the first post we looked at what we are leaving students in the area of content. I suggested maybe we need to revisit the tradition of the Catechism. (Read the post here) […]