BTRU2U: A mission statement for YAYA ministries
The Eastern Synod is finding new ways to engage youth and young adults in a meaningful way. Watch this for a fresh new vision for YAYA ministry.
Date: March 21, 2012
Categories: News
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Nurrum
in August 4th, 2012 @ 04:07I know I’m late to the party on this one, but I do really apctipeare the question (and answers!).I think Lee’s right we may see a lot more of this.But my best response might simply be, Why wouldn’t they? It’s easy to assign problematic motives to students, but in a large number of cases, have we given them much reason to believe that participation means much? It’s easy from OUR standpoint to see each ministry as a very different organization. But if I place myself in the shoes of the average Christian student I might view ministries like I view Christian books or any other spiritual aids. And in that case, it could be very wise to pick-and-choose.I think it’s our job to reframe the situation or, more accurately, to frame it in the first place. These students have generally not heard about participating in A college ministry from their youth pastors or parents, let alone plugging in well.Yes, once we frame it, students will still struggle with commitment, consumerism, and complacency. But first, I’m not sure many have felt _community_ enough to limit their involvement. We’d like to assume it’s truly spiritually valuable for students to invest deeply rather than roam widely but from a discipleship standpoint, I don’t know that we should assume that’s automatically true. Perhaps that’s a good point for evaluation: Will students actually benefit by participating deeply in our group MORE than they would by choosing 3 best activities each week among all the groups?You can probably tell I’m thinking-as-I-go on this one. Great question. Thanks for asking it.
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