"For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth” Psalm 71:5, NRSV.
I remember it clearly. My first youth group event at our Lutheran church in a small town of 800. I was in the 9th grade and our church had a 9-12 grade youth group, similar to the Luther League model from bygone years. Two young men who were local school teachers were our church youth leaders: Dan and Lon. I had Dan for chemistry, and Lon was the director of music and our One-Act and Senior high plays. We had four youth from each Senior high grade, so about 14-16 youth were there, along with Dan, Lon and Pastor John.
The night had kind of a rocky start for our budding new youth leaders. Dan and Lon burned the pizzas enough so that a light haze of smoke entered the dining area from the church kitchen. Then Dan thought that it would be good to kick off the year at this meeting to show the movie "Kujo". It was about a rabid St. Bernard dog who terrorizes a farm family--a horror movie! We all left the church that night scared out of our wits!! (Sometimes church youth events get wacky. I wondered what kind of adventures our next youth meetings would hold, and Dan and Lon did not disappoint). By the way, they did help us envision some objectives for the year, taught us things about faith from their own perspective—we saw them in a different light than in the classroom, and they walked with us as we discussed questions about matters of faith and spirituality.
The measure of a good youth group meeting seemed to be: “If it was memorable and no one got hurt then it was a success” we joked. But as youth we knew something bigger was going on. Through the strange and peculiar, we were brought to faith in Christ in unique ways—by story, by scripture, by teamwork in accomplishing goals (through neighborhood clean-up projects, or painting the Sunday school rooms). I look back on those days and smile.
Our churches provide a number of ministries for young people--worship, confirmation, youth outings like local, national, and international mission trips, recreational trips like skiing or going to a Twins game, movie nights, and even overnight lock-ins at the church. Preceding these experiences is the foundation laid down by church school or Sunday school education, learning about God, forming relationships, making connections with each other and engaging in meaningful listening. Someone has said, “faith is caught more than it is taught.” An interesting way of looking at faith formation for our young people. I still think it is a both/and concept. Faith can certainly be caught in the atmosphere of fun, the sometimes strange discussions, and through meaningful connections with one another. Faith is also taught in the myriad ways through the Bible and church traditions new and old.
In addition to the clergy, there will always be need for lay people to engage in visioning, dreaming, planning, and conducting spiritual exercises from which our young people can learn. Efforts of time, thoughtful imagination and talent, and perhaps a little bit of financial contribution can go a long way toward inspiring adolescents and young adults in growing their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Have you yet to pick up the mantle of youth ministry? You won’t be disappointed by your time given to such ministry.
