What will we be like just 10 years? It’s a legitimate question, especially considering this decade is almost through (yeah: 2000 is just shy of 10 years ago). And it has been quite a decade!
Well, over at REYouthPastor (formerly smalltownyouthpastor.com) Jeremy Zach asked the very same question back in October by taking a quick overview of the past 20 years of Youth Ministries/Pastors. SPOILER ALERT: pizza parties and goatees aren’t going to be the game-changers!!
Like many in the Missional Conversation he arrives at the questions of long-term and paradigm shifts with priorities and values as the underpinning:
I seriously think the success and longevity of youth ministry really hangs on the shoulders of youth pastors. What type of youth pastors are we producing for the future? That may be an encouraging or a scary thought.
Will the future youth pastors value:
education? church? theology? mission? programs? the Bible? numbers? Mega churches? small churches? Jesus?
He goes on to outline characteristics/skills/values that he believes will be crucial in the coming decade:
- Experience: real world & church
- Character: integrity, courage, consideration & a bunch more
- Education: street smarts & cultural IQ
- Mission: cause/reason to exist
- Another Job: bi-vocational is inevitable
[The original post goes into more detail for each of these]
For some reason I don’t think “bi-vocational” means getting paid to make the occasional latte and play around with WordPress blogs and making videos about justice, but who knows? Sounds like the 21 Century theologian’s dream part-time job!
I think he’s on to something here, though.
I can’t resist quoting his conclusion:
I think (and I can be completely wrong) we will see less and less of these postmodern pansy type of youth pastors who are extremely moody, and see more and more of youth pastors that are committed to Truth, Jesus, action, missions, the local church, character, and exegesis of the Bible.
Make sure to read the original and peruse what REYouthPastor has to offer:
“a youth ministry website that reactivates amateur theologians and missonal leaders within the youth pastor population.”
[Original Post from REYouthpastor: http://www.reyouthpastor.com/ypqt/youth-pastor-3-0/]
[Jeremy's Blog: http://www.youthpastorgonemad.com/]
[Post discussed on YS: http://www.youthspecialties.com/blog/2009/profile-of-a-youth-worker-2019/]
Fri, Dec 18, 2009
Source, Stuff