This tradition continued post-reconstruction because many congregations couldn't afford youth workers or children's ministers. The tradition continues for many African-American congregations with youth ministers in order to maintain unity and teach the history of the subculture. While the roots of this model belong to the African-American tributary, there's nothing exclusive about this type of congregation.

The Differences

Unlike a corporate model in which the youth worker is seen as a manager of a particular department, the kinship model of youth ministry doesn't view youth ministry as a different section but as a part of the church as a whole. What this means for youth ministry is that the youth minister isn't seen as someone who only deals with youth matters. The youth worker is seen as a member of the village. Before one is a youth worker, one is a member of the congregation. Because teens aren't always separated from adults, neither is the youth worker. Parents have the opportunity to worship, study and participate in ministries with the youth worker and build trust with the person rather than the title.

So, how does a youth minister fit into a model where youth isn't a department? Youth events still exist in these congregations; they augment the time the congregation spends together as a unit. The missionary to youth's job is to make sure teens of the congregation continue to be seen as current members of the congregation, not just future members. The youth worker keeps teen and adult members of the community dependent on each other. The youth minister helps plan the bi-annual family retreat and the bi-annual teen retreat. The youth worker is involved in family mission trips, as well as youth mission trips. This doesn't mean more events; it's an equal amount of events, but fewer that are purely youth.

The Mindset

Serving as a youth worker in a kinship church has made me think differently about parents. I recognize they are not the enemy, but they aren't advocates either. If we serve their children, then we also serve them. We are the helpers of the parents. Instead of seeing ourselves as working against the parents or seeing them as obstacles, why not see ourselves as part of the village? We are part of the equation. Like any village, we support the family.

Imagine what our youth ministry would be like if we were seen as one of the family. The kids would be seen as our kids; our responsibility would be to the families; and there would be fewer issues because the parents would trust us. However, it's not about changing the parents' and youth worker's views about each other. It's about changing the community's view on how we see church.