We’ve gathered four thoughtful youth workers to flesh out the impact and longevity of theology in youth ministry.
Ali Ferin is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and serves a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. She graduated from Luther Seminary in St. Paul and concentrated her M.Div. within the Children, Youth and Family Ministry Program. Her passion lies at the intersection of coffee, feminist theology and faith formation.
Daniel Bond is a youth pastor in Longview, Texas. He is a graduate of LeTourneau University (B.A., Christian Ministry Leadership) and Denver Seminary (M.A., Theology). His greatest joys are proclaiming the glory of Christ; drinking coffee with his wife, Jenny; and making faces at his son, Asher. He also serves on the adjunct faculty at LeTourneau University’s Department of Theology.
Heather Campbell is a youth director in an Indianapolis UMC church, working primarily with junior high students and their families. She is a graduate of Southwest Baptist University with degrees in youth ministry and theology. She loves the St. Louis Cardinals, coffee, Christian hip-hop, corny jokes, blogging at HeatherLeaCampbell.me and her one-eyed cat, Iris.
Brian Hull is the assistant professor of youth ministry at Asbury University and has been involved in youth ministry for more than 20 years, including time in the local church and denominational youth leadership. He feels called to build bridges between young people and the church. His Ph.D. is in intercultural studies from Asbury Theological Seminary.
YWJ: Not too long ago, there was a huge push for youth workers to focus on the theological why behind the practice of youth ministry. What is your assessment of that emphasis? Has it helped youth ministry? What might be some of the hindrances of this emphasis?
Brian: In general, I believe asking why is good, believing it to be helpful because it forces us to examine the purpose and intent of our actions. I feel as if I always am asking why, similar to 3-year-old. It also challenges us to examine the real issues of our context, of our place, and really try to know it. This has been great for youth ministry in my opinion, because it has challenged us as youth workers and people in churches/ministries to act thoughtfully, not just react from our instinct. This is helpful unless we allow other people to answer for us or unquestioningly accept others’ answers. Each community needs to own its answers to the why-questions instead of accepting the answer of someone else from another context. We often do not want to do this because it is hard work and messy.
In my experience, problems arise from not doing the hard work ourselves (in our communities). When I accept someone else’s answer to, “Why should I talk about the story of the cross at least once a year?” for example, then I skip the voice of my community about why this is important to us.
Daniel: I appreciate Brian’s emphasis on thoughtful examination. I also consider myself to be a why-kind of person. Why do we believe this? Why do we say things a certain way? Why do we use a particular vocabulary? Why are we committed to teaching certain topics every week? If we stop asking why, we lose sight of the need for intentional engagement. For me, as I think about my approach to youth ministry, it always must come back to a theological grid or framework—a biblical worldview. Each summer, we do a special teaching series called Hot Topics. This is an opportunity for the students to submit any question (anonymously via a notecard dropped in the hot box), and I promise we will address it. The questions range from moral and ethical kinds of questions to seeking advice about relationships. What I continually have tried to remind my students is that it is impossible for me (or anyone else) to provide a succinct and concrete answer for every question they might ask.
I have seen great value in always asking why questions. It helps me be a good thinker, and it motivates me to go back to Scripture constantly to inform my ministry model and objectives. I think it also helps us better understand and interact with our students and culture around us. In his book The Pastor as Minor Poet (Eerdmans, 2009), M.Craig Barnes helps ministers look beneath the surface to read the subtext of people and issues. That helps us to know what the question behind the question is or what the issue behind the issue is. If we’re not always asking why students are doing certain things, acting certain ways, we may miss the opportunity to address the heart of the matter. If we’re not asking why we believe or practice particular things in our ministries, we may be failing to correct misdirections and failing to minister intentionally.
As Brian said, asking the why questions may stir up messy and hard conversations or create more work for us to do, but I’m convinced that it is nothing less than my duty (and joy) as a minister of the gospel to be intentionally engaging with God’s Word and with His people, not simply “going with the flow” because it’s a little easier.
Brian: Daniel, I love the Hot Topic idea. By creating space for teens to ask these questions and address them, it acknowledges that we all have questions. It also allows us to realize we are not alone in asking these questions. Perhaps the greatest gift and joy in Christian community is joining one another in asking the questions and together pursuing the answers.
Ali: I am not sure there are too many hindrances to asking why when it comes to being intentional with our practices. Without asking why we are doing what we are doing, we could tread into some dangerous territory without realizing. Take mission trips, for instance. Why are you taking your youth group to the Dominican Republic? Is it because you are convinced the people of the DR never have heard of Christ and it is the duty of your high schoolers to bring them the gospel? Is it because they are actually good at painting/building/roofing homes and can do some good? Is it because you want the kids to see how good they have it (ugh!)? Or is it because you want to give them a transcultural experience? Know why you do what you do. Otherwise, we not only could be practicing some poor theology, but we could be objectifying others without knowing it. It’s worthy to ask, “What is at stake here?” with each youth ministry practice. I keep notes on each event and document the nuts and bolts…the “How much did this cost?” and, “How many youth attended?” and, “What was the goal?” and, “Where was God at work?” This helps me stay organized and gives me a space to ask those big why questions, as well as allows me to refer back to the notes in time.
Brian: I would love to see this spreadsheet, Ali! I love that you intentionally are making space to ask the big questions of yourself and your events.
I agree there is great danger in not asking the why questions. It seems that at its core, youth ministry is about the God who is unknowable making Himself known to young people. We want to help teens interpret, talk about and engage in that revelation. We want to point them to that God as much as we can. If we fail to ask the why questions, the temptation is great to make youth ministry about activities, entertainment or “me, the youth leader,” rather than about the God who comes. Failing to ask why often fools me into believing it is about me and what I do, rather than about what God is doing.
Heather: I agree that asking why is fundamentally important for youth ministry. The only danger I see is when you get so caught up in the why that you forget the how. I grew up in a conservative denomination that was more focused on the why than the how. I could quote Bible passages, knew I needed to evangelize, and was well-versed in apologetics. I got the why, but I didn’t exercise it in a helpful way. At the Orange Conference this past year, one speaker said, “Don’t let ministering get in the way of ministry.” Essentially, when you are sharing your faith with someone, don’t get so bull-headed that you don’t consider his or her emotions or life stage. There are other needs to be met on top of needing the gospel. There is a tension between honoring God and our theology and loving others.
That said, I am not the type of person to do something if there is not a reason behind it. When a student comes into one of my programs, I want it to be because he or she is getting something out of that program that they can’t get anywhere else. The why is a safe place to explore theology, to be themselves, to discover and use their gifts, to build relationships with others, and to build a sustainable friendship with God. I won’t do an event, program, etc. that doesn’t have a why!
Brian: Theology is everything. If we really believe God is at work everywhere, then everything we do is theology, whether we always realize it. So doing theology is doing life together with people and pointing out the places where we see God working. Sometimes this means helping give better words (theological words) to teens to help them better describe things, but most often it just means giving them lenses to see.
This is what Jesus was doing with His disciples. Many scholars believe most of the 12 were high-school age. What did Jesus do with them? Most often, He led them into places and situations and then pointed out where the Father already was at work. He used those teachable moments. This is how good youth ministry looks. This is grounded in the idea that we should be talking about God and this way of life that points us to God as often as we’re able .The shema prayer in
Ali: Brian, I completely agree! Doing theology is how you said it: doing life together with people and pointing out where we see God working! With that in mind, I think it is necessary that we empower the church to see children and youth as theologians. Too often, we assume we are the ones who need to impart knowledge or influence to young people. We function as if the real church is a church of adults, and young people must work their way into real church; ultimately, God is just as much at work in their lives as anyone else’s! Their words, experiences, their hopes—it all says something about who God is and how God is at work in the world. A verse I love (and really should have taped to my desk!) is
“Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.”
The gift of the Holy Spirit has been poured out on the entire church, and God promises that our sons and daughters will prophesy to us, see visions…do theology! This is a promise from God! (Any Lutherans out there? How incredible would this be to include in our baptismal liturgy for infants?!) Are we participating in God’s promise that is already there, the promise that our young people are theologians, ready to teach and lead the church? I believe that equipping communities to honor and empower youth as theologians, as well as equipping youth to sense that within themselves, is a large part of my personal calling in the church. I’m a little selfish…I do theology with youth because I have something to learn, and I want to learn it from them!
Brian: Great point, Ali! At the core of the ways we approach theology is our view of God and specifically how God reveals Himself. When we begin to recognize and make space for young people to share how God reveals Himself to them, it is beautiful. One of the best reflections of a church community’s view of God is if they make space to listen to children and youth.
Daniel: Great points! I would agree with Brian and say theology is everything. All of life is practicing theology whether we realize it. Everything we do (or don’t do) in a worship service makes theological statements. If we can encourage our students to understand this, I think they will be less intimidated by the idea of doing theology. I go through a small systematic theology book with a group of students every year, and many of them are surprised to discover that doing theology is not an end at which we arrive once we have enough of the jargon and abstract philosophical arguments memorized, but is our journeys to see God at work in the world around us and find our places in it.
As to the biblical precedent, I’m reminded of Jesus calling young fishermen and tradesmen to be His followers. As they were helping lead the first Christian churches, they did not have academic credentials, expert understanding of Jewish law, etc. Their first theology happened by experience, the same with many of the patristics. They didn’t have the New Testament yet. I know this makes some folks uncomfortable, but we have to remember that as much as Scripture (primarily) and tradition and reason shape our theology, experience does, too. I imagine a large portion of the theology the disciples knew and understood came directly from their experiences of living life with Jesus. I think this has profound implications for how we encourage students to do theology as they live their lives.
Is there a place for teaching particular theological vocabulary? Yes! Is there a time to present systematic approaches to the theological enterprise? Yes! However, let’s always be mindful that theology continually is done in the daily living of trying to see God at work and the beauty of Christ manifested around us.
Brian: To add to that, our role as people who love and work with youth is to be advocates for their voices and for their experiences. Too often we adults forget that our experiences are often the starting place for our theology.
Daniel: I’ve noticed that in many church contexts there is this underlying thought that folks aren’t real members of the church until they are adults. I love celebrating our children and youth and helping them understand their mission doesn’t begin once they graduate and move out of the home. I hope our students understand their theological explorations and considerations are equally valued among everyone. Their experiences matter. Their thoughts matter. Their voices need to be heard and appreciated as true theologizing.
YWJ: How does creating/informing students about the theological underpinnings of life help our students live more fully into who God created them to be?
Brian: By giving lenses for people to see God at work in everything it begins to help us see the sacredness of all elements of life. This is good news because it points to Christ and to a better life, a life of freedom. When we see God at work everywhere, we don’t have to perform for God or perform God to others. We have to be in relationship and join Him there. God constantly is revealing Himself. The question is, Do we see/hear/know Him?
Daniel: One things I love about John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion is how he begins his entire work. He begins with addressing the issue of the knowledge of the Creator. Then, almost immediately, he moves to a section on anthropology and personhood, and then back to theology proper. His point is this: We cannot understand ourselves until we understand our Creator, and vice versa. It’s like when we talk about the imago dei. We cannot begin to talk about the imago dei as it pertains to humanity without also speaking of our createdness. The two go hand-in-hand. It is through a proper theological construct of seeing and understanding who God is, made known through the Person of Jesus Christ, that we are able to make sense of our own lives and the world around us. Understanding life in terms of our createdness then makes the cross and God’s plan for redemption all the more beautiful.
Brian: Good connection to God’s revelation here, Daniel. This is the joy of the process, beginning to help young people put voice to their experiences of the unknowable God making Himself known. Our job is not to make that interaction happen, because we cannot. It seems to me that our job is to help teens express those interactions by giving them space, creativity and sometimes words to do so.
Heather: In our church, the main time to study theology as a teenager is during Confirmation, which is currently during the seventh-grade year. In fifth and sixth grade, we lay down a biblical foundation for preteens by going over Bible stories, not a whole lot of theology but more concrete learning (with theologizing as it naturally progresses). Then in confirmation, students not only learn the history of our faith and our church, but they connect God’s story to their story.
Confirmation bridges the head knowledge to heart knowledge and helps students own their theology. As they move into eighth grade and high school, we help students begin to own their stories as part of God’s story more and more. As students move from concrete to abstract thinking, we hope the age-appropriate curriculum sequence moves with them to see the story of God in their everyday live.
Brian: Heather, I want to applaud your development level awareness and the approach you all have taken to teach and engage in those ways. Too often we do not take these things into account. I also am reminded that for adolescents one of the important parts of the growth process in all the areas of their life (cognitive, faith moral, etc.) comes when they are exposed to a higher level of thinking, reasoning and engaging faith. There is a tension I often feel here of communicating at a level where young people can understand and engage and challenging them to something more and deeper.
YWJ: Can we we teach, disciple, create community and serve without digging theologically deep? What’s the value of infusing theology into our youth ministries?
Ali: I think you can have meaningful communities that are passionate about serving others without digging deep theologically. In fact, there are numerous groups, clubs and organizations that do, but I’m not convinced the world needs another club to join. What our youth need is a life in the fullness of Christ, to be prisoners of hope, to be reminded of God’s promises of love and grace. Without digging deep theologically, I trust that communities still can be created, but will they be authentic? Even with secular groups that do a great job of creating space for intimate relationships to develop, discussions of what matters most inevitably emerges. Questions of life, God and those big why questions matter to us. I believe we are hardwired to be connected to one another, and doing theology together allows for that.
Brian: I suppose it depends on what is meant by digging deep. If everything is theology, then as Ali suggests, our teens and young adults are having those conversations already. The point is to make room for it, which means making lots of space for people to ask really big, tough questions. These questions—questions of doubt, wondering, exploration, confusion, etc.—should be seen as gifts to be received and embraced, not as puzzles to be solved.
Daniel: I agree with Ali. I think all these things can be done on a certain level. It may be superficial—or artificial—but we see community and service happening all day every day around us. The difference is whether that community and service has been redeemed by Christ to make it true and authentic. There’s definitely a longing within each of us for belonging and serving something/someone bigger than ourselves, but has that longing been redeemed and brought to life?
What’s the value of infusing theology in our youth ministry? Going back to the first question in this dialogue about asking why, I would hope that theology is not a secondary component or just an add-on that we can attach to our ministry. Hopefully it is the very thing that defines and fuels our ministry. I would be skeptical of hearing someone talk about infusing theology into youth ministry, rather than letting the ministry be shaped by a theological foundation and starting point. After all, where we begin always determines where we end up, theology and ministry being no different.
Heather: Mainline churches really struggle in this area, and our church had a history of doing so, as well. We had the Youth Ministry Architects here a few years ago, before I came, and it reported that our students are thirsty for a deeper understanding of their faith, why we believe what we believe, and the tensions in our faith. Confirmation is a great time to dig in theologically, but we recognize this cannot be the only time a student does that.
I’d love to add that as a director of junior high, there are a lot of people who believe you don’t need to know theology or have a degree in theology to work with junior highers or children. Our intern this past summer was one of those people, and boy did I challenge him theologically! Ha! Because of the developmental stages that those between the ages and 10 and 14 are experiencing, they are at the perfect stage to do theology. They naturally perceive the world in a new way, and the conversations we have reflect those perceptions. You don’t don’t need to Jesus juke by forcing theological conversations because they happen naturally.
YWJ: What core theological ideas do students need to grasp? How might youth workers creatively engage students around those topics?
Brian: That everything is theology—then part of our job and part of the joy of life is seeing God at work in those things. This becomes something we teach: What is the core issue/theme of this song, movie, conversation, etc? What does God have to say about that? Where might that connect with the gospel? Where might it teach us something about good news? Where might the gospel inform that message a different way?
When we begin to interact with a God who is involved in every part of life, then the important theological ideas become the things right in front of us. Sure there are some themes that come up often—salvation, holiness, grace, to name a few—but instead of bringing our agenda to teens, why not let life and teachable moments bring those issues to the front.
Daniel: I live and minister in a culture that is saturated with churches, and most every person on the street will claim Christianity and have some uncle or distant relative who is a preacher. One challenge of doing ministry in the Bible Belt is that Christianity often is reduced to morality. Kenda Creasy Dean’s Almost Christian (Oxford, 2010) is a great exposition of this Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. I realize this probably is not a new term or idea to most people, but I think it’s still a very prevalent one. In addition to understanding that theology is everything, it’s important for me to help my students understand their roles as Christians in terms of participation in the work of Christ by the Spirit.
One of the best books I’ve ever read is Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace (IVP, 1997) by J.B. Torrance. In this little paperback, Torrance reminds his readers that the crux of the Christian faith is this dance with the dependence upon and participation in the current and eternal work of Christ. The emphasis comes from
I hope my students will hang onto that reality. Their Christian lives do not consist of a list of rules or a legislation of morality, but a rest and participation in the current and eternal ministry of Christ.
Heather: Daniel, I love that! I come from the background of moralistic therapeutic deism, and it did little for a sustainable relationship with God. Instead of focusing on morality and shaming students when they don’t get something right, I’d rather focus on Jesus on the cross, who crushed our human concept of righteousness. That said, what you believe about Jesus’ death and resurrection is essentially the center of the rest of your theology! The other piece of theology that matters is who God is and how that relates to us. God is love. God is a providing Father. God is a compassionate Mother. God is a Creator. We bear those image traits in unique and special ways. The best way to get a student involved in theology is by relating these truths to him or her personally. We are fortunate because our God made us in His image.
Ali: I echo what you all are saying! (Heather, thanks for noting the feminine imagery for God!) Theology is more than morality, and everything we do speaks to theology in some way. I also think it is important to understand how our traditions’ theologies differs from one another. Daniel, you are so right. We live in a culture with a whole mix of churches. Working ecumenically is important, and I think we can work together when we
