Don't Buy the Lies.

Published Thursday, August 31, 2006 by Gerrard Fess | E-mail this post

So I'm reading Group Magazine's latest issue. Sept/Oct. 2006. And in it is 3 Dirty YM Lies and a Fourth.

Here are the lies:

1. YM is a meat grinder that will destroy you.

I like How Rob Bell puts it in Velvet Elvis, you can be cynical, and bitter or you can choose to reclaim your innocence.

2. "Do it all myself" is the best way. - UMM ever hear of working yourself to an early grave?

3. Close Relationships are the goal of Youth Ministry. Umm isn't the goal about presenting Jesus?

4. The percentage if young people who are Bible Believing Christians has now dropped to 4%. Funny thing is it is based upon sampling polls from Barna and even the Data from that April 2003 Report is different. I think there is more hope.

Here are some more lies (The above 4 were discussed in the issue but I gave them and my opinion)

5. The average Tenure of a Youth Minister is 18months. Where did this come from? I still haven't seen the stats for this. And if it is? in 6years to have 4 churches ... Might invest in U-Haul rather than Youth Ministry."Youth Ministry Tenure

Most of us have heard it quoted that the average length of a youth minister's stay at any one church is a year and a half. GROUP magazine reports, "The 18-Month Myth is now part of youth ministry lore. It's been used over and over to describe youth ministers as easily scared gypsies who bolt at the first sign of trouble. And it's all a bunch of bunk. We here at GROUP asked our research staff to complete a scientific survey of North American churches using a representative sampling of denominations. We discovered that the average paid youth minister has been at the same church for almost four years (3.9 years, to be exact)." From Group.

6. Most High School Christian Teens Desert the Church. Over 66% or more in their freshmen year. Where Does this come from?

7. Bigger is Better. Mega Church Student Ministry is the way to go.
Umm didn't Jesus start with 12 ordinary men who turned the world upside down?

8. If you build it, they will come. Now come on. What you win them with is what you have to keep them with. So gimmicks, games, and prizes ..guess what you have to keep doing.

9. Youth Ministry is easy. Umm, ever do a lock-in, ever deal with teens' issues. It isn't easy but the rewards are worth it.

10. You will get Rich in Youth Ministry. Book deals, meeting Doug Fields, everyone will like you. Ummm hello, McFly .... you are in it due to the calling not some Christian celebrity bit.

Thoughts? Other lies to add?

2 Responses to “Don't Buy the Lies.”

Anonymous on 8/31/2006 6:32 PM

Some of the lies I've seen/heard...

a youth minister should focus only on the church kid

youth ministers don't have real jobs

you don't need theological and other training for youth ministry, just good heart

the best youth ministers are the young ones

to be effective, you must spend 24/7 with your students
Anonymous on 9/03/2006 9:30 PM

here are some others:

1. a youth minister's best friends are to be the teens. youth ministers are not full functioning members of the adult community.

2. you can do youth ministry without ministering to families as a whole.

3. parent's are the enemy of youth ministers.

4. the busier the youth calendar, the better.

5. the bigger the budget, the better ministry being done.

Don't Buy the Lies.

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2 Responses to “Don't Buy the Lies.”

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