As most of you very well know, the prefix neo simply means new. In order to affix this label to a word, the “new” understanding of the word must be so different than the previous understanding to warrant the neo prefix, rather than just slightly adjusting the meaning of the old word. However, at the […]
Neo-Youth Ministry Part 1: “Youth”
In order to begin to re-think what it might mean to do youth ministry, to formulate a Neo-Youth Ministry, we should probably start out by coming to grips with the term “youth ministry”. To begin, I’ll be examining the word “youth”. “Youth”, as it is defined in most church ministry contexts refers to students in […]
Neo-Youth Ministry Part 2: “Ministry”
Continuing to examine the term youth ministry, we now turn to the word ministry. This will probably be a fairly brief post, since I don’t have any real training in Greek. My interest in the term ministry is that it appears that in popular usage it is taken to mean a specific Christian program or […]
Neo-Youth Ministry Part 3: The Youth Minister
Having given some attention to the actual term youth ministry, we now turn to the role of the youth minister (or pastor or director, whatever the exact title may be). Before diving into what might be the role of the youth minister within a Neo-Youth Ministry, some things need to be said in regard to […]
Neo-Youth Ministry Part 4: The Youth Minister as Theologian
I have to admit, I may be a little biased with this first attribute of a youth minister able to transition towards a Neo-Youth Ministry. During my junior year of college, I gave consideration to going into the world of academics and heading straight for seminary (and a subsequent Ph.D.) after undergrad. But my wife […]
Neo-Youth Ministry Part 5: The Youth Minister as Pastor
While many full-time youth workers carry the title of “Youth Pastor” I wonder how many take the role of “pastor” seriously. If we are going to forge a new, authentic way of doing youth ministry, then the youth minister must take seriously their role in the pastoral care of the congregation. I believe that some […]
Neo-Youth Ministry Part 6: Youth Minister as Spiritual Director
Continuing with my series on Neo-Youth Ministry that began months ago, we now turn to yet another facet of a Neo-Youth Minister: spiritual director. Above all else, a spiritual director is one who listens. In traditional spiritual direction roles, a directee comes and shares with his or her director in a formal, one-on-one setting, similar […]
Neo-Youth Ministry Part 7: The Youth Minister as Prophet
The role of prophet is perhaps the most important of all the roles of the Neo-Youth Minister. Though it is significantly related to his or her role as theologian, it describes the type of theologian the youth minister will be. A prophet is a theologian with feet to the pavement. A prophet is the change-agent […]
Neo-Youth Ministry Part 8: The Youth Minister as Youth Advocate
A Neo-Youth Minister must be an advocate for adolescents to the adults with which he or she interacts. Perhaps one of the reasons why youth ministry (not to mention youth ministers) has such a hard time dealing with the expectations of congregations, parents, and other church leadership is that they do not understand the nature […]
Neo-Youth Ministry Part 9: The Youth Minister as Interpreter and Synthesizer
Flowing out of all of the other roles of a Neo-Youth Minister (especially theologian, pastor, prophet, and spiritual director), a Neo-Youth Minister must be an interpreter. By this, I mean that the youth minister must be skilled in interpreting the following realms: Culture. A Neo-Youth Minister must be able to make sense and extract meaning […]