Kurt posted a lengthy piece about how we’re doing Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry here at Saddleback today. He talks a lot about our past and where we’re headed in the present. There’s some good stuff there for you to check out if you’re interested in how he is leading us as the Student Ministries Pastor here at Saddleback. Here’s an excerpt:
My starting point is the idea that we have “three arenas” in which our ministry has access into the lives of students. We gather them in LARGE GROUP settings, We gather them in SMALL GROUP settings and we get together with them as INDIVIDUALS. Here, in a very small nutshell is what it looks like:
LARGE GROUP: We want to EXPOSE students to Christ, his Kingdom and the 5 Purposes.
SMALL GROUP: We want students to EXPERIENCE Christ, his Kingdom and the 5 Purposes with others.
INDIVIDUAL LIFE: With the hope that students will EXPRESS Christ, his Kingdom and the 5 Purposes through their lifestyle.
We are still aware of the 5 potential audiences….that students are in different places spiritually, but instead of trying to design programs specifically for those students…that aim just for them and discourage other “audiences” from showing up, we are recognizing that students show up to whatever they want, whenever they want regardless of the program and it’s intended purpose or audience.
JG
3
Josh Griffin has been in youth ministry for 16+ years in a small church and a big church. He currently serves as the High School Pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. [
Latest Tweet
Geoff Stewart serves the Jr / Sr High School Pastor at Peace Portal Alliance Church in Surrey B.C.
Chris Wesley serves as the Director of Student Ministry at Church of the Nativity in Timonium, Maryland.
Colton Harker serves with Josh at Saddleback Church. He is currently in his second year in youth ministry.
I commented over on Kurt’s blog too, but I’d throw in some input here as well.
Our church uses a similar approach, at least it seems to be similar from reading Kurt’s post. We’ve labeled our EXPOSE, EXPERIENCE, EXPRESS mission as: REACH, FEED, SEND.
REACHING students far from God or church by EXPOSING them to Christ.
FEEDING them by helping them learn about Christ and EXPERIENCE Him in their lives.
SENDING them into their world to EXPRESS their faith.
It’s so reassuring to see other youth ministers dealing with similar issues and coming up with similar solutions/approaches. Helps remind me that a) I’m not crazy; and b) I’m part of a larger church with the same goals and struggles.
More on our REACH FEED SEND mission at: http://htym.org