Does Youth Ministry have a Future?

I’ve been a youth minister my entire adult life, it’s my privilege and my pleasure. I can think of no greater thing then helping young people encounter Jesus Christ for the very first time.

Youth ministry as we know it, however, is very young. We don’t have centuries of practice to draw on, or inspirational patriarchs to model. Modern youth ministry is only a few decades old. It’s not yet fully mature, and all of us within it have lots of room to grow.

In just the last few years, however, a new question has formed: Will we ever get the opportunity to grow into a whole and healthy ministry?

There are exponentially fewer churches than ever offering provision for young people. There are fewer positions for youth ministers available than there were just ten years ago, and far fewer people applying to those positions. Many UK Bible colleges have stopped their youth ministry training programs, and much too few have opened in their place. Even where training is available, course leads are finding it increasingly hard to fill those positions.

The numbers surrounding youth ministry in the UK are troubling – it feels like the branch is creaking.

So is youth ministry over – or do we still have a future?

Does youth ministry have a future?

This is the question asked by my new Grove Youth Series booklet, ‘Does youth ministry have a future? Lessons learned and lost from youth ministry past and present.’ Here’s a short extract from the introduction of that booklet:

Is it just me or does it feel like Christian youth work is disappearing?

I’ve been a youth worker my entire adult life. Outside of this I have no actual human skills, so I really hope that youth work isn’t disappearing, or I’m scuppered! To be honest though, I am just a little scared. It feels like the branch is creaking, and I don’t think it’s just me. I spent a chunk of my last year travelling around UK training centres talking to youth ministry students. During the Q&A times, I could see worry in their eyes. They were asking ‘am I going to have a job at the end of all this?’

So, are we done? Should we all retrain as door-to-door salespeople (we’d be good at that!), or ‘graduate’ into ‘proper’ ministry?

I don’t think so! As a clinically diagnosed optimist I truly believe that there’s hope. The branch might be creaking, but God’s plan for youth ministry is far from over. In fact, I’m suspicious that He’s just getting started.

I think to see a pattern for growth, you have to look back in order to look forward. Modern youth ministry is actually only a toddler when compared to many other ministry areas. It’s only really been around since the 1950s, after all. As a movement, we’re still learning to walk, and there’s still drool on our chins.

We’ve learned so much over the last few decades which should continue to inspire and motivate our work. There are a few things we’ve lost as well, however, and we would do well to rediscover them. I believe that youth ministry in 20 years’ time will look radically different than it does right now, and I believe that it could be so much more effective if we’re able to make the hard choices today.

How do we make those hard choices?

Last night I was talking to my American mum-in-law on the phone, and she quite wisely said that every youth worker wants to invent the wheel. I think she’s right, we are naturally innovators, and we don’t always play well together. Building on the shoulders of those who came before it’s not natural to our DNA; we all want to be the Maverick superheroes that create something new and fantastic.

We just can’t do that anymore. As innately tribal as youth ministry is, we do much better when we cross gaps and talk to each other. If we as a movement can be so much more conversational and teachable – for the sake of our young people – then I believe there is a golden future for youth work.

There’s so much to be said on this topic by people far smarter and more experienced than me. However, we do need to look this issue in the eye and learn from our history in order to grow into the future. Please do grab a copy of the booklet and get involved in the conversation. We need to draw together in order to grow forward.

Live Launch

I’ll be doing an informal live launch of the booklet tonight (Monday 13th April, 2020) at 7pm BST on Facebook.com/YouthWorkHacks

I’d love to see you there!