On my online wanderings the other day (BTW, still looking for stories of simple folks creating movements) I found this little gem of a site from the New Monastics folks. Won’t you join in my in some rhythmic prayer, brother (or sister)?

I’m having trouble finding stories to share though. Got some ideas? I’m just looking for stories (especially video stories) of folks engaging in ministry in new, accessible ways. Doesn’t have to be a huge numbers success story (“We grew from a small group to a 3,000 member church,” or “we raised $700,000 for AIDS orphans…”), just a story of folks doing something unique to spread the kingdom of God.

In reality: no, no it isn’t. But I don’t always fully grasp reality. The reality of our spiritual existence is that there is more to experience then the here-and-now. But I don’t get that. Really, what’s happening when I get upset about not being able to get a new pair of flip-flops for spring is that I’m lacking faith in God’s promise of eternity. What I’m really saying is that I need to experience pleasure now, because I may not later–and that’s a lack of faith in God’s promises. My wish to have stuff now suggests I don’t hold much faith in eternity.

Jesus understood better things were yet to come for him–why else would we have the cross? I think Paul had faith that better experiences were ahead. There are some contemporaries who have full faith, too (though they are seldom recognized… do you know any?).

What I’m discovering is that by insisting I need things now, I’m telling God I don’t trust in His promise for eternity. That was a sobering thought this morning. Now it’s time to attempt change…

This past week, we did part of Seder meal at our high school youth group. In prepping for the meal, I realized the wisdom behind a worship experience like this… all these regular, mundane items were now being used to remind us of the divine. Parsley represented God’s promises. Egg represented new birth and deliverance. Water had meaning as God’s sustaining force. It’s beautiful that now the students who attended will be reminded of the divine they next time they encounter those things. It’s a little step closer to recognizing God’s inseparable presence in our lives.

So how does this relate to prayer? What has occurred to me as I thought about recognizing God in the every day, was that our students and leaders are uncomfortable praying in a group because they’re uncomfortable praying PERIOD. Just like seeing God’s presence in daily activities isn’t something they’re accustomed to, prayer isn’t something they are accustomed to doing. I think it’s safe to infer that people who aren’t comfortable praying in groups probably don’t pray much (am I off base?).

In mainline protestantism, we don’t have a prescription for a rhythm of prayer. I understand that we don’t want to be legalistic about prayer… but the Law had a benefit of bringing God into our every day activities. And a prescription of prayer can have the benefit of bringing us to God. So here’s the challenge I’ve put forth to our students: through Holy Week we’re praying as a group twice a day–at 9am and 9pm. Wherever we are at those times, we’re trying to step out and spend some time in prayer. We even have some prescribed prayers (borrowed from Catholic liturgies) with questions to consider. It gives a stepping off point for those who don’t quite know where to begin.

Do you have a rhythm to your prayer life? What is it? Would you benefit from some kind of prescribed rhythm? Would it limit? Would it become your only time(s) of prayer?

… and that’s when it happens: mission drift.

In Viral Churches, Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird point out that established congregations often lose their evangelistic focus. Instead of seeking to grow through making new connections, they turn inward and seek to keep their current constituents happy. They call this “mission drift”. When we shift our focus from reaching out to building within, we’ve drifted from a true focus of growth. In youth ministry, this drift can be an annual occurence as we fight the spring vapors that pull our students in different directions. We want to get our kids back in!

So, how do we fight mission drift in youth ministry? How do we keep the evangelistic passion up all year? Got any answers for me?

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One thing that I think it’s important to note, though, is that these churches don’t seem concerned about these missional ventures pumping up their worship attendance. That isn’t happening for them… and it may never happen. What is happening, though, is that the Gospel is becoming very real for a number of teens. And they’re finding “church” in the people who they’re connecting with. I’m stirred by this…

Serioulsy, if we’re to really take seriously that our roles, as leaders in youth ministry, is to create disciples, then we must pass the baton of leadership to those who have the greatest ability to disciple students. In a vast majority of cases, those people are parents. We must give the baton of discipleship over to them.

That may be something of a paradigm shift for many of us: because it means we’re going to start investing increasingly more in parents, and subtly less in students. Simply speaking, many parents don’t feel equipped to be spiritual mentors to their students. But they are the ones with the most exposure, influence, and really the greatest care in seeing their children brought into living faith.

So, what resources are out there to help parents spiritually mentor their students? I’ve found one solid one… but what love to know what others are doing, too. Whatcha got?

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If we’re attempting to apply a missional mindset to youth ministry, how do small groups advance that cause? You could make an argument that a missional mindset is a by-product of discipleship–so any endeavor that advances discipleship is likely to affect students missionally. As students seek to follow Jesus, they can’t help but behave with missional tendencies.

But there’s a little more to it: small groups are more adaptable, movable, and easier to replicate. 

Often times, we grow our youth groups by casting a net–we come up with an idea that we suspect will appeal to students, and those who the idea does appeal to will show up. A Super Bowl party, for example, has a broad appeal, and some students will show for a football party, others won’t. With small groups, we can change the approach with specific students in mind. When I put together a Wednesday morning small group at the chicken and biscuit place, I knew I was trying to reach boys at a specific high school–and those are folks we have reached with that group. Other groups are created to reach other specific areas and students. And we have the constant goal of inviting a new person into our groups.

Small groups can take place at just about any location–house, restaurant, church facility–and at most any time (we have some before school, others on weekends, others in evenings…). The basis of study can be geared towards your specific group of students. And when you’re ready to grow, there are no start up costs and no need for new facilities–you get a group together and go (assuming you have the leadership to drive, which can be a hurdle, I know).

Now, this doesn’t mean traditional large youth group gatherings should be scrapped. The large corporate gathering has a value of its own. But in gearing up students to take on the missional mindset, nothing works quite as well as small groups.

Tomorrow (or later today): Let It Go…

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