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Discovering a different way of doing youth ministry

conference-image-homeMost youth ministries are shallow at best, and youth worship is even worse. An evangelical worship leader lamenting those conclusions happened upon some YouTube videos from the Lutheran youth ministry Higher Things.

Read the whole post, linked after the jump, which includes videos of both the worship services he is decrying and the worship services from Higher Things conferences.

Also read the comments, which record other amazed and appreciative reactions to Higher Things and their approach to youth ministry. (Note especially Dave’s remarks on the singing.)

From Jonathan Aigner, Countering the Youth Worship Phenomenon, Ponder Anew: Discussions about Worship for Thinking People, Patheos:

Recently, while looking for videos of congregational hymns to add to another post, I found those of Higher Things, a group affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. According to their website, their mission is “to assist parents, congregations, and pastors in cultivating, encouraging and promoting a distinctively Lutheran identity among their youth and young adults.” One of their avenues for achieving this is a series of summer youth conferences, geared toward instructing young people in the crucial aspects of Christian faith, Lutheran identity, and church practice. Like any other youth event, they gather for worship multiple times during the duration of the conference, but it looks quite different than what we saw in those first few videos.

I am not a Lutheran. I know nothing of the Higher Things organization other than what is available on their website. But it’s clear they are choosing a different path. Instead of phonying up some generic excitement about a god-pal, they are giving their youth an authentic glimpse into who they really are. No cloak of cultural relevance, no gimmicks, no bright and shiny attractions, no silliness. They have dared to believe that what Jesus himself offers is enough to engage and sustain them. They have dared to believe that worship isn’t found in a feeling, an atmosphere, or a singer. They have dared to believe that it is better to send some than entertain many.

I think this is the model for the future of the Christian church in America. The contemporary megachurch movement is a fad. It may hang around for a while longer, perhaps a generation or two, but its paper-thin support system will buckle, and its massive cathedrals, dedicated to the worship of a god made in a culturally relevant image, will collapse. If the church is to go on and flourish, we must be willing to expect more out of our young people, and we must believe that they deserve to know the truth about the Christian life and the nature of Christ’s church, and to be faithful stewards for the generations that are yet to come.

[Keep reading. . .]

Photo from Higher Things website.

HT: Bart Gingerich

Original Article

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