What Student Led Ministry Is Not

Over the past couple of months I have written several short blog posts and have been honored to speak in several venues in New England urging my fellow youth workers to join the growing movement toward handing ownership of Student Ministry back the rightful ministers: the students.

It is my main assertion that Student Ministry needs to be run on the same model with which most other ministries in the church are run. We need to see that our role is that of a mentor and shepherd who creates disciples who in turn minister for Christ's cause.

I have identified five principles that we have seen bear fruit in our ministry; for the sake of those who may not have seen my previous writings, I will repeat them here.

The Five Principles are:

The Bible must be the foundation upon which our ministry stands! We need to become solid teachers of the word who live out what it says and not see ourselves as merely entertainers who sacrifice depth for numbers and popularity.

Have a clear mission and vision that is created by your students. Don't expect them to merely follow your vision or mission. Expect them to own their dreams and goals!

Create an atmosphere of “Present ministry” within your church. It is not enough to say Youth are the present; your church must also create opportunities for them to function as the present in more visible servant roles.

The Ministry needs to be relational and not programmatic. While Jesus was among us, He modeled incarnational ministry. We need to equip our student ministers to live out their faith while proclaiming that faith among the lost through relationships, not simply through “youth events.”

The ministry needs to include a succession plan. Just as Moses passed on Ministry to Joshua, Elijah to Elisha, and Paul to Timothy, our youth need to be training their replacements in order to create ministry longevity.

As I have traveled around New England with students, written my short blog posts, and met with many by phone, it has become clear to me that many if not most youth leaders agree with my basic principles of ownership by the students. However, I am also hearing concerns and fears that are similar to some of the very fears I had six years ago when I first started my journey toward the current model of Student Ministry our church has embraced.

In an attempt to address these fears and concerns I thought it would be good to identify three things that Student Led Ministry is not:

It is not something to be done lightly or as an easy way out. As with any real and vibrant ministry, it takes a commitment of time, energy and resources by the shepherd. Every one of our student leaders is engaged in at least three key mentoring/discipleship relationships. Our student leaders have a one on one relationship with a dedicated adult who walks alongside the student in ministry as an equal. They all are required to be actively engaged in a same sex accountability and bible study group. And each one must attend our core group planning, study and fellowship meetings on a regular basis. In short, we expect spiritual commitment and growth and we provide an environment that protects these student ministers as we would any other minister of the church. Our current team of adults invests more time and resources into the student ministry today than we did 5 years ago.

It is not a ministry with no plan or with no adult supervision. Our students expect much from themselves because of our investment in them. They therefore have an amazing passion to shepherd their spiritually younger peers and to see their unsaved friends embrace Christ. In our model, each student engages with a team (with adult interaction) in the ministry they are most passionate about. We have a youth group team, a service team, an evangelism team, and are currently developing several other teams based on the callings of students. Youth Group is merely one of several branches of the student ministry at Calvary Bible Church. We help them create ministry instead of creating it for them. We provide the framework for their spiritual growth but they create the direction of the student ministry as the Holy Spirit leads them.

It is not a Biblically soft ministry. Our students engage each other and their peers in deep biblical study. Each ministry team has three guidelines they must follow:

The Word of God and the deep truths found within MUST be central to all teaching and ministry work. All ministry starts with an assumption that it will be, at its core, theologically solid.

The ministry is about furthering the work of the Kingdom and not building personal kingdoms. They are service minded and guided by the principles of servant ministry found in The Gospels and throughout the Epistles, especially Philippians. It is not through them that anyone gains access to the Father, it is only through faith and belief in Jesus that one can gain this magnificent gift. Thus their allegiance is to Him and not their own personal wants or agendas.

Concerted prayer is the fuel that feeds the ministry. They engage in both personal and corporate prayer as a regular life pattern and habit. Our students know that we trust them implicitly as equals in Christ. Therefore they know that we will guide them and allow them to call all the shots so long as they stay within these guardrails of Biblical ministry. In this we treat them no different than the people in any other ministry in our church where an elder is assigned to ensure this biblical focus remains central to the ministry.

I believe with all of my heart that if more churches started to trust their students with ministry ownership and treated them as the current generation of the church and not merely “the future,” we will stem the tide of young people leaving the church. Christ did not say, “wait until you turn 18 and then go therefore and make disciples.” He called our students, along with all believers, to heed the call of Acts 1:8, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Does all of this sound like a lot of work? Absolutely!

Is it worth it? Absolutely!

Let's empower our teens as equals, and give them the biblical oversight and training all believers need to become active Kingdom Warriors for the Cause of Christ!!