Last week in our LIVE Youth Ministry Conversation we talked about the issues surrounding “youth group as a minichurch.” Youth ministries are becoming like their own little sub-church more and more: they have their own pastor, their own worship band, their own sermon and their own youth worship service. Opinions on the implications of such a structured ministry are many, from, “This is why teenagers are leaving the church after college” to, “There’s no better alternative because the adult church is totally irrelevant.” This past spring I blogged a bit about my view on how the mini-church approach can be dangerous and other’s have, too. Not everyone agrees, however. This LIVE Youth Ministry Conversation is probably one of the most stimulating discussions we’ve had yet. Listen to it below or grab it in iTunes.

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Next Topic: Evaluating the spiritual depth of your youth ministry.

September 5th: How deep is your teenagers’ faith? To what extent do they interpret the world around them through a Biblical lens? Are our youth ministries playing a significant role in taking kids to the next level in their faith? There’s no Conversation this Friday (August 29), but next Friday (September 5) we’ll discuss ways we can evaluate our youth ministry’s spiritual impact and what we need to do to create ministries that challenge kids beyond the same old messages and Bible stories re-packaged with different flavors.

Join our next LIVE Youth Ministry Conversation!

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Been in youth ministry for 2 years or fewer? Life In Student Ministry has an outstanding team of youth ministry veterans waiting to mentor you one-on-one! [Mentorship made free for you thanks to YouthBytes video curriculum.]

Posted on August 27, 2008