10 Tips For Missional Youth Ministry (1-2)
ByA few weeks ago I read an article that intrigued me because of my recent thinking about creating a missional youth ministry environment. The article, by Ashley Wolpert, came to me in a Neue Weekly email it was simply titled “Missional Living.” I have adapted Ashley’s 10 tips that she ends the article with and have added some thoughts about their relevance in youth ministry. I hope you enjoy and start some thinking of your own, but if nothing else it will help me act upon this stuff 
I’ll be posting the tips 2 at a time so keep
watching!
1. Help Students Understand the Gospel.
The mission of God is consumed with the person and work of Christ. As you understand Christ, you can accurately participate in God’s work of redemption. So read the Gospels—a lot.
There is a temptation for many of us in youth ministry to try to teach the entire Bible to students over the course of their 6 or 7 years in the youth ministry. In order to create a missional youth ministry, we must keep that which is relevant to teenagers connecting with their part of the mission. This may sound a little controversial but the entire Bible is not relevant to a teenager’s life, all of it is important, but it is not all relevant. Let’s help students become intimately engaged with Jesus so they can live out their part of the mission.
2. Take an eternal view of people.
All of the friends, neighbors, teachers, and family members around us have an eternity in front of them. Students need to see them as God does and care for them accordingly. This simply means that we need to teach teenagers how to be compassionate, to challenge our students to think about the physical, emotional, relational, and eternal/spiritual implications of their interactions with others.
What are your ideas on how we can help students understand the Gospel or take an eternal view of people?
