Feature Article: Spring 2006
An expectant approach to youth ministry
by Brenda Sawatzky Paetkau
Every spring our junior youth lead a worship service. We
set the date well in advance so the worship commission and the youth have
ample time to prepare. When we chose the date last year, however, we didn’t
realize that the date we chose happened to be Pentecost Sunday.
At a subsequent meeting of the commission, I pointed out that as it stood,
the youth would be planning that special day. This was the reply: “Well,
if we believe that the Spirit is at work among us, why shouldn’t the
junior youth lead us that Sunday?”
The committee made a powerful theological statement: Because we believe God
is at work in our world, we believe God is at work also among the youth.
That statement resonated deep within me. It matched an understanding that
has been developing within me for more than a decade.
Moving beyond desperation
A conviction about God’s activity among youth is something that I have
not sensed in the many youth ministry workshops I have attended. Instead,
I have sensed an underlying desperation from adults who work with youth.
This desperation is revealed in the often-negative descriptions of youth
and in the plea for “new ideas” that might work. Perhaps they
feel pressure to be the catalyst between God and the youth.
Let me be clear: These adults and workshop leaders have a heart for God,
for the youth, and for the church. They long for youth and God to be in relationship
with each other. They long for youth to be able to be to say a public yes
to their faith and join in full membership with brothers and sisters in the
church. They long for these youth to continue their journey of faith throughout
their whole life—ever encountering new depths of God’s love.
I join them in these longings.
But there is a temptation in these longings, and that is to forget that God
has been, is, and will be at work with these youth, with or without our efforts.
That is the nature of God—to persistently love each of God’s
beloved children. When we can remember our own theology—that God is
at work in our world—then we are freed to join God in this ministry
in a new way.
As a leader, something happens to me when I understand that my role is to “watch” God at work with our youth. I can relax. I do not need to make things happen.
The commission’s comment profoundly affected the planning of the junior
youth. I realized that my job was not to teach what the Pentecost story meant
so that the youth could repeat, in the worship service, what I had told them.
Rather, I could simply introduce the Pentecost story to them and then watch
where they engaged with the text. Those places where they engaged, I figured,
might be places where God was at work with these youth.
Name God’s work
when you see it
As a leader, something happens to me when I understand that my role is to “watch” God
at work with our youth. I can relax. I do not need to make things happen.
But I do need to be alert, so that when things do happen I can point out
the work of God. As adults in ministry with youth, our job is point out to
the youth when God is interacting with them. They can miss those interactions
just as adults can.
So I went into that first meeting with the youth, intentionally watching
for places where their interest was sparked. Other than offering a way to
dramatize the story, I had very little planned input. One youth picked up
on the mystery in the text. “How did the flames on top of the disciples’ heads
allow them to speak in different languages?” she wondered. The group
laughed appreciatively and was ready to move on. But I stopped them with
this response: “Great question. How do you think that worked?” The
discussion that ensued was a fabulous theological discussion about the power
of God at work in our world.
Her question became the basis for the children’s story. To ask if a
simple flame had the power to make someone speak a new language, a candle
was held over the head of a child, who was then immediately asked to speak
in Chinese. This happened several times over and then a very similar discussion
happened with the children of the congregation. But this time the youth led
it.
Another place where the story grabbed the youth was the variety of languages
that were used. While the proclamation about Jesus was essentially the same,
people heard this proclamation in many languages. The youth were delighted
in the notion of a God who uses so many ways to meet people.
Youth as witnesses
and leaders
To show God’s creative engagement with humanity, the youth decided
to invite about 15 people of all ages to share “Spirit moments.” Interspersing
Scripture passages among these congregational testimonies, the youth created
the sermon for that Sunday. What a remarkable reversal of roles! Youth who
had been invited to lead the congregation in worship extended that invitation
beyond themselves. That Pentecost morning, the junior youth became “witnesses”—those
who stop and notice where God is at work in the congregation.
The feedback that Sunday gratefully acknowledged that the youth had in fact,
led us in worship. Comments included: “I really worshipped this morning.” “I
met God here this morning.” “I had no idea that so-and-so had
that experience of God.” We heard very little of “What a nice
program.” And then it became clear—God had been at work far beyond
encountering the youth. Through the youth, God encountered all the rest of
us.
So we come full circle with our basic theology: Because we believe God is
at work in our world, we believe God is at work also among (through) the
youth. It is this theology that has kept me engaged with youth these 11 years
of ministry. It is this conviction that sustains and teaches me my posture
of watchfulness when I am with them. I need to be alert, but essentially
I can relax—because God is at work everywhere, including among them.
Brenda Sawatzky Paetkau is part of the pastoral team at Eighth Street Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana.