Introduction to Youth Ministry: Strategies for the Local Church
This four-module course addresses the following questions: What is the value of youth ministry in the church today? What are some essential elements that are found in a growing youth ministry? What can our church do to engage other students in our community?
Instructor: Mark Johannesen
Course Objective
Our objective for this course is to present material that will help you strengthen those areas of youth ministry that are going well, while offering creative ideas for improving areas where you might be struggling. We will explore foundational elements that will help you establish and develop a youth ministry that works well in partnership with parents and the whole local church. We will also examine and process several strategies while hearing from several youth workers as to how they implement these concepts in their local churches.
What You Will Learn
- To explain why it is valuable to have a youth ministry philosophy that highly values a relational ministry approach while being committed to evangelism in the context of overall discipleship in God’s mission.
- To develop a master plan for ministry.
- To offer counseling services to students that coincide with your level of experience and training.
- To create regular gathering times for students to engage with God’s Word while enjoying their time with one another. This will include discussions about the value of games, about opportunities for students to worship, how to best communicate the gospel to teens within your context, and participation in small groups.
- To discover the value of students using their spiritual gifts in service to others. This will include a discussion regarding serving within your church, how students can serve within the leadership structure of your student ministry and exploring opportunities for off-campus student mission.
- To create events that strengthen and enhance your youth ministry. This lesson will focus on the five purposes of events (a Purpose Driven Youth Ministry concept by Doug Fields), the value of retreats, developing a fundraising strategy to support the needs of your students and your ministry plans, and event recruitment and implementation.
- To explain why leading a youth ministry that supports and encourages families and creates intergenerational relationships is a stronger approach to youth ministry than leading an isolated ministry to students.
- To create two strategic wins that can strengthen your efforts to reach the students within your church by building and leading a youth ministry team, and by establishing some administrative rhythms that can keep your ministry moving forward.
Textbook Requirement
- Robbins, Duffy, Youth Ministry Nuts and Bolts, Revised and Updated: Organizing, Leading, and Managing Your Youth Ministry. Grand Rapids Zondervan, August 29, 2010. ISBN-978-0310670292
- Citations and references to the Bible are from the New International Version (NIV), Zondervan, 2011.
Course Module Topics
- Module 1: Developing a Philosophy of Youth Ministry
- Module 2: Programming Options in Youth Ministry
- Module 3: Partnering with the Church and Parents in Youth Ministry
- Module 4: Administrating Youth Ministry