The Spirit and Culture of Youth Ministry: Congregations Establishing Mature Faith in Youth
by Dr. Roland Martinson

Dr. Roland Martinson

Most Christian denominations are experiencing dramatic drops in the percentage of older adolescents and young adults involved in worship and ministry. The Roman Catholic and mainline churches experience the drop-off after young people have been confirmed. Many youth and parents see confirmation as the culmination of religious education, and most parishes struggle with youth ministries targeted for senior-high young people. Baptist and other evangelical churches find that young people are dropping out of the life of the church during or directly after high school.

Conventional wisdom has it that this is a natural, temporary, drift from the church, caused by life transitions and social experimentation. For many church leaders, this drift has not been cause for great concern because of the expectation that young people will return to the church when they get married or, if not then, when they have children. Indeed,the myth of returning to church during these stages of young adulthood has been debunked by research that reveals most don't return; and if they do, many return to a faith tradition different from their own (Martinson 2000; Barna 2001; Olson 2003).

As challenging as the overall picture remains, practitioners and educators know from experience that there are remarkable exceptions to this trend across denominations — vibrant, thriving youth ministries and young people exist for whom faith is a deep commitment. Might one be able to accurately describe this "vitality of faith in young people"? Might the congregations where such youth exist or have existed in significant numbers for six, eight, or ten years be identified? Might a possible relationship between the youth ministry of the congregation and the faith vitality of the young people be explored? Might one discover and describe congregations with exemplary youth ministries?

What might an exemplary congregation be doing to establish vital faith in youth and young adults? Two sets of data from our study point to a rich mix of ideas and a promising response to this question for those interested in describing and practicing faithful and effective youth ministry.

First,the study provides an in-depth description of the youth ministries of these congregations. Further, the study supplies data indicating that the youth of these congregations do indeed possess vital faith. Consequently, one can at the very least infer that there is some relationship between these two realities. This inference is supported by the witness of earlier studies that indicate a direct relationship between some of the qualities of the youth ministries of these congregations and the characteristics of their young people's vital faith.

The most convincing evidence comes from the witness of the young people surveyed and interviewed. The young people interviewed regularly spoke directly about qualities, relationships, and practices in the youth ministries in their congregations as critical to their life of faith. Many of the youth indicated that the youth ministry in their congregation had profoundly shaped both their life and their faith in specific and concrete ways. One young woman stated: "I experience God at work in the lives of my friends and our adult leaders here; this church is the most real place in my life. I find hope and support for working out my life in a very difficult family situation. Without these people caring and praying for me, I don't know how I would make it. I live off the worship experiences and people here who believe in me." Consequently,the study gives both a description of congregations doing exemplary youth ministry and considerable evidence that such ministry contributes to vital faith in youth and young adults.

What do these congregations with exemplary youth ministries look like? What are their qualities? Are there common practices? Do conceptual models of ministry emerge from their work?

From the early analysis of the three "data streams" — participant surveys, open-ended questions of pastors and youth ministers, and site visits and interviews — clear and promising responses to these critical questions are emerging. Eight themes, each containing several contributing elements, emerge as the foundational components of these congregations with exemplary youth ministries. These eight themes further align as three distinct clusters:

• Theological and Strategic Dynamics
• Qualities of Ministry
• Uniquely Integrated Practices

In each congregation all these aspects of ministry coalesce to generate a "congregational youth ministry culture" that is larger and more effective than its constituent parts.

The three clusters present the "culture fabric" of these congregations with exemplary youth ministry.

Theological and Strategic Dynamics

Three of the emerging themes describe understandings of God's life and activity; the nature of faith; and the direction of ministry that follows from these convictions. They are:

• A Sense of the Presence and Activity of God:
• Emphasis on Spiritual Growth, Vocation, and Discipleship; and
• Engagement in Outreach and Mission.

Qualities of Ministry

Three of the emerging themes describe the manner and excellence with which the people and the congregation involve themselves in each other's lives. These qualities of ministry are:

• Congregational Priority and Support for Youth Ministry
• Significant Relationships and a Sense of Community; and
• Committed, Competent Leadership.

Uniquely Integrated Practices

Two of the emerging themes describe ministry activities and their unique and synergistic alignment in each of the congregations. Even though common, identified youth ministry practices exist across the congregations, each congregation uniquely "custom designs and integrates" those practices in its context. These elements are:

• Common Effective Youth Ministry Practices; and
• "Custom Designed,Integrated Models" of Youth Ministry.

Exemplary "Congregational Youth Ministry Cultures"

When all the elements of each of these youth ministries have been identified, an impressive array of commitments, people, relationships, and activities emerge. One still does not, however, have the full picture of what is going on in these communities of faith and their ministries. The genius of these places seems best described as a "something bigger, something more, something almost mysterious." A "culture" seems to emerge with its pervasive and distinct "spirit" and "atmosphere"that is more powerful than its component parts. It's the combination of the core values, people, relationships, expectations, mores, activities, and so on that seems to generate this spirit and atmosphere, thus pointing to culture as a uniquely helpful image in understanding these exemplary youth ministries.

The Spirit Culture of Youth Ministry

The early analysis and summarization of the study's findings point to dynamics of faithful and effective youth ministry that are at the same time familiar and new. Many of the qualities and practices of youth ministries in these exemplary congregations have been presented as the heart of youth ministry for years.

This study, while confirming the power of these dynamics, discovers something more basic and critical to establishing vital faith in youth and young adults. It is the palpable and pervasive sense of the living, active presence of God at work among the people of the congregation and its youth ministry; at work through the ministries of the congregation in the world; and at work with a passion that all people will have life and salvation that characterizes these congregations. One congregation's pastors, youth ministers, volunteers, parents and youth all spoke of their life together as a "God thing; it's about God changing our lives and caring about the world. It's about transformation! It's about outreach, outreach, outreach!" It is the exemplary congregations' communal celebration and practice of the Spirit of God that permeates all the values, relationships, and practices that gives rise to an "atmosphere,"a "spirit,"a "culture" of life and mission.

Can it be that the critical issues in exemplary youth ministry are theological? Early findings in this study at least point in this direction. It seems to be the commitments and practices regarding the nature and activity of God and the nature and activity of the church that make the critical difference in these youth ministries that establish vital faith in youth and young adults.

— Dr. Roland Martinson is the project Director for the Exemplary Youth Ministry Study, Luther Seminary.