Models of Youth Ministry… Practice
Model One: The Onion
- The idea here is that you fill in the activities of your youth ministry from most missional to the most church-based. As an example, things like streetwork, drop-in centre, informal school contact and other community based contact would fit in the outside circle. The next circle might include things like school scripture teaching, kids clubs, outreach youth groups, formalised parental contact. This continues through to the middle circle which is your ultimate hope programmatically for doing the ministry you do. That could be regular attendance at a service of worship, self awareness and use of gifts, or perhaps leadership.
The line running to the centre in this case is the recognition of relationship, levels of intimacy, and/or the work of God in this process. It shows the movement hoped for in your ministry
Model Two: The Funnel
- This model is quite similar and starts with things most missional at the widest part, moving through to the things most church-based near the bottom. This model perhaps better recognises that some people will stay at the top of the funnel, others will move closer into relationship with leaders, support people and hopefully with God as they move down the funnel.
There are many more complex models than those here. You may need to hunt a bit to find them, but they are there. The point is, most of this goes unspoken in most places. Getting a common handle on where you are coming from and going to as a leader, as a youth group, as a youth ministry, as a church is usually a most uniting experience. Be aware that some people prefer pictorial representations and other like conceptual. Either way, finding the common ground will be very enlightening process and an empowering outcome.
Instruction Manual: