Insightful thoughts here that are also applicable beyond the specific context youth/young adult ministry.
Two comments. . .
1. Re. Your point "Even if a conference has no ministry content, why does that matter if people show up?" I'd add: "... and spend money, or will eventually become paying consumers in the church." So often it seems (esp in institutional Orthodoxy of an ethnically restrictive variety) that the objective behind events and so-called "ministries" (for adults as well as young adults) is fundraising and making money rather than spiritual formation, following Christ, loving our neighbour, etc. It's disorienting and disillusioning.
2. I too wanted to praise the work of OCF. I recently had the blessing of speaking at one of their regional conferences for the first time and was blown away by how focused it was on truly ministering to and spiritually challenging participants. It was also, by 'worldly' standards, just a tremendously well organized and high-quality conference. It kind of shows it doesn't totally have to he either-or. When a ministry environment is rich, well thought out, and inviting, it becomes 'fun' in its own way. Drawing closer to Christ and one another becomes something we experience as fulfilling and enjoyable.
Thanks, Steve. I had an older woman complaining to me that we don't have enough activities for the teens to do what we "used to do" - basketball tourneys and lots of Greek dancing. Yup, those were good social events, but were the kids really converted to Jesus Christ? Since they rarely come to church except on Pascha and for weddings and funerals, I sort of doubt it.
Steven, this is all a great article and a very important fact to highlight. Engagement without ministry oftentimes numbs a person's appreciation for the Church and desire for the Lord. They have checked a box as being part of the church after going to a conference or a networking night without engaging their faith at all. Then when the need arises in their life or they are convicted and feel a need for repentance and His light they look elsewhere because the "church" stuff was more of the same from the world.
You're right, Steve, and I see a similar thing more and more from pastors (fellow chaplains, mostly) who believe their greatest contribution is clinical-style counselling, rather than making the presence of Christ real in the midst of a conflicted and confusing world. And when apologetics take center stage away from sacramental theology, the results are predictable. You can't have a relationship with a theory or doctrine, but you must have a relationship with Christ. We approach Him and try to engage with the Gospel as if it were and idea, rather than a Person. This is definitely at least a western, enlightenment approach, if not specifically American. If you're weird, you aren't the only one.
I think we mustn't worry about whether or not we're weird, and fall back on the premise that "if we always do what we always did, we'll always get what we always got". Because clearly what we're getting now, in terms of young adult retention and engagement isn't what we want to get.
I agree with you about the internet! I wonder about internet ministry because the young adults I talk with are overwhelmed by the amount of information they find labelled "Orthodox". Some of it is valuable and some of it is questionable and some of it is outright heresy - and there's no good way of distilling the good from the bad. We are probably naive if we think we can get away without an internet presence today, but I struggle with the right way to start that. Person to person (or groups of persons) provides the benefit of prayer and quiet and easy discussion with some control over the message and the experience. It's hard to make this happen on the internet.
The para-church angle is very interesting! Maybe we need to step back and refocus on one individual at a time. Thinking in terms of the Group of Young Adults has maybe diluted and obfuscated the goal because the target it so big and broad. Dialing it back to one individual, then a small group, etc might help us realize the value of experiential learning, relationships, prayer and quiet time. Maybe we should be thinking in terms of the parable of the lost sheep, get good at ministering to a few and relearn what works with a few before extrapolating that to a group of ten, fifty, a hundred etc. If we can do well with one, that's a start. Because a group of young adults at a conference or event is just a collection of individuals, right?
I've run into Orthodox Christians using Jordan Peterson too. It's really discouraging when we have so many great writings from Orthodox or even other actual Christians already.
Nice article, and you’re definitely on to something. The problems (weirdness) you’re calling out are incorrect solutions applied to a set of larger more complex problems. The good new is that there most certainly *are* solutions that will work - but it will take a lot of leadership, thinking and experimenting to figure them out.
Kudos to how you very clearly and correctly call out the goal of young adult ministries, e.g. “Helping to form one faithful young adult…” or more generally stated as “forming faithful young adults.” That’s a critical, and non-trivial part of the solution space. Without that clarity, there will be no improvements.
While I think it’s ideal if you can obtain your goal by shaping your vision for ministry on someone from within the church, that is a secondary consideration. The more important one is achieving your goal while staying true to the faith. Like St. John Damascus said, “First of all I shall set forth the best contributions of the philosophers of the Greeks, because whatever there is of good has been given to men by God…” Someone like Jordan Peterson or Joe Rogan or whoever is your favorite is successful for a reason. Figure out why and use that. It’s today’s equivalent of the “best contributions of the Greeks” and if it’s good enough for St John Damascus, it should be good enough for us.
I completely agree with your viewpoints noted in this article. As a long time youth ministry volunteer and mother of 3- I often see the problem. “Kids” (is it the kids though? I myself have fallen into the FOMO trap) go through hoops to get tickets to the next “event” before it sells out and yet church on Sunday morning is not met with the same priority.
The thing is and why I keep going is that albeit “not the best approach” they do hear a message at our Goya meetings and pray that at some point in time that “distant voice” becomes top of consciousness and they come back to the church. Until a better way is figured out I keep thinking this is better than no message at all, because trust me that “time” will be filled up with some other not as fulfilling time waster.
The Weird Way We Approach Young Adult Ministry
Insightful thoughts here that are also applicable beyond the specific context youth/young adult ministry.
Two comments. . .
1. Re. Your point "Even if a conference has no ministry content, why does that matter if people show up?" I'd add: "... and spend money, or will eventually become paying consumers in the church." So often it seems (esp in institutional Orthodoxy of an ethnically restrictive variety) that the objective behind events and so-called "ministries" (for adults as well as young adults) is fundraising and making money rather than spiritual formation, following Christ, loving our neighbour, etc. It's disorienting and disillusioning.
2. I too wanted to praise the work of OCF. I recently had the blessing of speaking at one of their regional conferences for the first time and was blown away by how focused it was on truly ministering to and spiritually challenging participants. It was also, by 'worldly' standards, just a tremendously well organized and high-quality conference. It kind of shows it doesn't totally have to he either-or. When a ministry environment is rich, well thought out, and inviting, it becomes 'fun' in its own way. Drawing closer to Christ and one another becomes something we experience as fulfilling and enjoyable.
Thanks, Steve. I had an older woman complaining to me that we don't have enough activities for the teens to do what we "used to do" - basketball tourneys and lots of Greek dancing. Yup, those were good social events, but were the kids really converted to Jesus Christ? Since they rarely come to church except on Pascha and for weddings and funerals, I sort of doubt it.
Steven, this is all a great article and a very important fact to highlight. Engagement without ministry oftentimes numbs a person's appreciation for the Church and desire for the Lord. They have checked a box as being part of the church after going to a conference or a networking night without engaging their faith at all. Then when the need arises in their life or they are convicted and feel a need for repentance and His light they look elsewhere because the "church" stuff was more of the same from the world.
You're right, Steve, and I see a similar thing more and more from pastors (fellow chaplains, mostly) who believe their greatest contribution is clinical-style counselling, rather than making the presence of Christ real in the midst of a conflicted and confusing world. And when apologetics take center stage away from sacramental theology, the results are predictable. You can't have a relationship with a theory or doctrine, but you must have a relationship with Christ. We approach Him and try to engage with the Gospel as if it were and idea, rather than a Person. This is definitely at least a western, enlightenment approach, if not specifically American. If you're weird, you aren't the only one.
I think we mustn't worry about whether or not we're weird, and fall back on the premise that "if we always do what we always did, we'll always get what we always got". Because clearly what we're getting now, in terms of young adult retention and engagement isn't what we want to get.
I agree with you about the internet! I wonder about internet ministry because the young adults I talk with are overwhelmed by the amount of information they find labelled "Orthodox". Some of it is valuable and some of it is questionable and some of it is outright heresy - and there's no good way of distilling the good from the bad. We are probably naive if we think we can get away without an internet presence today, but I struggle with the right way to start that. Person to person (or groups of persons) provides the benefit of prayer and quiet and easy discussion with some control over the message and the experience. It's hard to make this happen on the internet.
The para-church angle is very interesting! Maybe we need to step back and refocus on one individual at a time. Thinking in terms of the Group of Young Adults has maybe diluted and obfuscated the goal because the target it so big and broad. Dialing it back to one individual, then a small group, etc might help us realize the value of experiential learning, relationships, prayer and quiet time. Maybe we should be thinking in terms of the parable of the lost sheep, get good at ministering to a few and relearn what works with a few before extrapolating that to a group of ten, fifty, a hundred etc. If we can do well with one, that's a start. Because a group of young adults at a conference or event is just a collection of individuals, right?
I've run into Orthodox Christians using Jordan Peterson too. It's really discouraging when we have so many great writings from Orthodox or even other actual Christians already.
Nice article, and you’re definitely on to something. The problems (weirdness) you’re calling out are incorrect solutions applied to a set of larger more complex problems. The good new is that there most certainly *are* solutions that will work - but it will take a lot of leadership, thinking and experimenting to figure them out.
Kudos to how you very clearly and correctly call out the goal of young adult ministries, e.g. “Helping to form one faithful young adult…” or more generally stated as “forming faithful young adults.” That’s a critical, and non-trivial part of the solution space. Without that clarity, there will be no improvements.
While I think it’s ideal if you can obtain your goal by shaping your vision for ministry on someone from within the church, that is a secondary consideration. The more important one is achieving your goal while staying true to the faith. Like St. John Damascus said, “First of all I shall set forth the best contributions of the philosophers of the Greeks, because whatever there is of good has been given to men by God…” Someone like Jordan Peterson or Joe Rogan or whoever is your favorite is successful for a reason. Figure out why and use that. It’s today’s equivalent of the “best contributions of the Greeks” and if it’s good enough for St John Damascus, it should be good enough for us.
I completely agree with your viewpoints noted in this article. As a long time youth ministry volunteer and mother of 3- I often see the problem. “Kids” (is it the kids though? I myself have fallen into the FOMO trap) go through hoops to get tickets to the next “event” before it sells out and yet church on Sunday morning is not met with the same priority.
The thing is and why I keep going is that albeit “not the best approach” they do hear a message at our Goya meetings and pray that at some point in time that “distant voice” becomes top of consciousness and they come back to the church. Until a better way is figured out I keep thinking this is better than no message at all, because trust me that “time” will be filled up with some other not as fulfilling time waster.