A New Kind of Youth Ministry Page 2

by Dan Walsh

A Better Way

The reason we find no mention of Youth Ministry in Scripture is because God has always intended children to receive their spiritual training from their parents, even through the teen years:

Deut 6:6-7 Deut 6:6-7 "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Prov 23:25-26 "May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice! My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways." (Notice who is speaking...a father).

Eph 6:4 Eph 6:4 "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

Notice who’s doing the training? Not a youth pastor. It's Mom and Dad, mostly Dad. Perhaps this graphic will help illustrate where we differ from traditional youth ministries:

Traditional Model:

Biblical Model:

Notice who is expected to bridge the gap between the Teen and a Walk With Christ?  The Bible lays the assignment squarely on the shoulders of the parents, and nowhere else.  Granted most parents today feel ill-equipped to disciple their teens spiritually.  But is the solution to replace the parents' role with someone else?  We don't think so.  We believe the Biblical solution is for parents to become equipped to do what God has called them.  This is the role we believe the church  the should play--to equip the parents-- not to become a parental substitute.

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