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Study Explores What Makes Top-Notch Youth Ministry
CHICAGO, IL (October 7, 2004) - Coordinating church youth ministry efforts in
an increasingly complex society can seem like an impossible task, but
new data
provided in part by one Evangelical Covenant Church leader may provide
valuable help to those wishing to direct youth and young adults in their
spiritual development.
Marti Burger, director of Youth and Families for the Department of
Christian Formation, is part of a research team that hopes to publish
books on youth ministry in the coming months. One proposed book would
examine congregations from seven different
denominations and how they have managed provided spiritual development
for their students. Another book will focus on helping churches and
youth leaders use the research most effectively in their ministries.
In addition to Burger, a number of individuals have been collecting and
assessing data, including project director Dr. Roland Martinson of
Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota; Wes Black of Fort Worth, Texas;
and John Roberto of the Center for Ministry Development. The information
will be presented at a conference next August in
Farmington, Connecticut. Burger estimates she has logged around 1,000
hours over the past two years in research, including site visits to
three Covenant congregations identified as providing exemplary youth
ministry programs.
The Study of Exemplary Congregations in Youth Ministry, funded by
Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment, is unique in that researchers can
compare their data to information from similar studies conducted years
earlier. Much of the past data was provided through extensive youth
ministry studies completed by Merton Strommen and others. Strommen wrote
The Five Cries of Youth and other materials that Burger says "serve
as a starting point" for the recent work.
Another positive aspect of the research is the number of congregations –
475 from seven
denominations – that were nominated to be part of the study. These
congregations were nominated by youth leaders on the basis of the
congregations' capacities to engender vital faith in young people as
articulated in a 34-item "portrait of youth Christian maturity" drawn
from tested elements of former research.
"Scientifically and statistically speaking, it's off the charts," said
Burger of the reliability of the recent results. "That's because we had
historical data to work with. Based on past research, our hypothesis –
what we thought we would find – came out perfectly. And I've been at
conferences lately and youth ministry frontline people are saying the
same thing."
As with any study of an "ideal" entity, there isn't one magic formula to
design the perfect youth ministry, researchers found, although some
characteristics were evident in some of the exemplary congregations.
They included:
- A sense of the presence and activity of God
- Emphasis on spiritual growth, vocation and discipleship
- Engagement in outreach and mission
Other qualities of ministry seemed consistent as well as it pertained to
the overall church:
- They gave support for youth ministry and made it a priority in
overall church functions
- They affirmed a sense of community and continual building of
relationships
- They operated with a committed competent leadership
Still, say the researchers, that "special something" that makes youth
ministry thrive in certain churches isn't an accident either. Martinson
wrote a recent paper entitled "The
Spirit of Youth Ministry: Preliminary Findings of a Study of
Congregations with Youth of Vital Faith." He stated in his conclusions
that "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 and ecclesiological? 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 as she participates in the
life of God, the body of Christ and the world that make the critical
difference in these youth ministries that establish vital faith in youth
and young adults."
To learn more about the study, call Burger at 773-583-0220.
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