In order to meet the multiple needs of teenagers, Youth Ministry in the later part of this century should be a shared ministry. The effective youth ministry is a team effort of youth, parents, adult youth workers and the staff of a local church. The Youth Minister is a servant equipper. Evangelism and discipleship are modeled by a Christ-like lifestyle.
 

The minister to youth's responsibility is to equip the youth, parents and adult youth workers to minister to teenagers in the community. Today's youth need and deserve more counsel, love, and time than one person is able to give. Richard Ross says, "One youth minister cannot find the hours that quality time with every youth on roll needs and deserves." ( Ross, Richard. The Work of the Minister of Youth. Revised. (Nashville, Convention Press, 1990) 51) Thus the Minister of Youth demonstrates, with hard work, how to live the obedient Christian life. A youth minister cannot bring a youth ministry in a box and plug it into a church and watch true ministry take place. The effective youth ministries in America are those in which the youth minister and youth leadership spend hours on their knees seeking God's plan for the local church.

The leadership of the youth ministry comes together under one council to give vital input to the planning process. The Youth Ministry Council is made up of youth, parents, and the adult youth workers who have leadership in the program areas of the youth ministry. The adults include: The division and department directors from Sunday School (Bible study and outreach); the DiscipleLife coordinator (Discipleship); Youth Choir Minister or an adult representative from the youth choir (Music); The youth missions coordinator i.e. Acteens leader, Pioneer leader, and the Baptist Young Men leader, World Changers coordinator (Mission). The Parent Advisory Committee has a representative who serves on the Youth Ministry Council. There is a guy and a girl representative from each grade in the youth group. Youth, parents and adult youth workers feel a partnership to the youth ministry by being a vital part of the planning process. By using this process the youth, parents, and adult youth workers have ownership to the youth ministry.

Youth Ministry is not a separate entity from the rest of the church. Recreational events and other activities fit into each of the church's programs. There is a purpose in every event sponsored by the youth group. That purpose may be to introduce new teens to the church's youth and adults. An outreach event is designed to provide a non-threatening atmosphere for the non-Christian young person, (e.g.. a trip to an amusement park, beach). A retreat may be designed to challenge a regular church member to step into a deeper walk with Christ. This is called a discipleship event. Both of these events would involve recreation, but one is sponsored through the Sunday School and the other is sponsored through the Discipleship programs of the youth ministry. Recreation through the tool of sports is a fantastic way of introducing non-Christian teens to the love of Christ. An older style of youth ministry used basketball and softball as in house recreation This view does little to bring in the lost student. A better way of organizing the recreational sports is by requiring the present members of the youth group who wish to play to enlist one non-Christian teenager to be on the team. Thus, one half of the teem would be unsaved. The Christian teen would attend an evangelism training session prior to the beginning of the season. Their primary responsibility will be to share their personal salvation testimony and the gospel with the non-Christian teen they invite to play ball. Using this has proven to be a great evangelistical tool.

The above principles are to help establish a growing and spiritually effective youth ministry. The Youth Minister must dedicate hours upon hours in seeking, on his knees, the plan of God. The experienced youth minister is convinced that the real battle is a spiritual battle and the principal weapon is prayer. ( Wagnor, Peter. Church Panting for a Greater Harvest. (Ventura: Regal Books, 1990) 46) When God reveals to man His plan and man strives to carry it out God's way, God Himself will provide the resources. The local church should not be surprised if this means trying something out of the traditional method. It has been said, that the gospel of Jesus Christ stays the same, but the methods used to convey that gospel must change with new generations and different cultures. This well used phrase expresses the philosophy of youth ministry as we approach a new millennium. The other side of the coin from prayer is the most important element of the youth ministry in any church, the work and person of the Holy Spirit. Jack Redford says, "The Holy Spirit has been called the energizer, empowerer, guide, comforter, and more." (Redford, Jack. Planting New Churches. (Nashville; Broadman Press, 1978) 9) If anything spiritual happens in a youth group, it will be because the Holy Spirit makes it happen. Youth Ministers and adult youth workers can never forget they are servants of the Almighty God. Servants work hard for their masters glory and not for their own personal gain. According to many youth ministry experts, who have been in youth ministry for 20 years or more, youth ministry is harder today than ever before.  (These words were said in many different way during a four day Youth Ministry Conference September 30 - October 3, 1991 held in Arlington, TX. The conference was sponsored by Dawson McAllister and Shepherd Ministry.) Which means those who work with teenagers must work harder than ever before to win them to Christ and disciple them to win others to Christ.

Teenagers today have many needs which require a shared ministry style. If the local church hopes to meet those needs, it must include the parents, adult youth workers as well as the youth themselves in the planning and implementation of strategies to minister to teenagers. The Minister of Youth must live a lifestyle pleasing to Christ if he hopes to model Jesus to the teens and their parents. May God receive the praise, glory and honor due to Him in the lives of all those who work with youth.
 

Many people have given input into the development of my philosophy of Youth Ministry. It is hard to distinguish where their thoughts stop and my thoughts begin. This is a brief overview of my philosophy of Youth Ministry. For a more complete explanation of how I view the work of the youth minister in the 1990's please read the following books:

* Wesley Black. An Introduction to Youth Ministry. (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1991)

* Richard Ross. The Work of the Minister of Youth. Revised. (Nashville: Convention Press, 1989)

* Duffy Robbins. Programming to build disciples. (SP: Victor Books, 1987)

* Doyle Young. New Life for Your Church. (Grad Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989)