DESCRIPTION: This course provides the foundational concepts and best practices
to prepare the student for ministry to the young in both a church and
non-church setting in any context. The course will provide a basic
understanding of adolescent development, contemporary culture, and historical
and contextual models of youth ministry thinking and practice. The course is
designed to help the student to think and respond theologically to the needs
and expectations of the young and their families in a church or organization,
and provides practical tools enabling the student to design a theologically
sound youth ministry program suitable in any context.
SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: From a human perspective, the future of
the church rests in the hands of the next generation. How those in power pass
on the Christian faith to children and adolescents will determine the shape of
the church for years to come. By understanding the nature of human and
spiritual development, how to read a culture, how to solicit support and adult
ownership and how to develop programs and models that reach an adolescent
subculture so the young are effectively and practically adopted into the
community of faith, this course will enable the student to lead a congregation
or organization into reaching the next generation for Christ and his
kingdom.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will (1) understand cultural trends that influence
and affect adolescents and their families; (2) develop a comprehensive theology
and philosophy of youth ministry that produces a ministry of adoption into a
local church body; (3) understand the different ministry needs of early,
middle, and late adolescents; (4) create multi-generational relational programs
and curriculum that enable discipleship and Christian nurture within a
theologically driven framework of congregational ownership and strategic
adoption of the young.
COURSE FORMAT: The class will meet weekly for nine three-hour sessions of
lectures and class discussion. For the final three hours of content, each
student will be required to attend one of a list of presentations by a youth
ministry expert or other ministry leader, participate in an online discussion
group of other class students concerning the presentation, and produce a group
project reflecting the learning outcome experienced. Each student will also
complete a contextualized final project.
REQUIRED READING: The texts below and 250 pages from the recommended reading
are required.