The Burr in the Burgh

On my way to the Higher Things Lutheran youth conference in St. Louis, MO where I'll be preaching and delivering some sectionals.

It seems to me that youth ministry, at its best, does three things well:

- Worship
- Teaching
- Fun

We do all three, but we know how to keep them separate.

In a time when entertainment is seen by many as the highest good, much that passes for youth ministry actually does little to hand on the Christian faith. The new book Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers points out that the average American teenager, even those that regularly attend "conservative" churches, actually knows very little of the substance of Christian doctrine. The authors describe the typical teen as a Moralistic Therapeutic Deist.

I had a parishoner one time ask me, "Why do we feel like we have to 'fun-ize' everything?" Good question. It seems to me that we should be able to have a good time in youth ministry, to enjoy ourselves, but also know the difference between a rock concert and a worship service, between a video game and a Bible study.