the beginnings of youth ministry

The Church Fathers had a distinctive approach to youth ministry.

Now, don’t jump to conclusions. I haven’t uncovered any evidence that St. Ambrose led teens on ski trips in the nearby Alps. Nor is there anything to suggest that St. Basil sponsored junior-high dances in Pontus. (There’s not even a hint of a pizza party.) In fact, if you check all the documentary evidence from all the ancient patriarchates of the East and the West, you won’t find a single bulletin announcement for a single parish youth group.

Yet the Fathers had enormous success in youth and young-adult ministry. Many of the early martyrs were teens, as were many of the Christians who took to the desert for the solitary life. There’s ample evidence that a disproportionate number of conversions, too, came from the young and youngish age groups.

How did the Fathers do it?

They made wild promises.

They promised young people great things, like persecution, lower social status, public ridicule, severely limited employment opportunities, frequent fasting, a high risk of jail and torture, and maybe, just maybe, an early, violent death at the hands of their pagan rulers.

The Fathers looked young people in the eye and called them to live purely in the midst of a pornographic culture. They looked at some young men and women and boldly told them they had a calling to virginity. And it worked. Even the pagans noticed how well it worked...

some interesting stuff from here

Comments

[Uncle MacK]

Maybe young men then and now were/are looking for adventure. Have we emasculated Christ to the point that he is a boring, wimpy, 'good guy'? The thing that caught my attention when being 'converted', was this crazy counter-cultural rebel. In fact, this is sometimes all that keeps me going - the adventure of loving people, breaking norms, being untamed...

[shirley perry]

It is along way back - but I remember living my life as a teen and youth with such "purpose" and excitement.
Shirley

[joseph]

I do think that there is something to the notion of "challenge". And certainly I think that being offered a call to Christian discipleship should be something that excites. Mack, I tend to agree that maybe in some circles Jesus has been reduced to the warm fuzzies. What some have called the era of "Jesus is my girlfriend" music. (But that's another topic altogether).

I also think that we sometimes mistake "entertainment" for "excitement", or maybe we just don't have the adjectives for it. Following Jesus involves risk, courage, heartbreak, hard choices and actions, taking a stand when called to do so, being vulnerable when called to do so,

Jesus seems to have laid down some challenges to followers and would-be followers during his earthly ministry.

Maybe we have set our comfort filters too high to hear what he is saying.