Video Transcript: Lesson 1 Section 3

Hopefully you have some clarity on why it's important to minister to youth, and why you  specifically feel called to do this work. But let's ask another question. Why is it that you do  certain things in youth ministry? To answer that, you need to understand your ministry  philosophy. A philosophy is an integration of your beliefs with your perception of reality. That  might sound complicated, but it's really not. Here is a simple example of how philosophy  influences our decisions in everyday life. Say you come across a chair that has four legs, it  seems sturdy, based on what you see, you believe the chair is capable of holding your body  weight. So you sit down and trusting that it will hold you up. You have just acted on your  philosophy about the chair. In the same way, a philosophy of ministry bring together beliefs,  your theology with reality, how you will meet the needs of the youth you serve. For that, you  will need to know the spiritual needs of the individuals you are ministering to and be able to  rank those in importance. But before you can even get to that, there are two important  questions that guide how you will develop your philosophy of youth ministry. Number one, are teenagers primarily the church of today, or the Church of the future. And secondly, is the  primary purpose of youth ministry, fellowship, or evangelism. Your answers to these two  foundational questions will determine how your youth ministry operates. If you believe  teenagers are the church of today, the focus of your programming will be to integrate them  into the life of your congregation. If you instead view youth as the Church of the future, you  will tend to invest in teens with the intention of raising them up to be the church leaders of  tomorrow. If you value fellowship, you will tend to focus on the youth already part of your  congregation. While if you fall toward the evangelism side, your primary audience is probably  teenagers not yet reached by a church. Before we go any further, it's important to  acknowledge that all four of these things are important. It is unlikely that your church or any  church would choose one at the expense of the others. Fellowship and evangelism are both  important in a robust model of discipleship. Similarly, a healthy theology recognizes the needs of those in our path, while also considering the future needs of the church. Your responses to  these questions will place you along a spectrum of possible answers. And these natural  leanings will help you understand why you value certain activities in youth ministry and  deemphasize others. This is the important beginning to articulating your ministry philosophy.  As you refine your philosophy, you will see several benefits. You will be able to understand the theological motivations behind your decisions and explain them to others. You will build trust  with your ministry leaders as they understand your plan for the youth in your care. Finally,  you can work effectively alongside volunteers and parents who can help build ministry  programs and develop young leaders