Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Youth Church Movement

I've noticed a movement. I don't know if you have this same sense inside you. It's not post-modern, it's not "emergent" and it's not youth group. It's called a Youth Church. What caught my attention is the Stadium Modesto. That's right...Modesto, Ca. The Stadium is a youth church. It's got 7th-twenty-somethings. It's a small part of a larger church. It's in Modesto, once again. They have the largest meeting venue in the city. They gather 500-900 youths weekly for worship and a message. Worth Dying For, a newly signed band with Integrity Music, came out of this church.

Here's my question:
1. Is it smart to have 7th-twenty-somethings in one ministry together? Why or why not?
2. What are the advantages of combining into one service for these age groups?
3. How do you speak to these various life-stages in one service?
4. Is there enough fun happening at these services?
5. Is there enough fellowship happening at these services?

As some of you may know. I am in charge of 7-college aged students. Last night at Re:action, our college ministry, I had a conversation with some of our students about timing. I asked them this question: "What time is the best time to meet together in order for maximum impact in our target audience?" Answers varied. But the biggest time-frame that seemed to work was Sundays. We've been meeting on Mondays for a year now. We've seen a lot of people move away to go out of town for college.

I do not propose a youth church.

I am simply wondering the best way to move forward. I'm really just thinking out loud. We're probably going to be moving Re:action to Sunday nights for a while and see how that works for our students and their friends. Then we can re-evaluate from there.

*Worth Dying For will be at Clovis Hills Community Church leading worship in October.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

LIke the Gen-X churches of yesteryear age specific churches always seem odd to me. Our walk with Christ is a life long journey not a sprint. To create a church with an age range seems to miss the point of the body. What do you say to the people who age out? What do you say to the people who finally found a home and hit 30? Seems gimmicky to me. From what you describe it's not really it's on church, it may be it's own service, but it is still under the authority of a church. Not to mention the lack of age/wisdom diversity a church with a specific age group set. The church I attend went from 20-somethings to a much more diverse group. Our fastest growing age group is 50+ and I love it. Not all the time, but for the most part with age comes wisdom.

Micah Foster said...

thanks for the comments Tim...great thoughts!