“A lot of youth ministry today is driven by fear and anxiety. The fear may be that the church is losing its young people, or that the young people don’t know what to believe, or that the young people need moral values – but many youth ministries live in what Henri Nouwen has called the ‘house of fear’ and not the house of love.
Many youth workers fit Nouwen’s description of the compulsive minister – they are very busy people with meetings to attend, visits to make, programs to run, and events to organize. Many are also angry, exhausted, isolated, and confused. They are good and loving people who are driven by an anxious concern to care for their kids, please the parents and church leaders, and stay alive in the midst of the pressures and demands of their ministry.”
Quote from Mark Yaconelli, Growing Souls: Experiments in Contemplative Youth Ministry
Related posts:
- Time management in youth ministry: keeping the Sabbath
- The future of youth ministry: two major changes that need to be made
- Leading on full: filling up your tank
- Confidentiality in youth ministry
- The future of youth ministry: what needs to change
- The seasons of the soul and your role as youth leader
