Sustainable Youth Ministry: Why Most Youth Ministry Doesn't Last and What Your Church Can Do About It

by Mark DeVries

Publisher:

IVP

, 2010

Overview

You're looking for a youth pastor. Again.

What goes wrong? Why do youth ministries crumble? And what is the cost to students, parents, volunteers and church staff?

Is a sustainable youth ministry possible, even after a youth pastor leaves?

Youth ministry expert Mark DeVries knows the answer is yes, because he helps build sustainable youth ministries through his coaching service called Youth Ministry Architects. So take heart: No matter what state the youth ministry at your church is in--in need of a leader and volunteers, full of battles and stress, large or small in number--it can be built to survive and to last for the long haul.

Based on his own experience and on his many conversations and interviews with churches in crisis, DeVries pinpoints problems that cause division and burnout and dispels strongly held myths. He then provides the practical tools and structures pastors and church leaders need to lay a strong foundation for your ministry so that it isn't built on a person or the latest, greatest student ministry trend.

His accessible guidance:

helps senior pastors and search committees create a realistic job description for a youth pastor

provides tips for making wise hiring decisions

equips youth pastors to build a strong volunteer team

offers creative solutions to help youth pastors set and keep boundaries

gives a road map for navigating church politics

and more...

Building a sustainable youth ministry is not easy, and it's not quick. But with commitment to the process, hard work and DeVries's guidance, you can put together a healthy youth ministry--one that fits your church and lasts for the long haul. Youth ministry can last. Here's how.

Read more

Key Features

• Peppered with real-life examples from churches and youth leaders
• Examines the “anatomy of stuckness” and looks at the factors that keep churches stuck in lousy youth ministries
• Explores a whole new way of thinking about youth ministry by looking at systems, structure and climate more than to tasks and great ideas

Contents

• Introduction: Roll of the Dice: Exposing Today's Most Popular Youth Ministry Model
• Cracking the Code: The Anatomy of Stuckness in Youth Ministry
• The Easy Button: The Crisis of Chronic Underinvestment
• Hoping, Wishing and Praying: Beyond the Frantic Search for the Youth Ministry Superstar
• The Dance Floor: A Systems Approach to Youth Ministry
• Building Right: The Structures of Sustainabilty
• Climate Change: The Work of the Environmental Architect
• Searching Right: A Primer for Youth Ministry Search Teams
• Aligning the Heart: The Emotionally Healthy Youth Worker
• Monkeys, Frogs and Balconies: Secrets of Third-Pig Youth Workers
• Architecting the Constellation: From Camp Counselor to Sustainable Leader
• The Magnet Effect: Making Friendship Contagious
• Dancing with Alligators: Navigating the Turbulent Waters of Church Politics
• Rabbit Trails and Brick Walls: When All Our Brilliant Plans Don?t Work
• Epilogue: Seizing the Unfair Advantage
• Appendix A: Discussion Questions
• Appendix B: Sustainable Youth Ministry Builder's List
• Appendix C: The Compliance Checklist

Top Highlights

“To begin tilting the climate of a youth ministry in a positive direction, its leaders need to identify a small victory, a single visible result, and go after it.” (source)

“Trust is our most valuable currency for dealing with senior leadership.” (source)

“Transformation becomes habitual for a youth ministry when a unique ‘climate of transformation’ is established” (source)

“ministry. But both the research and our experience reveal that numbers do, in fact, matter” (source)

“Our experience has been consistent: we’ve never seen a youth ministry with a singular focus on boosting numbers actually be successful. More often than not, an urgent demand for numbers has just the opposite effect: increasing the level of toxic anxiousness in the climate surrounding the youth ministry, resulting in less, not more, youth becoming involved.” (source)

Praise for Sustainable Youth Ministry

Mark Devries has given away most of his adult years to serving young people in the church. He has done this with passion, with humor, and with a heart that is open and growing toward God. Anyone with a calling to youth ministry should read this book.

--Mark Yaconelli, author of Wonder, Fear, and Longing

You simply must read this book--not because of DeVries's generous spirit, irresistible metaphors, and profound love for teenagers, youth leaders and churches glistening on every page; not because the book is breathtakingly comprehensive (it will easily replace thirty books on your shelf); and not because DeVries himself is a genius. You must read it because it is the most sane book on youth ministry ever written, and DeVries has a clearheaded sense of call. While adolescent faith is more than the earthen vessels that contain it, DeVries contends that we need to shore up our organization or the treasure is going to leak straight through the cracks. So he doffs the gimmicks, magic bullets, foolproof programs and lucky hires, and demonstrates how sustainable youth ministry is planned, predictable and productive. Christ already does his part in youth ministry; it's high time we rolled up our sleeves and did ours.

--Kenda Creasy Dean, associate professor, Princeton Theological Seminary and author of Worshipping at the Church of "Benign Whatever-ism"

Youth ministries everywhere are in crisis. Everyone is talking about it, but no significant solutions are emerging. One thing we know for sure--the ideas we have used for the last twenty years are tired. We can't fix this by simply doing a great job with a bad idea. This approach is leaving us with flat youth ministries and even more burnt-out youth ministers. Everything is up for grabs. This is where Mark DeVries comes into the picture. He is offering fresh ideas that work, that last and are sustainable--yes sustainable! Now, if you are looking for a quick fix, this isn't the book for you. If you are looking for real, long-term solutions that produce transformed students and healthy youth ministers, look no further!

--Randy Frazee, author of The Connecting Church and David Frazee, student at Baylor University

Product Details

• Title: Sustainable Youth Ministry: Why Most Youth Ministry Doesn't Last and What Your Church Can Do About It
• Author: Mark DeVries
• Publisher: IVP
• Print Publication Date: 2010
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Pages: 218
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Church work with youth; Religion › Christian ministry--Youth
• ISBNs: 9780830879052, 0830879056
• Resource ID: LLS:9780830879052
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-06T20:51:42Z

About Mark DeVries

Mark DeVries (MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary) is the founder of Ministry Architects, a consulting team that helps churches and ministry organizations build sustainable ministries for children, youth, young adults, and entire congregations. He served for twenty-eight years as associate pastor for youth and their families at First Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. He has trained youth workers on five continents and has taught courses or been a guest lecturer at a number of colleges and seminaries.

DeVries is the author of Sustainable Youth Ministry, Sustainable Children's Ministry (with Annette Safstrom), and Family-Based Youth Ministry. He is also the coauthor of The Most Important Year in a Woman's Life/The Most Important Year in a Man's Life, and he has been a contributing writer for Josh McDowell's Youth Ministry Handbook, Starting Right, and Reaching a Generation for Christ. He and his wife, Susan, have four grown children.