Posted on 06/02/2014 6:03:21 PM PDT by ebb tide
World Yute Days and LifeTeen Masses come to mind.
Agreed. Faith as socialization.
Christian education is very important. str.org is an organization that has a good student ministry—teaching kids to THINK, not just “relate” to the world.
ping
I checked your link. Thanks, but no thanks. Check out the Baltimore Catechism instead.
http://www.catholicity.com/baltimore-catechism/
It’s way past time to tell our youth that they may be persecuted for their faith. They should be preparing by reading the scriptures and praying faithfully.
Thousands of Christians die every year because of their faith. Our time for testing will come as we’ll.
katy perry and brad pitt were involved in youth groups. we need to build solid foundations of the bible education. young people are bible illiterates. i’d rather be a prophetic minority than a mushy majority.
Heh. I didn’t think it’d be a favorite of Roman Catholics. Nevertheless, my point being: a thinking Christian student is better than one that merely “relates” to the lost.
What you said. Post 3
I believe Ann Bernhardt calls it “super fun rock band church”
Neo-triumphalism.
My guess is the youth groups reflect the church they are from.
The basic points here are correct that the experience of youth in church should not be divorced from the experience of church as family. We have pandered way too much to the culture of youth in the church. That being said there is nothing wrong with youth having youth centered ‘Bible Study’ or extra meetings that speak directly to the problems and positives of being a young Christian in a secular world. Also discussions in regard to vocations or how to express an authentic faith are great but should not exclude the experiences of older Christians, Ministers, Priests etc. I would think the failure rate would decrease depending on how much the more mature members of the congregation are engaged by the youth leader or group. I have no numbers to back this up but personal relationships and the ability to see more mature Christians live out their faith are bound to keep the bond to church stronger!
Youth groups have a tendency to atomize. They buck against the biblical concept of one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. While it is true we all go through seasons and stations in life that shift and change, that is all the more reason to participate together in Divine Service on a regular basis - all ages and vocations - with a Pastor who is called and placed in service to the Church, being devoted to “feeding the sheep.” If youth in a parish are going to do activities as a separate group, let them be closely guided, taught, and supervised by God-fearing adults while doing works of service for the elderly and neighbors.
“One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism” is not merely a concept, but the overarching Reality found in Christ Jesus Who builds His Church.
"According to a new five-week, three-question national survey sponsored by the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches (NCFIC), the youth group itself is the problem. Fifty-five percent of American Christians are concerned with modern youth ministry because it’s too shallow and too entertainment-focused, resulting in an inability to train mature believers. But even if church youth groups had the gravitas of Dallas Theological Seminary, 36 percent of today’s believers are convinced youth groups themselves are not even biblical……
……..“Today’s church has created peer dependency,” McManus says. “The inherent result of youth groups is that teenagers in the church are focused on their peers, not their parents or their pastors. It’s a foreign sociology that leads to immaturity, a greater likelihood of sexual activity, drug experimentation and a rejection of the authority of the Word of God. "
Trying to be hip and cool doesn’t help them grow in Christianity? Well, who could have foreseen this? Like, everyone?
The same reason it is hard to find real solid Christian faith in the pews of a Mega-Church.
Todd Friel on the show, “Wretched” has been onto this problem for a long time. He had videos of teens eating peanut butter out of the armpit of their youth pastor, etc etc. Yes, this is an epic FAIL.
Lumping all protestants together on anything always makes you wrong.
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