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When does style overtake substance? This is one of the perennial issues in youth ministry–especially in music. Read my latest column at sydneyanglicans.net

Here’s an excerpt:

Now I recognise that speaking this way does little to give me youth ministry street-cred (or whatever it’s called these days). I am at great risk of being labelled out-of-touch, over-the-hill, geriatric, or whatever term of endearment the younger folk might care to give me. But I wonder whether or not there are certain tempos and vocal styles that are incompatible with congregational singing, even for a group of people who are regular listeners of heavy metal?

At church on Sunday I roadtested the radical suggestion I made in last month’s sydneyanglicans.net article entitled ‘The word of God, loud and clear’. In this article, I suggested the following:

“In normal situations, we listen to the Bible read before the preacher explains and expands the text. Wouldn’t it be better to hear the Bible expounded, and then hear it read? The text would gain even greater clarity, and the meaning would be amplified by the exposition just presented by the preacher.”

Well, it might shock you to know that before I had written the article, I had never seen this done in real life. It was simply an exercise in kite-flying, so to speak.

Anyway, when I put together the runsheet on Sunday for the gathering I was leading, I gave it a try, and it worked a treat. Not only did the Bible reader read with more clarity (since she had just been given a twenty-minute preparation for her task), but the whole congregation also benefited from hearing the word of God, after it was explained.

What’s more, it made the reading of the Word appear to have a centrality in the gathering that I’ve not experienced before. It was as if the reading of the sermon passage was the peak of the word ministry.

Have you ever tried this retrospective reading? Have you ever witnessed it first-hand?

In this week’s sydneyanglicans.net the Year 13 program is featured alongside the Church Army program in this story on gap year programs.

Here’s an excerpt:

Most Sydney Anglicans probably know a teenager who is wondering what to do with their lives. In the past, teenagers went straight from school to a trade or a degree. Today, Christian teenagers have the option of trying something new, seeing another part of the world and building up their Christian faith.

Read the full story here, and check out the forum in which I have been invited to participate.

Are mission teams there to act as ‘hired gun’ evangelists, or could they be better used teaching congregations how to love their churches and lead the mission?

Here’s an excerpt from my latest sydneyanglicans.net article:

Yet, it is possible, and perhaps even preferable for the mission team to concentrate less on evangelism, and more on equipping. We assume that because it’s called a ‘mission’ team, the group must be doing outreach. However, the reason they are a mission team is because they are ‘sent’ from the Bible college. After all, the word ‘mission’ comes from the Latin missio (to send.)

 

So, if we remove the premise that a mission team must concentrate on doing the evangelism, then many options open to us that may provide much greater opportunities for church growth (in both number and quality.)

Read this latest sydneyanglicans.net article here.

Here’s an excerpt from today’s sydneyanglicans.net article on Schools Ministry entitled ‘Schools in for outreach’ in which I am quoted: 

Involving youth ministers in school ministry is one of the main strategies for reaching school students, says Year 13 Director and Youth Ministry Lecturer at Youthworks College, Jodie McNeill.

“One of the best connections a youth minister can have with unchurched teenagers is to teach high school scripture.

“Not only do you potentially get an extra hour a week to disciple your church kids, you also get to meet their friends and tell them the gospel.”

Jodie adds that getting students on board to reach their friends is an important factor.

“Youth ministers must not only work hard at making time to teach lessons, they should also be active in recruiting volunteers to join them in this remarkable mission field.

“There is probably no better way to link with high school kids than to teach SRE (Special Religious Education) in their schools.”  

Any comments or thoughts? Participate in the special forum for this topic which I am moderating at www.sydneyanglicans.net.