A group of youth pastors and leaders in Classis Toronto agree on at least one thing: all is not well with the state of youth ministry in the Christian Reformed Church.
“Are we forming disciples, or are we making church consumers?” asked Jason Postma, director of youth and family ministries for Bethel CRC in Newmarket, Ontario.
“We’re not interested in creating a one-size-fits-all ministry model.”Postma leads a classis re-visioning project that includes a team of 13 youth pastors and leaders who met for the first time Sept. 29 and will continue to meet once a month to discuss the past, present, and future of youth ministry in the CRC.
The team was formed by the Classis Toronto Youth Ministry Committee with input from the classis ministry coordinator.
Team members found themselves on the same page as far as diagnosing past and present problems, such as the “large group” ministry model, and they hope to spend more time focusing on the future, particularly on forming some methods and resources for local churches to use.
“One thing to note is that we are not interested in creating a one-size-fits-all ministry model,” stated Postma.
The group is looking at one-on-one mentoring between adults and youths, as well as gift- and interest-based programming and nurturing youth leadership skills in worship, service, and teaching.
The team plans to present its findings to Classis Toronto in May 2012 and to continue communication among individual congregations about the topic after that.