Youth Ministry: The Importance of Connection

October 17, 2006

When they talk about it, the youth in Southminster’s youth group talk about how tight-knit they are. They celebrate the fact that they all know each other so well, particularly since our 25 or so youth go to nine or ten different schools in the Kansas City area and are spread out all over the place. They know that their time together is important–whether it is doing “serious” work in service or worship, or “not-so-serious” fellowship and fun time (ask a youth about what hosehead is when you get a second).

When people ask me, I say that what our youth group is all about is building connectionalism: bonds of friendship between each other and with God. These are bonds which are strong, with the potential of being lifelong friendships even as the youth graduate from High School and embark on the next stage of their lives at college or elsewhere. The memories they share shape them, and become part of who they are as adults. Its part of the reason that youth ministry is so rewarding, and why our youth group remains one of the strongest ministries at Southminster: even in a time when our youth are more scheduled and busy than ever, these youth take each Sunday night to gather together, share a meal, and then do something meaningful together.

This past Sunday we did something that expands on this notion a bit: we made care-packages for former youth group members that graduated recently: many of whom are at college. The pictures to the right show the fruit of our labor: each package packed with goodies, a letter from a youth, and artistic-greeting on the outside. (Some of our youth are more artistic than others, but all are done with love).

Whether the youth know it or not, these packages are so meaningful to those who get them, and when we did this last year we received wonderful notes from former members. It is a way for the youth to feel connected with these former members, and to know that, when they themselves graduate, there is a community here that continues to hold them in our hearts, no matter where they go. And for those who get a care package, it is a reminder of where they came from, a community that cares for them.

There is an argument out there that talks about Christian Formation through the practices we engage in: the activities (often ritual) that we as a church do matter in the way we see the world, in the form of our faith and our interaction with the church. So I’m glad that we are making these care-packages into a ritual of connectionalism, reminding our youth that what they are doing now has importance for them even after they move on to the next place life takes them.

So I’ll mail these later this week. And next week we’ll gather again for more fellowship, learning how to love one another as Christ loves us.

Posted in Youth