Simpson, Ryan

English

Andrews University

125From Traditional to Relational:Introducing the 4-Fs Paradigmfor Postmodern Youth MinistryRyan Simpson, Youth Ministries Director, Bermuda ConferenceAbstractPostmodernism hurls a plethora of multiple challenges at today’s young people. More andmore, we are feeling the symptoms of urbanization, mobility, fragmentation of the traditionalcommunity, technology, democratization and individualism. Consequently, the great call of ouryouth today is for more spirituality, community and authenticity; a call to which traditionalyouth ministry can no longer respond. A relational youth ministry model built on what I havetermed the 4Fs Principles of Faith, Fun, Food, and Fellowship has proved to counter thechallenges posed by postmodernism and to provide a way forward for youth ministry. Faith isan essential factor for young people of this generation. Fun is an important tool because thereare many other things competing for young people’s attention. Food brings young peopletogether and creates opportunities, lasting impressions and Fellowships enables young peopleto have a sense of belonging before they believe and behave.IntroductionYouth and young adult commitment to theChurch has drastically declined. This hasbeen the case in virtually all Christian faithssuch as the Catholic, Adventist, and otherProtestants (McCorquodale, et. al., 2004).Youth ministry of the early 1990s in Seventh-day Adventist in Jamaica, for example, wassimpler than it is today. During this time mostAdventist churches had large and vibrantyouth groups. Youth Sabbath Schools,Adventist Youth Society meetings and thePathfinder Clubs were well attended. The sumtotal of youth ministry centered in the AYsociety program on Sabbath afternoons. Thisscripted and predictable program included arecitation of the A.Y. mantra, the secretary’sreport of the previous week’s meeting, a songservice and the activity session whichincluded a Bible games, rap sessions or anyother Christian related activity. The day’sactivities would climax with a grand social. Inaddition, the youth ministry leaders used tofrequently organize trips to the beach or apicnic to the park. There were also the usualSummer Camps and the Easter PathfinderCamps. This was the traditional youthministry model.The traditional approach did not integrateinto its programs all the aspects of life thataffected the youth. Some very importantaspects sometimes overlooked included thesocial, emotional, relational and physical. Thetraditional model was more intentional aboutthe spiritual and less intentional, if at all,about other areas. This model of youthministry succeeded at least in thespiritualization of the youth (Neufeld, 2002).However, in many regards, it came short inareas that involved the youth in dialogue andto seek for their opinions, interests, ideas andconcerns. It was didactic rather thanengaging. The inclusion of a social orphysical element, especially in a Sabbathprogram, would be strongly discouraged asunacceptable and irreverent. For this reasonyouth were not allowed to invent otheractivities of interest to them. The modeldepends on forces other than the youth.The Driving Force behind Yesterday’sYouth Ministry ModelCompared to the declining youth ministryof this period, traditional youth ministryflourished because of the followingcircumstantial factors.Force: Urbanization in the early 1990swas in its infancy. For example, individualismwas almost unheard of in the Caribbean, fromwhere I came. The traditional community wasmostly intact and the extended family and thelocal community still reared the children. Toattend or not to attend school and church wasa choice for this body to make, not the youngperson. The unwritten law was that, “onealways attends church as long one residesunder their parents’ roof, regardless of age.”There were fewer options: During theseearlier times, church attendance would rankvery high on a young person’s weekend list ofactivities, especially the Adventist Youthprograms and the Saturday night socials. Forone, the “churched culture” of the 1950s(Neufeld, 2002) was still the reality of thattime. Additionally, young peoples’ alternativeswere very limited. Though technology was onthe rise, it had not reached the level where itis today. Cell phones, cable television,internet, video games and other moderntechnological inventions that compete forattention today were not as pervasive then.Limited car ownership also hampered mobilityand therefore hampered the free movement ofthe young people. Friends: Friends were limited to only a fewbecause face-to-face encounter was the mostcommon means of communication andinteraction between young people. E-mails,social networks, cell phones and textmessaging were non-existent. As a result,Church provided a main platform to facilitatethese kinds of encounters. Young peopleattended church to see friends from whomthey had been separated from for a long timeeither because of school or work. Though thisprovided a wonderful opportunity for thesocial draw of young people, most churchesignored this felt need. A large portion of thiscaptive audience was lost because thefriendship factor was not intentionally takeninto account.Fear: During this time, many youngpeople were greatly motivated to stay inchurch out of fear (of death, of judgment etc),and many preachers either nurtured orcapitalized on this fear for the purpose ofproselytizing. The preachers preachedsermons with themes of judgement andimpending doom for the world. They endedtheir sermons recounting tragic andfrightening stories in order to get positiveresponses to their appeals for baptism. Thisfear was programmed into young people tosuch an extent that some youth could not126From Traditional to Relational: Introduction the 4-F’s Paradigm for Postmodern Youth Ministryeven sleep at night fearing that they might die.Many youth were therefore attending baptismand church services because of their fear ofimminent death.Challenges to Today’s Youth MinistryCommenting on the present condition ofthe youth ministry in North America, Neufield(2002, p. 194) states, “The current state ofYouth Ministry can be described astumultuous, chaotic and confused.”Postmodernism preceded an explosion ofadvanced technology and increased mobility.These forces pose major challenges that defyand even threaten to paralyze the status-quoof traditional youth ministry (McCorquordale,2001). Increased mobility has led to adisconnection of conventional frameworkssuch as family and community structures.Such structures contribute to and influence thedevelopment of human relationships, valuesand expressions. Increased mobility hastherefore adversely affected the role assignedto the parents as primary educators and faithformatters of the children.The nature of the today’s educationsystem is also alien to the spiritual dimensionof learning. The education processes arebased on competition which promotesindividual achievement and materialism.Society has also become increasinglymulticultural, which brings about newdemands for encountering religious diversityin both schools and churches. Youth todaydemand technical, scientific answers toquestions of faith and science (Swartz &Codrington, 2003).While my generation lacked options, thisgeneration has multiple options; while mygeneration was forced to attend church, thisgeneration will be pushed further away if theyare forced to attend; while the generation ofthe 90s and before accepted the status quo,the postmodern generation “is characterizedby freedom of choice, rejection of creed”(Swartz & Codrington, 2003) and traditionalvalues. The culture is today desensitized todeath compared to preceding ones, andtherefore youth haves absolutely no fear ofdeath (Kupelian, 2004). These challengeslead to the need for a model that addressesthe current challenges facing postmodernyouth ministry. The Rational Model answersthese challenges.The Relational ModelThe rational model I propose integratesfour principles I term “The Four Fs (4Fs)Factor.” The undergirding statement ofrelational youth ministry is that “People don’tcare how much you know until they knowhow much you care” (Warren, 1995, p. 40).The relational approach focuses first andforemost on building trusting relationships ina non-confrontational way. Leaders seek outyoung people through common interest as apoint of entry. This stands in contrast to thedidactic overtone of the traditional approachthat leaves very little room for feedback andinteraction. The results may not be immediatein the relational approach, but the long-termbenefit will prove deeper, stronger and morelasting than the temporary and externalachievements from the traditional approach.The Four Fs approach serves to link all theingredients that encompass a holistic youthministry by utilizing the framework of the fourcomponents (Faith, Food, Fun, andFellowship). These factors broaden the scopeof the ministry beyond the traditionalapproach, which is often mainly “programfocused.”Faith is an essential factor for youngpeople in this generation, contrary to whattheir external behaviors and attitudes mayindicate. Findings from the National Survey ofYouth and Religion show that 65% ofadolescents believe in a personal God and80% pray at least periodically (Smith &Denton, 2005). Another more recent studyRecalibrate: Models of Successful Youth and Young Adult Ministry127identified common traits of Christian Americanteens. They have a personal story about Godthey can share, they have a deep connectionto a faith community, they have a sense ofpurpose and they also have a sense of hopeabout their future (Dean, 2010).Aaron and Damico, (their real names) aretwo un-churched youth who were reluctant toattend our recent youth event. One night Iasked them, “If we were to do somethingdifferently in this program, what would youlike that to be?” Aaron responded, “We wantmore of the church stuff; the games are good,but we need more of the church stuff.” Aaronresponse should make youth ministerscautious expecting that young people want tobe entertained, and therefore spending themajority of their ministry resources in thisarea. These boys’ shared experience hasshown that they will come to be entertained,but they desire the spiritual and will seek it inother places when it’s not found in the church.This young man concluded that without aclear emphasis on faith, our ministry can justbe another social club.Fun: My own experience at my firstAndrews University DMin. intensive in 2010proved to be interestingly enlightening. There,Professor Steve Case, in fulfilment of theprescribed curriculum, engaged us in a seriesof activities and discourses. I observed thatthe fun activities the professor implementedmade the learning process quite a uniqueone. The activities such as team gamesenabled students to gain more knowledge andexperiences. I left with a reinforced convictionthat effective youth ministries today will be theones that are prepared to explore pleasurableways with which to communicate theirmission. While fun is not the end to ministry,it is a very important means to that end.Food: All people like food especially if it isfree. Food acts as the fuel for every society. Itincludes caloric intake for energy, but theemotional, psychological, and even socialelements also merge in food. Food isimportant! In the American economy, the foodmarketing system is the second largestadvertiser (Gallo, 1999). Out of Balance(2005) disclosed that in 2004, food andbeverage advertising amounted to some$11.26 billion. Food is an effective influencer.I have observed that being intentional aboutserving food at the Friday night youthmeetings in my church has attracted a largenumber of youth. Food draws them to thechurch, but after coming, they are blessed bythe discussions. I have also observed thatwhen food was not served some youth justdon’t show up; and even those who came, leftearly. This is the tendency in today’s churcheswho now offer finger food after their services.Food brings people together and creates anopportunity for us to create a lasting impacton the young people.Fellowship: The importance of youngpeoples’ need for fellowship was made clearto me while serving as a youth director in theEast Jamaica Conference in Kingston. The bigconcern of the church in Jamaica at that timewas young people attending movie theatres.Youth flocked to the theatres against theexpectation of the church in order to watch thesame movies that they already have at home.Why? I came to realize that it was not themovie the young people were going for butthey were seeking a place to belong. I know of churches that have closed theirgames room, rooms with state-of–the-artgames that now only collect dust. What werethe reasons for closing? The youth werehanging around the church too late at nightsand there was no one to supervise them. Atone point we ended up cancelling ourbasketball competition because theconference had no money to provide accidentinsurance although there were millions ofdollars flowing into evangelistic campaigns.Consequently, the youth gravitate to where the128From Traditional to Relational: Introduction the 4-F’s Paradigm for Postmodern Youth Ministryaction is, i.e. the movies houses. It istherefore instructive to us that if we’re torealize growth in youth ministry today, weshould consider activities that bring youthtogether in groups.Biblical Illustration of the ModelThis model has a theological foundationin the New Testament as revealed in theteachings and acts of Jesus Christ. Therelational model copies the method that Jesusused in his ministry and gives a clearguideline that can be employed by youthministers today. According to White (1905, p.143) regarding the earthly ministry of Jesus,“Christ’s method alone will give a truesuccess in reaching the people. The saviourmingled with men as one who desired theirgood. He showed His sympathy for them,ministered to their needs, and won theirconfidence then He bade them, “Follow me.” Ifthis was Christ’s method, then the NewTestament is replete with the principles ofrelational ministry. For example, Jesus demonstratedrelational ministry when he fed 5,000 peoplewith bread and fish. According to Luke 9:10-17, the people’s faith in Jesus made themseek for him even to his secret place whereHe was with His apostles. He furtherdeveloped their faith in Him by receiving themand speaking to them about the kingdom ofGod and healing those who were sick. Inverse 14, Jesus moved ahead to create achance for fellowship when He told Hisapostles to make the people sit down ingroups of 50. Jesus demonstrated the placeof food in a ministry when he refused the pleaby his apostles to let the people go due totheir hunger. He instead told the apostles tofirst give them something to eat. After eating,Jesus involved the people in collecting theremains. Imagine the feeling tone whencomparing the leftovers to what they had tostart!Ministry Application (Tested, Tried, &Proven)In the latter part of August, 2010, inour bid to establish this youth ministry modelwith a practical application of the 4Fs factors,our church conducted a one-week youth eventin Bermuda. Our major objectives werefostering the development of the totalperson—spiritually, socially and relationally,and to empower them for responsibleparticipation in the life, mission, and work intheir community. We organized variousactivities ranging from electronics games, totable games, to indoor football andbasketball. A more structured portion of eachevening included a Christian illusionist show,drama presentation, a faith presentation froman invited guest speaker, team activities andsmall groups interactions. We served foodeach evening after the initial 40-45 minutegame time.The tremendous transformation thathappened in the lives of the youths as theyattended the event night after night amazedus. Many young people who were initiallyreserved and withdrawn became totallyinvolved in the activities, competing in thegames, sharing in family group, taking astand for Jesus, and even volunteering to prayduring prayer sessions. The youth wereconsistently on time and hardly ever missed asession. At the end of the event we had nobaptisms—the common measure of success.Nonetheless, we are convinced that it was asuccess because of the objectives we hadwith the relational ministry model. This eventestablished new relationships, furnished uswith a fresh database of young people that wenever had before, and energized an eagergroup of young people regarding thegathering for youth created by the Church. Recalibrate: Models of Successful Youth and Young Adult Ministry129130ConclusionsThe relational model therefore: a) Enables the youths to understand andinternalize the need for faith in theirlives and to readily practice it.b) Eliminates the possibility ofmisunderstanding between the youthand their ministers. This ensures thattheir commitment to youth ministryand the other church activities remainsstrong.c) Builds confidence in the youth byinstilling the sense of belonging thatmakes them readily identify with theministry. d) Counters the negative impact that themedia would have on youth ministryby providing alternative source of funto the youths.From Traditional to Relational: Introduction the 4-F’s Paradigm for Postmodern Youth MinistryIllustration of the ModelsThe Traditional ModelThe Relational Model with the 4F’s FactorsReferencesDean, K. C. (2010). Almost Christian: Whatthe faith of our teenagers is telling theAmerican church. New York: OxfordUniversity Press.Gallo, A. E. (1999). Food advertising in theUnited States. In E. Frazao (Eds.),“America's eating habits: Changes andconsequences”. Retrieved from AgricultureInformation Bulletin database Availablefromhttp://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/AIB750/Kupelian, D. (2004). “Why today's youthculture has gone insane”. WorldNet Daily.Retrieved fromhttp://www.wnd.com/index.php/index.php?pageId=22765McCorquodale, C. (2001). The emergence oflay ecclesial youth ministry as aprofession in the Roman Catholic Churchin the United States. Springfield: theNational Federation for Catholic YouthMinistry, Inc.McCorquodale, C., Sterten, L., & Shepp, V.(2004). Analysis of the population ofCatholic teenagers and their parents.Washington DC: the National Federationfor Catholic Youth Ministry, Inc.Neufeld, T. (2002). “Postmodern models ofyouth ministry”. Direction Journal, 31(2),194-205. Retrieved fromhttp://www.directionjournal.org/article/?1265Out of balance. (2005). Retrieved September9, 2010, 2010, fromhttp://www.consumersunion.org/pdf/OutofBalance.pdf,http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_health_care/002657.htmlSmith, C., & Lundquist, D. M. (2005). Soulsearching: The religious and spiritual livesof American teenagers. New York: OxfordUniversity Press.Swartz, S., & Codrington, G. (2003).“Challenges facing South African Baptistyouth ministry in the 21st Century”.Baptist Journal of Theology. Retrievedfromhttp://www.futurechurchnow.com/2010/07/28/challenges-facing-youth-ministry-in-the-21st-century/Warren, R. (1995). The purpose-drivenchurch: Growth without compromisingyour message & mission. Grand Rapids:Zondervan.White, E. G. (1905). The ministry of healing.Mountain View: Pacific Press PublishingAssociation.Recalibrate: Models of Successful Youth and Young Adult Ministry131132

From Traditional to Relational: Introducing the 4-Fs Paradigm for Postmodern Youth Ministry

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From Traditional to Relational: Introducing the 4-Fs Paradigm for Postmodern Youth Ministry

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