1. There’s not a church in America, that I know of, that could look me in the eye and say that they are doing an above average job ministering to the holistic needs of adolescents in their congregation, much less their community.
2. We don’t have a clue how to minister to families, much less the rapidly changing definition of what it means to be a family in our society.
3. At best, youth ministry needs hearing aids. At worst, we aren’t even trying to listen to what the 95% of teenagers in our communities want or need from a local church.
4. I don’t know anyone who feels confident in how to best disciple a teenager.
5. I don’t know anyone who feels confident in how to best do evangelism among teenagers in a post-Christian society, much less an adult who would claim to be any good at it or comfortable with it.
6. No one is great at gathering local youth workers, offering relevant and timely resources, or creating meaningful collaborative relationships with churches in their community.
7. Work/life balance is a struggle for everyone in our society, not just those in youth ministry.

I share all of this as an encouragement.

We– the tribe of adults who minister to teenagers— need your ideas, innovation, and experiments.

These are all open questions that we need help addressing.

We need your collaboration.

We need your partnership.

Do not be intimidated. There are people who look like experts. There are people who are more experienced. But the simple fact is that all of the things above are questions we don’t know the answers to.

It takes a diverse group of youth workers, with diverse interests, with a diverse set of experiences to even scratch the surface on these challenges. It’ll take all of us. 

All are invited. And all are welcome.

But let’s all start by admitting, right up front, that we need help.