Ever wonder how we got to the point where the youth group was separate from the rest of the church? Ever wonder about the potetnial impact? On the Out of Ur blog there’s an interesting article on age segmented youth ministry. Here’s a piece of it, click here to read on.
The statistics are grim. Rainer Research estimates that 70 percent of young people leave the church by age 22. Barna Group argues that the figure increases to 80 percent by age 30. The Southern Baptist Convention recently observed that growth in their churches is failing to keep up with the birth rate. Taken together, these findings suggest a startling fact: not only are we failing to attract younger worshipers, we’re not holding on to the ones we have.
Last month, 09.09.09, Leadership Network hosted a FREE online conference called “the nines”. They asked over 75 leaders from around the world this question: “If you had just nine minutes to share with church leaders, what would you tell them?”
Fred’s perspective: Drew and I got together with some others to watch “the nines”. A part of me felt so tech savvy that I could hardly stand myself as we watched and tracked the LIVE tweets from other participants.
I loved the idea and the execution for this conference! Of course, a conference is only as good as the presenters, but for my money (see FREE above) “the nines” hit a Home Run! There’s much too much to write about this conference in one post, but Leadership Network just posted all the videos from the conference HERE. Here’s my favorite:
Drew’s perspective: It really is hard to beat free. It’s also hard to beat not having to drive anywhere. I enjoyed “the nines”. Having that many different people, speaking on one of the things they’re passionate about, gives you plenty of food for thought. Which has potential to be one of the draw back. How do I get good stuff from all 75+ speakers and make sense of it in my own ministry? Especially in one large heaping dose? Thankfully the Leadership Network thought of this and put all the videos online. If they hadn’t, the whole event would be quite overwhelming.
You should definitely check out the videos. And don’t just watch the big name people, check out those you haven’t heard before. Honestly some of best things I heard were from the ‘little known’ (at least to me) leaders.
They are who I thought they were
Drew’s Perspective: So DC*B came out with a new cd. Once again, they are on their game. Everything I’ve come to expect from them. This album is filled with both catchy hooks and deep lyrical content. And of course musically they’re fantastic. Some highlights for me are the songs “The Veil”, “How He Loves Me”, and the cover of Flyleaf’s “All Around Me”
Despite all that I find myself just feeling lack luster about this cd. It’s good, it’s deep, it’s catchy…but I find myself wanting more. Perhaps, because I lead worship every Sunday, I was hoping for more that we could reproduce in worship. Maybe I’m just a music snob. Maybe I’m just not a big enough Crowder fan.
I think most people will enjoy this album. I will certainly listen to it again, and maybe even use some of the songs in videos, etc. But from a purely listening experience I’m glad I borrowed it.
Fred’s Perspective: I’ve been tracking wth DC*B since the independently released ”All That I Can Say” album, and I can honestly say that I appreciate this Crowder offering for different reasons than anything previous. Listening to this album on a road trip is an experience as there is no lapse in between tracks. Crowder and friends seamlessly lead us on a journey into the presence of one who “loves us”.
I love the irony of this album entitled Church Music, it is as if Crowder is standing there daring worship leaders everywhere to come after him if they truly want to replicate this sound for local congregations. (Drew you can reproduce this music. All you need is a few Macbooks and a violin player.)
Recently I heard from an old high school buddy who said, “By the way, David Crowder is pretty crazy looking, but I like his music…thanks for turning me on to him.” Opening up the demographic is DC*B and for that I am grateful!
In order to jumpstart this blog again, Drew and I (Fred) decided on some new posts. Our first effort, is something called “100 words”, and the format is pretty self-explanatory.
Our first “100 words” is on the month of October. With each new month, there are new opportunities and challenges within the realm of youth ministry. This is the month where we finish up our Fall Family Festival plans and make arrangements to visit the corn maze, but what are your students encountering in October that they don’t face in other months?
/Post Homecoming / before Thanksgiving / Halloween / harvest /
The leaves are falling!
