Are evangelicals are “low information Christians?” We’ve known for years, based on data, that youth ministry is a complete failure & that sustained faith in children is correlated with students’ relationship with their FATHER—yet, we’re still trying improve youth ministry?
Here’s me in the back of room of the church who thinks it needs a youth pastor. “Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers...
The data doesn’t lie even though *you* have an outlier/anecdotal story of youth ministry being helpful for kid X or you personally. So what? The exception doesn’t disprove the data-driven rule. Fathers are more important to a student’s faith than youth pastors ever will be.
Facts and data: “It is the religious practice of the father of the family that, above all, determines the future attendance at or absence from church of the children.” christianpost.com/news/fathers-k…
The no. 1 reason, BASED ON DATA and FACTS, that students retain faith as young adults: parents. Hard stop. Not a youth pastor but their parents. google.com/amp/s/m.huffpo…
Again, DATA!!! Fathers are the key to pass on faith from one generation to another: amazon.com/Families-Faith…
Data dead horse: it’s the father!! world.wng.org/2014/02/father…
Question: if we know that the answers lie with fathers, why are we investing so much money in youth ministry? Why does a youth ministry major exist? Conclusion: perhaps the youth ministry industrial complex is actually anti-family and does not want fathers to thrive?
When fathers spiritually thrive you don’t need “youth ministry.” If a church really cares about its kids, it will invest more resources in supporting fathers than youth ministry. Fathers are a better return on investment than a youth pastor any day. Everyday. Always.
I’m confused when people talk about evangelicalism as a “patriarchy.” Evangelical churches exist to meet the needs of women & children. Youth pastors are hired to replaced dads. Men are friendless. And boys are reduced to playing drums, working AV & sound, setting up chairs, etc.
Consider firing your youth pastor & invest in fathers instead. If you need someone to plan recreational events then enlist parents to do that. Youth pastors are a waste of money and large youth budgets display poor stewardship if they outweigh resources spent on supporting dads.
Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers, Fathers...
Youth Ministry 👇🏾
Here’s a big pile of steamy brown rubbish: teenagers need a young adult to talk to about their problems. Fact: when students have cried in front of me, over the past 20 years, it’s never been because they didn’t have a 25-year-old ear. It’s almost always about absent dads.
Here’s a question I often get: “well what about kids with no dads?” Easy: (1) go after that kid’s dad. Find him. Invest in him. Build him up. Encourage him. (2) Get that student mentored by a man around his dad’s age.
Why do many evangelicals get this wrong so often? Because many are too Jesus-centered & non-Trinitarian to orient children’s lives around the fatherhood of god. Result: Jesus is your boyfriend (for girls) or your soccer buddy (for guys), not your way to the father. #TheTrinity 
If God’s fatherhood isn’t an emphasis in every aspect of a church’s life & liturgy, then dads won’t matter either. Jesus is just a friend so that’s what teens need, a buddy not a father. Well, the data says students need fathers, not buddies. “He who has ears to hear...”
Theory: many moms demand youth ministry because they’ve given up on men doing their jobs at home. #RantOver
