After 25 years of youth ministry, I have a new wrinkle. What to do? About six months ago, "John" came to Sunday Bible class. He is 21 with a maturity level of 5th grade If you want an effective, lasting ministry to teens, then you have to care about the negative atmospheres which are created by allowing adults (even more so "immature" & disruptive adults) to be participants in your group.
He is not attractive by television standards. Our congregation is about 100 with 30 seniors, 20 middleagers, 6 young marrieds, 20 teens with a sprinkling of college, and the rest children. There is no place for him to go other than the youth group. Everyone is valuable so we work with it. About a month ago, "Max" came. He is very similar to John in strengths and weaknesses, only louder. This has caused a major ripple in the youth group. How to handle; what to do?
I wholeheartedly agree with you that everyone is valuable! John and Max need the acceptance and benefit from being with other Christians. Yet, I don't think this automatically means that these young adults should be involved in the youth group - regardless of how immature they might be.
If you want an effective, lasting ministry to teens, then you have to care about the negative atmospheres which are created by allowing adults (even more so "immature" & disruptive adults) to be participants in your group.
Personally, it sounds like John and Max need adult mentoring more than they need interaction with teenagers. They might not like hanging out with the "middleagers," "marrieds," or "seniors" for Bible class, but I believe it would be more beneficial for them (to learn how to interact with adults as adults) and better for your class to have them move along.
I suggest that you speak to your pastor or whomever is in charge of the Bible class hour as soon as possible about finding a way to help these men "transition" to an adult class.
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