summer plans

Group, Mar/Apr 2005 by Fields, Doug

It's that time of year when youth workers are confronted by well-meaning church members who look over the summer calendar and ask, "Are our high schoolers doing anything this summer but fun and games?"

The scowl in the voice says it all: "This church's youth ministry is shallow, lightweight, Mickey-Mouse-goes-to-the-Holy-Landtype stuff. Did you really spend all that time in seminary just so our high school kids could learn to shoot Cheerios out of their noses? How about more Bible study?"

This reaction can be a little discouraging, but don't allow people who don't understand the big picture to quench all the fun. Fun is a key component to a healthy youth ministry.

This isn't a defense of a social-club youth ministry. Youth ministers aren't primarily tour directors, baby-sitters, or party planners. Show me a youth group that has no vision for discipleship, no energy toward evangelism, no expression of biblical purpose, and I'll show you the YMCA.

Any healthy youth ministry must be conscious of growing in depth and in breadth. But in our enthusiasm for growth and ministry, we shouldn't overlook the importance of fun.

Here are just three reasons fun is vital.

1. Students need a safe environment for fun. It doesn't take much youth ministry experience to understand this basic fact-high school students like to have fun. And you know what? That's okay.

Today's kids are under a lot of stress, and they will find ways of dealing with this stress. If I have to choose between our students getting drunk at a weekend party or doing a crazy youth group activity that allows them to laugh and relax, I'll take the crazy activity every time. Next time you get a complaint about the Snoot Shoot, where kids launch Cheerios from their noses, just remember what they could be snorting.

2. Fun attracts kids. Jesus called us to be fishers of men. I don't know much about fishing, but I do know that bait is an essential element in the process. You don't have to spend a lot of time fishing in the high school pond to recognize that most kids aren't attracted to a church where they're expected to dress in ways they don't find comfortable, sing songs they'd never listen to, and sit quietly for sermons they don't understand.

Does that mean teenagers shouldn't come to church? Absolutely not! It just means that if we're serious about reaching high school students, we need to access the bait that they'll bite on.

3. Fun makes memories, and memories shape students. When I listen to my own children speak (two teenagers and a 10-year-old), I realize how much they've been shaped by the times that we've laughed and played together. To watch the two teenagers recount various incidents is a real eye-opener. Not once have they said, "Dad, remember that night you read Psalm 139 after dinner? That was awesome!" No, it's stuff like, "Remember when you laughed so hard you wet your pants?"

Does this mean we stop reading the Bible together? No! But perhaps it's also true that the family who plays together stays together.

The laughter and friendships that are nurtured through wholesome youth group fun can make an incredible impact on the lives of teenagers. One of the major factors that impacts students' moral choices is friendship. We probably won't change that very much, but we can create an environment of positive Christian friendships that breed more distinctively Christian moral choices. And that happens when our students are allowed to have fun together-so make sure you put some fun in your summer calendar.

DOUG FIELDS is the pastor to students at Saddleback Church in California. He's the author of more than 30 books, including Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry and Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry (Zondervan), and president of www.simply youthministry.com.