Youth In Contemporary Culture CHMN 608 Spring 2007

1. Youth In Contemporary Culture CHMN 608 Spring 2007

2. Six Models of Youth Ministry

3. Six Models of Youth Ministry 1970’s 1. Experiential Model Focused on the questions and felt needs of youth 2. Content Model Focused on the need to clarify and teach doctrines and standards

4. Six Models of Youth Ministry 1980’s 3. Community Model Focused on the need for sharing and belonging to a group of believers 4. Developmental Model Focused on the developmental needs of youth and the stages of faith maturity

5. Six Models of Youth Ministry 1990’s 5. Spiritual Model Focused on the unmet spiritual hungers of youth (spiritual disciplines, new worship styles) 6. Cross-cultural/Generational Model Focused on the need to “understand” and “reach” youth as a distinct social and cultural group

6. Six Models of Youth Ministry 2000’s 7. Leadership Model Focuses on developing youth through leadership, service, and involvement.

7. The Shift From Spatial to Temporal Cultures

8. From Spatial to Temporal Cultures Spatial Cultures Colin Morris (building on the work of James Carey) notes that in traditional cultures time bound people together in localized communities where life evolved from generation to generation. Space separated these local cultures and maintained their distinct identities. As we have moved into modern times the situation has been reversed.

9. From Spatial to Temporal Cultures Temporal Cultures The boundaries of space have been overcome (through print, radio, satellites, internet, etc.) and a global culture has been born. As the pace of cultural change quickens, time (rather than space) increasingly separates people and creates diversity, commonly referred to as the "generation gap." God in a Box: Christian Strategy in a Television Age, p. 181.

10. From Spatial to Temporal Cultures Geographical Diversity Generational Bonds Space Separates

11. From Spatial to Temporal Cultures Generational Diversity Global Bonds Time Separates

12. From Spatial to Temporal Cultures “Generational Peers” “More and more [young people] seek points of reference among their generational peers rather than their geographical elders. More and more they are shaped by the same global forces, many of them commercial, despite the great distances that separate them. For some the need to belong, the longing for roots and tribe, has been transferred entirely to generational peers . . . . They no longer want to belong to anyone but each other.” Gerard Kelly/Lowell Sheppard, Their Future Our Passion

13. From Spatial to Temporal Cultures “Across the Generation Divide” “This radical shift represents a huge challenge to the faith community . . . . No indigenous church can assume any longer that the passing of the faith to the new generation will be an easy, natural process. Nor can any one culture assume that its chosen ‘flavor of faith’ will be attractive to its young. Communicating faith across the generation divide is fast becoming as significant a cross-cultural challenge as communicating across oceans and language barriers once were.” Gerard Kelly/Lowell Sheppard, Their Future Our Passion

14. From Spatial to Temporal Cultures ADVERTISEMENT:

15. From Spatial to Temporal Cultures The New Missionary The new missionary will carry out a cross-cultural task increasingly defined by time (generational cultures) rather than by space (geographical cultures). The new missionary’s journey will more likely involve time travel across a generational mindscape than air travel over a geographical landscape.

16. The Shift From Postfigurative to Prefigurative Cultures

17. From Postfigurative to Prefigurative Generational Immigrants & Natives “If you are under 30, you are a native. I am over 30, and I am having Ellis Island experiences all the time. I have to learn new languages, and I have to learn new customs. My brain is needing to be re-wired all the time . . . I am an immigrant to a whole new world. Leonard Sweet

18. From Postfigurative to Prefigurative Generational Immigrants & Natives I need to understand – as any immigrant does – that the people you learn the most from are the natives – for whom this new world is their first language.” Leonard Sweet, “Have You Heard the One About the Missionaries” at www.theooze.com Leonard Sweet

19. From Postfigurative to Prefigurative The Church as Immigrant Parent • Immigrant parents want to preserve the old world in a new country. • Immigrant children – either born as natives or quick to adapt to the new culture – are caught between the old world of their parents and the new world of their peers.

20. From Postfigurative to Prefigurative The Church as Immigrant Parent • Immigrant parents, while still clinging to the old ways, need to survive in the new world, and will often turn to their children for help and understanding. • As an immigrant in a rapidly changing world, the church is in a similar position with its young.

21. From Postfigurative to Prefigurative Anthropologist Margaret Mead studied primitive cultures in New Guinea for five decades and documented the rapid cultural changes these groups went through as they came into contact with modern "civilized" cultures. As a result, she classified three types of cultures, based on their figurative ability -- that is, how they imagined and taught the future from one generation to the next. Margaret Mead

22. From Postfigurative to Prefigurative Postfigurative Cultures • Marked by slow cultural change. • The world of one generation assumed to be very similar to that of the next. • Elders know and understand the world. Their skills, knowledge, and values are revered. They can give authoritative advice to the young. • Children learn primarily from adults.

23. From Postfigurative to Prefigurative Cofigurative Cultures • Marked by more rapid cultural change. • The world of one generation assumed to be different in some ways from the next. • The young have to rely equally on their peers and their elders to know and understand the world. The insights and skills of both groups are respected. The old share authority with the young. • Children learn from peers and adults.

24. From Postfigurative to Prefigurative Prefigurative Cultures • Marked by very rapid cultural change. • The world of one generation assumed to be nothing like that of the next. • The young understand the world better than the old. The experience and abilities of the elders are rendered irrelevant by quantum changes. They must rely on the young for insight and survival. Authority shifts to the young. • Children teach each other and adults.

25. From Postfigurative to Prefigurative So Where Are We Today? • Some commentators believe that these three types correspond to the premodern, modern, and postmodern epochs. • If they are right, we are currently living in a prefigurative culture. • Though a cofigurative culture, where learning is mutual, is often seen as the most ideal form.

26. From Postfigurative to Prefigurative Postfigurative Methods Imposed “Many older members of churches, although not living in postfigurative cultures, impose postfigurative methods of spiritual training. They expect their children to blindly, and unquestioningly, put on the mantle of spiritual expression that they themselves put on. This phenomenon, also observed by Mead in Polynesian and New Guinea cultures may help us to understand the rejection of the church by young people.” Graeme Codrington, “Living in an Age of Transition” at www.youth.co.za/theedge

27. From Postfigurative to Prefigurative Charting the Future gg • We can no longer authoritatively dictate the present or future of the church to our children. • We will have to work together with the younger generations to create it. • As the pace of cultural change quickens, the church will have to allow its younger members even more voice and authority in charting the direction of the church if it is to survive and thrive in the future.

28. From Postfigurative to Prefigurative “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” Joel 2:28-29 Joel

29. From Postfigurative to Prefigurative A Cofigurative Remnant • The Spirit is poured out on old and young in the last days • The voices of young men and women are heard in the community • The young are given visions – intuitive imagination • The old are given dreams – interpretive wisdom • The old and young, dreams and visions, work together in a cofigurative way to negotiate a turbulent apocalyptic culture.

30. Generational Theory

31. Generational Theory Neil Howe and William Strauss • Wrote Generations, 13th Gen, Millennials Rising. • Are America’s leading theorists in the field of generational cultures. • Have posited 14 distinct generations in America’s history.

32. Generational Theory GenerationBirth Years G.I. 1901-1924 Silent 1925-1942 Boomer 1943-1960 X 1961-1981 Millennial 1982-2002

33. Generational Theory According to Howe and Strauss, these generations have waxed and waned in a similar way (Millenials Rising, pp. 67-68): EventFrom 1st Birth Year Public Discovery 15-20 yrs. Full Possession of Youth Culture 20-25 yrs. Complete Breakout 25-30 yrs. Ebbing of Public Interest 30-35 yrs.

34. The Shifting Task of Youth Ministry

35. The Shifting Task of Youth Ministry “Generational Cultures” “I really have problems with that whole term ‘youth ministry’ . . . We should be using the language of generational cultures. What ‘youth ministry’ suggests is that youth is a fixed category that doesn’t change over time. But we’ve got at least five, six, sometimes even seven generational cultures we’re dealing with. Boomer youth were different than GenX youth, who are different than NetGen youth. The question is, ‘What are the peculiar characteristics of this generational culture

36. The Shifting Task of Youth Ministry “Generational Cultures” with which I’m entrusted?’ And that culture is going to change every five or six years. To do this kind of generational ministry, we must keep ahead of the curves to keep updated, to keep going to conferences, to keep learning, to keep listening . . . You have to tailor your learning to the context.” Leonard Sweet, interview in Group Magazine

37. The Shifting Task of Youth Ministry “Marginal Impact” “Without alertness to the cultural context, pastoral work with the younger generations is in danger of having only a marginal impact. The reason is not hard to find: the key curriculum in the lives of young people is not school or church, or even home after a certain age, but culture and the zone of relationships.” Michael Gallagher, Clashing Symbols

38. Generations in Scripture

39. Generations in Scripture “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. . . .. They would not be like their forefathers – a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.” Psalm 78:4, 8

40. Generations in Scripture Gerard Kelly notes two points about this passage in his book Retrofuture: 1. The concept of distinct generations is not a modern one. It has existed since biblical times. Hebrews understood the concept of generational transition. It’s a theme that occurs often in the OT.

41. Generations in Scripture 2. God is in the business of renewing his work in each generation. “Where there is disobedience, where hearts have become cold toward Yahweh, where we have not walked in his ways, one of his strategies is to make a fresh approach to a new generation. The renewal of the work of God continues, generation by generation.” (p. 42)

42. Generations in Scripture I would add a third point: 3. God charges us with the task of communicating the story of God to the next generation. We are not called to merely pass on our doctrines. Rather, we are to proclaim the acts of God – His faithfulness and power at work in our experience – to the next generation.

43. Generations in Scripture The Psalmist feels a deep burden for this task: “Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.” Psalm 71:17-18

44. Generations in Scripture Where this task has not been carried out, the consequences have been grave: “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals.” Judges 2:10-11

45. A Missiological Approach

46. A Missiological Approach A Missiological Approach to youth ministry focuses on gaining the cross-cultural skills and resources necessary to relate to today’s rapidly changing generational cultures. These include: Insertion Strategies Finding effective ways to infiltrate particular groups of young people

47. A Missiological Approach Cultural Literacy Developing cultural awareness, understanding, sensitivity and response to youth culture Cultural Exegesis Learning to “read” youth culture in order to discern meaning, truth, error, and opportunities

48. A Missiological Approach Contextualization Facilitating expressions of faith that are faithful both to the gospel and to the culture of the young person Support and Accountability Establishing the means of support for new methods and ventures; creating a system of accountability to the wider church

49. Two Views of Culture

50. Classical/Elitist View Culture is the “pursuit of perfection” and entails the best of what has been thought, said, or created. It distinguishes between what is “cultured” and what is not. A view detailed in Matthew Arnold’s Culture and Anarchy (1869) Two Views of Culture • Normative – makes distinctions between “high” and “low” • Objective – highlights cultural products such as art, literature, and institutions