Two ministry positions that, if implemented throughout America, might radically change our success at helping produce strong Christian adults:
1. An intern* in a Youth Group (whether church-based or parachurch) dedicated to keeping up with, impacting, and helping transition people in the year(s) after they graduate high school. Basically, this person would function as a college minister within the youth ministry.
1a. Since this is in fact a college ministry blog, I’ll note that an intern* within a college ministry could also function in much the same way – as a freshman-focused minister, for example, or (in a church-based ministry) purposefully impacting away students.
2. An intern* in a College Ministry (whether church-based or parachurch) dedicated to keeping up with, impacting, and helping transition people in the year(s) after they graduate college. Basically, this person would function as a young adult minister within the college ministry.
*these activities could also be done by part-time ministers or within the larger job description of someone who is full-time.
Any way you cut it, a champion for the “next steppers” (at either of those next steps) could be just what we need.
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April 27, 2009 at 11:20 am
tiffany
yes! i agree!
i’ve been helping a little with the ministry i used to be on staff at to help that second transition. i talked with the director and tried to make myself a volunteer position, lol, but it didn’t quite stick in his mind.
this is one area that i’m going to really research as i begin my masters degree at asbury… my husband suggested that i begin developing a manual for these positions. :)
the community i’m a part of here met for some “dream time” the other day, and we are working on fleshing out an idea to create some kind of organization that creates studies/curriculum/training for 18-30 year olds, collegiates and young professionals, and it would also cover these transitions. if you have any ideas, let me know… :) as we’ve been developing our collegiate/young adult group, we’ve been saddened at the lack of good material that’s not just youth stuff on steroids :).
April 27, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Benson Hines
That would be a phenomenal thing to study in seminary, for sure.
There definitely is not much out there. The most prolific group I know is Threads. I haven’t gotten the chance to read through too much of their stuff, but it definitely looks pretty sharp.
http://www.threadsmedia.com
I don’t know if they address the transition issues specifically, but they definitely are aiming for the 20-somethings.
I’ll be thinking about ideas for such an organization… even someone who could round up all the wisdom that’s already available would be really helpful.