Junior High Ministry

Jr. High Ministry

One thing I have figured out is that Junior High students are a lot of fun. Sure, they are rowdy, they don't listen sometimes, and they are often really little. But I think they are a blast! Not only are they fun, but Junior High ministry is incredibly important! Check out what Barna says (the Barna group is a huge research group)-

Barna's research discovered that a person's lifelong behaviors and views are generally developed when they are young – particularly before they reach the teenage years.

First, a person's moral foundations are generally in place by the time they reach age nine. While those foundations are refined and the application of those foundations may shift to some extent as the individual ages, their fundamental perspectives on truth, integrity, meaning, justice, morality, and ethics are formed quite early in life.

Second, a person's response to the meaning and personal value of Jesus Christ's life, death and resurrection is usually determined before a person reaches eighteen. In fact, a majority of Americans make a lasting determination about the personal significance of Christ's death and resurrection by age 12.

"In essence," the researcher noted, "what you believe by the time you are 13 is what you will die believing. Of course, there are many individuals who go through life-changing experiences in which their beliefs are altered, or instances in which a concentrated body of religious teaching changes one or more core beliefs. However, most people's minds are made up and they believe they know what they need to know spiritually by age 13.

I am fully convinced that ministering to Junior High students is HUGE! In the Youth Department of the Church I minister at, we have spent many hours trying to figure out the best way to turn our students into disciples of Christ. I am incredibly fortunate to be in a church where I can focus my attention solely on Junior High students, and that has helped me be able to be very focused on just 7-8th graders. Everything I do is intentional - and everything I do is in order to help students get closer to where God wants them to be.

People blog for many different reasons, but usually people just want to share their thoughts with whoever will read. So I wrote this blog today so that I can share my thoughts with whoever chooses to read this (other ministers, youth workers, musicians, friends, preachers, people who drink too much coffee, fans of the Redskins, left handed people, etc.) There will always be more to follow, but for now...take it easy.

-- Matt
"The biggest lie I have ever contended with is this: Life is a story about me."