I've been in student ministry since my junior year of college--1998. Yep, close to 20 years. There were a couple of years there in the middle where I was a senior pastor AND the youth pastor. 20 years...

So much has changed in the way we do student ministry over the past 20 years. Students have changed, and the culture has changed. Methods and fads have come and gone. There have been new books written about strategies and differing approaches to ministry.

The Good News has not changed, though, and while I know that there are few simple answers, I am a strong believer in a few things that shape our ministry.

• Parents need to be encouraged, equipped, and challenged to lead their children in faith.
• Discipleship is not a class to be offered, but a lifestyle to be embraced.
• All of us need someone to speak into our lives, to shape the way that we see the world and follow Jesus.
• All of us need to be speaking into the lives of others.
• I believe that acts of service might just be the perfect tool for teaching people to follow Jesus. (more on this thought in another post)
• Small groups are well-suited for helping students develop as followers of Christ, provided that there are enough good leaders to match the number of students. (that's another post, too)
• We are finding this generation of students is more than willing to jump in to worship, serve, pray, study, give, tell, show, be vulnerable, learn, and live for Jesus.
• I don't come across many students who are Biblically literate. They know some of the stories from the Bible, but they don't have an over-arching grasp of the Story.
• Like the men and women throughout the ages before them, students rally to the clear and compelling vision of a life in Jesus.
  

At the end of the day, I find myself enjoying ministry with and to students, although my role is vastly different than what is once was.