Critique of Modern Youth Ministry

by Christopher Schlect

The Church today does not expect what it ought to from children and their parents, and this can be attributed in large part to a flawed concept of youth ministry. This need not and should not be so. This essay discusses the reasons behind the problem and proposes some biblical solutions.

Genres: Theology, Christianity, Church, Ecclesiology, History, Cultural, Nonfiction

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1995

Reviews

[Caleb M. Powers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but incredibly well-done critique of modern youth ministry and what it is antithetical to biblical views on the church and youth. Highly recommended for all Christians. It was surprising to me just how much Dr. Schlect managed to pack into such a short volume.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a surprising gem. If you take his thesis on generational interaction and run with it, this applies to many, many things more than just youth ministry. Succinct and important.

[Adam T. Calvert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short book that’ll take maybe half an hour to get through (if that). But it’s very insightful into the misguided notions of what youth ministry should be (and how they came to be) in the modern American church. He also explains how to correct the church’s present understanding of where youth ministry’s place is, from a Biblical perspective, [SPOILER ALERT] - give it back to the parents!

I highly recommend it to all pastors - especially “youth” pastors, yes, even the good ones!

[Rusten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every 'youth' pastor should read this book.

[Finn Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good wake up call for the modern nondenom-evanjellyfish church culture. What I got from this:
1. The patriarchy has fallen and needs to resume its proper duty: discipling their family.
2. Intergenerationality in the church is IMPORTANT. Age segregation in the church should not be pursued, older people should include the younger (see Titus 2) and the younger should honor the older (5th commandment).
3. Family should be prioritized.
This is essay is a helpful caution for churches pursuing youth ministry. While I don’t agree with all of Schlect’s practical applications, the principle still stands that parents should disciple their children, not abdicate this responsibility to the youth pastor. Parents gotta step up and the church needs to actually equip them to.

[Tim Zornes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very brief, pointed critique of age-segregated "youth ministry."

[Miranda Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book goes through a brief history of youth/children’s ministry, as well as briefly offering a better model and framework for a more biblical youth ministry that returns the responsibility given to parents to teach their children (Deut 6:7, 11:19) in the fear and admonition of the Lord. He also addressed children of unbelievers, which is often many people’s biggest argument in regards to youth ministries and offers some helpful insights into how to handle those children.

[Lindsay Woodward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic history and critique of modern youth ministries. Challenged me as a parent to understand and take biblical responsibility for raising my children and not abdicating this call to others. Highly recommend this short read!

[Lizze Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't let the title keep you back! This is a book about fundamentals and a deep historical flaw in our culture.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hardly counts as a book, but I have >4,900 to reach my goal, so I'm counting it. This bookito was helpful in informing me of just how novel our current conception of youth as a distinct class is.

[Seth Goodale · Rating 5 out of 5]

So dang good.
This should be read/ listened to by every Pastor.

Read again in May 2024. Not only should this be read by every Pastor, but every Father, especially fellow young fathers. There is indeed so many problems with the youth group culture we have created, and perhaps grew up from.
The solution will take patience, thought, and a lot of sacrifices. Moses gives us the foundations in Deuteronomy. The Apostle gives us the model in Timothy and Titus. Solomon gives us the warnings of despising the older generations in Proverbs.
Our children are a blessing and they matter.
It is our duty as fathers to take full responsibility for how they are educated and raised.
We must strive to integrate children with everything we do.
Youth gatherings are not bad in themselves. If they are learning from the older men, praise God and may He bless it. If not, then it’ll eventually die.

[Abrahamus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A needed challenge to and critique of one of the modern church's most precious sacred cows. Insightful and incisive enough to get the point across, but without smacking of a holier-than-thou attitude or falling into overreaction.

[J Yakel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Required reading for elders, prospective elders, and fathers. I found the historical background regarding youth culture and youth ministry the most interesting since I have encountered some of the other critiques in other reading.

[Victor Chininin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, concise argument to awaken churches and pastors to not allow parents to surrender their authority and role in a child's development for the glitz of a seemingly 'awesome' youth ministry program.

[Nate Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Christopher Schlect deploys this book like a good uppercut — it is short, beautiful, and leaves one of his two target audiences lying on the mat and doing funny things with their chins. He starts with a foundational supposition that Darwinism directly contributed to the invention, in the first part of the twentieth century, to that kobold of the locker room, the Teenager. This supposition is then connected to the modern youth group. Dr. Schlect demonstrates that this modern youth group is essentially a extension of the American high-school ethos — or, as he puts it, “the attitude that you should have fun before you do your work.” This failure to our youth to provide them with the context in which they can become godly, tough, bright adults he then lays at the feet of parents. More specifically, fathers. Even more specifically, Christian fathers who farm out their duty to instruct their children diligently to “experts” — experts whose main qualification is their ability to eat all the whipped cream off a paper plate in under a minute.
In all, very good. Read, O heads of households, and tremble at your responsibility.

[R.M. Archer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book hits the nail right on the head. It's hard to summarize such an already-brief book, so I'll just say that I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in ministry or otherwise bettering the church. It's a tiny book—21 pages—and packs huge value into such a tiny package, making it both accessible and valuable. Definitely worth reading.

(I also noticed how much the principles he laid out early on tied in with what I read in Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom recently; it's remarkable how well they compliment each other, and I had no idea.)

[Nathan Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, short read and covers a slice of church history that I didn't know much about. The other reviews are right: the book looks at the particulars of modern youth ministry, but (as with any well-written historical thesis) you learn more about the historical church in general.

I was involved with a camp hosted by New Saint Andrews this summer for high school-aged students, and this book informed how I conducted myself there.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhhh. I hear what the man is saying and I see the Scripture he is using to back it up. But just because the way church is run does not mean that it is sinful, or wrong, or ungodly. The idea of running a church in the “biblical sense” is INCREDIBLY difficult and nearly eatery church would through away 95% of its resources. Does that mean we should?

Also, this author’s “evidence” for immature youth as a direct correlation to youth ministry is preposterous.

[Sophia Ramey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a well-written and insightful (very short) book, and his thesis applies not only to the youth ministry, but really to all of society and the way we do things today. Not only that, but I learned a bunch of history from this. Did you know that birthdays weren't celebrated -or even acknowledged- until the mid-nineteenth century?

[Ashley Finfrock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, succinct, and wow. A concise history lesson of how evolutionary theory impacted the way we see young people and education, and of the birth of "youth ministry" in the 20th Century, and how it has allowed parents to abdicate from their role as teachers of their children the things of the Lord. The whole thing is a tiny masterpiece!

[Sean Kewley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent summary of the problem with youth culture, and how Evangelicals have unfortunately bought in, and Schlect offers practical and Biblical solutions to our current plight. This book also serves as my shortest of the year. Hooray 22 pages.

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid.

[William Schrecengost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent succinct critique

[Timothy Dehne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good.

[Alex Kearney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I didn’t understand correctly but this seemed to be saying that all youth ministries are bad and you’d be better off scrapping them.

[Shannon Majeski · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book to change your whole walk. 💕

[Kyle Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. Valid points

[Joey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great to the point book putting into words what I've felt for a long time. Listened on canon +.

[Brian]

Word.

[Laurabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read this and enjoyed the countercultural arguments.