Context Matters in Youth Ministry

Confession: I'm an American.

I know, I know. You may be wondering, why is this guy writing for Canadian Youth Worker?

Because CYW is a group of awesome people who love youth ministry, and they graciously gave me a chance! I love youth ministry and I love Canada. As an American living and serving in Canada, I'm still learning a LOT about the value of new perspectives and how to adapt to my present context and setting.

Context matters.

1. Con-text: 

   Noun. the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.

The way I do ministry in my church--large, suburban, Mennonite Brethren, mostly white, British Columbia--is going to be different than the small Pentecostal church down the street, or the Catholic ministry in the next city, or the Chinese church plant in Vancouver, or the Baptist congregation in Winnipeg, or the YoungLife club in Toronto, or the mentoring program in Montreal. And that's okay. We have different contexts.

While there are principles and truths that transcend context, there is no one-size-fits-all philosophy for youth ministry. Yes, we're all called to make disciples. But how I make disciples might be different in my context than yours. Yes, we're all called to share the good news of Jesus. But how I share that good news works differently in different places. Yes, we all need to help young people know and understand God's Word. But how I go about introducing a teen to the beauty of Scripture might be different than how you do it.

How I do ministry depends on where I'm doing ministry. I'm going to have different conversations with the teens in the local high school who have never heard of Jesus apart from a swear word on TV, than the teens who grew up in the church in my youth group on a worship night. I'm going to be addressing different questions with the middle school boys who are just realizing they like girls, than with the young engaged couple in their early 20s who are navigating vocational and identity questions regarding their sexuality and future marriage.

We have to deeply know and understand our contexts--the church, school, neighbourhood, and city where we live and work and breathe. You live in a particular context. Where you live is no accident. Jesus has you there for a reason: to love your neighbours as yourself.

A few questions to ask about your context:

• What are the particular strengths, joys, and opportunities in your context?
• What are the particular trials, struggles, or obstacles in your context?
• What is the history of your context--your youth ministry program, your church, your city?
• What are the questions the teens in your area are asking and wrestling through?
• What are the five or six defining values of your context?
• What is God up to in your context? Where is He moving, and how can you get on board with Him?
• Who can I learn from in this present context? Which voices need to be heard? Which stories need to be told?

As a literal picture of context, look at the orange dots in the picture below. Which orange dot is bigger?

The right one looks bigger, doesn't it? Cover up the grey dots, and you'll find that they're the exact same size. It's all a matter of perspective and knowing the surrounding context.

Context matters. Become a student of your context.

Joel Mayward is a pastor, writer, husband, and father living in Langley, British Columbia. He’s been serving in youth ministry since 2003, and is currently the Pastor of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at North Langley Community Church. A writer for numerous youth ministry publications and author of Leading Up: Finding Influence in the Church Beyond Role and Experience, Joel writes about youth ministry, film, theology, and leadership at his blog, joelmayward.blogspot.ca.