It’s easy for a youth group to “run parallel” with a church rather than be integrated with it. But the integration process, though difficult and perhaps unwieldy at times, is worth it.
David Plant, youth ministries director at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, recently sat down with youth leaders Cameron Cole and Liz Edrington to discuss the value of folding students into the life of the church with humility and intentionality.
“We are forming their theology of the church,” said Cole, director of student ministries at Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama. “And if we segregate our students from the rest of the congregation, we do them a great disservice.” Among other things, he says, we rob them of role models and stunt their ability to interact with and serve non-peers.
The exchange runs both ways, added Edrington. The absence of youth is detrimental to adults, too. It’s vital, then, that we create space for youth to invest and serve in meaningful ways.
Watch the full four-minute video to see these three leaders—each of whom serves on the advisory board of Rooted—discuss the danger of cultivating a consumer-driven mentality, why students should be propelled to take ownership, and more.
