;)
tagged: Book Review, Broadman & Holman Publishing, Eric Geiger, Jeff Borton, Olon Hyde, Simple Student MinistrySimple Student Ministry – A Review
Posted by Guest Author in IMPACT Features, News & Culture
Borton, Jeff and Eric Geiger. Simple Student Ministry: A Clear Process for Strategic Youth Discipleship. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group, 2009. 217 pp.
***
Anyone involved in student ministry understands the frustrations that come along with the territory. There always seems to be a plethora of events and programs that compete for the time of both the leaders and the students. For the leaders, it seems like there is never anytime to stop and smell the roses. As soon as one event ends, it is time to begin planning the next one. For students, there is always the hype of the next event to try and combat the sure-to-come crash from the spiritual high they got while attending the last big event.
Is there some way to change this busyness and start truly affecting the lives of students? That is what Eric Geiger and Jeff Borton hope to accomplish with Simple Student Ministry. This book builds on the same principles contained in the book Geiger coauthored with Thom S. Rainer, Simple Church. There is no new research added in this book and it is not necessary to have read Simple Church to understand what is discussed by Geiger and Borton in this book.
The authors simply hope to help student ministry leaders make a “renewed commitment to the essence of the gospel” (Pg. 2)—making and maturing disciples. If you are looking for a new model for your student ministry, then this book is not for you. The book is not another model for student ministry; this book is about a new way to do ministry.
The fact is that many student ministries wander aimlessly about hoping they are making a real difference in the lives of students. There is no real goal in mind, no purpose to the events and programs, and no clear understanding of how discipleship is being accomplished. For real discipleship to take place there must be a process. Process is what Simple Student Ministry is about. Geiger and Borton explain how to go about establishing a process of discipleship in any student ministry. How does this process accomplish discipleship? It is the process that “creates space for relationships, engages students in ministry and mission, fosters less dependence on programs, and operates with great intentionality” (Pg. 20). This is accomplished through four key elements: clarity, movement, alignment, and focus.
Clarity breathes life into the process. A student ministry without clarity is a complex student ministry. On the other hand, a student ministry with clarity is a student ministry that knows exactly what it is trying to accomplish in its students’ lives. It is present in a ministry that can clearly articulate how discipleship is taking place.
Movement naturally follows clarity. Once a process has been identified, there must be movement along that process. To put into my own words what the authors caution though is that this movement must move people along the process, not simply rearrange for the sake of movement. Ultimately, the process must be moving the students to action—to living out what they have learned.
Alignment must take place for the process to be successful. All the leaders of the student ministry must be committed to the process. When the leaders are aligned, there is a sense of ownership as well as unity among the team.
Once the process has been developed and implemented, there must be focus to keep it on track. Without focus, every ministry will begin to deviate and become complex. Part of remaining focused is eliminating the nonessentials, limiting the addition of programs, and reducing special events.
The book also contains case studies of mega churches, small and midsize churches, and parachurch organizations that have implemented the simple student ministry process. Along with the chapters on the different case studies, there is a chapter on how to go about implementing a simple process for ministry wherever you serve.
This book contains some great principles that can be applied to ministries of any size and any cultural context. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to simplify their student ministry and increase the effect upon the lives of the students to which they minister. Eric Geiger and Jeff Borton do an excellent job of explaining how to make any student ministry simple in an entertaining and easy to read format.
***
sbc IMPACT! has published this review as part of an ongoing partnership with Broadman & Holman Publishers.
Olon Hyde is currently an Associate Pastor at Hickory Hammock Baptist Church in Milton, Florida. His main responsibility there is the student ministry, where he has been involved since 2003. He currently operates and writes Mr. Hyde’s Blog.
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
Olon, Thanks for the great review. I am going to order a copy today. B&H will be pleased…
Brother Olon,
Thank you for the review.
Peace to you brother,
From the Middle East
Brother Olon,
Thank you for the book review. It is interesting to see these types of books enter the marketplace. I like the small step in the right direction.
It is no doubt difficult to change a trend that exists in youth ministry. The real path is always more difficult to find when one wanders off onto another path of the newest fad. The grass keeps covering up the real path that has little or no traffic.
Youth/College “ministry” has been for my entire lifetime systemically separated from the life of the church in various ways and especially more a pronounced separation during these last 20 years through programs, special entertainment, amp’d up camps, etc.. It is probably what prompted the writing of this kind of book….a realization that the church is not really segmented into these silos after all….nor should it be.
The difficulty will be convincing the “church” that our youth need to experiencing discipleship. The real fix will come when the adults engage in discipleship of their own and then pass it down through their youth and children. One generation is lost to this biblical concept, possibly two. It will take a lot of hard work in the Word to return to the norm.
Blessings,
Chris
Chris,
I think you hit a topic that I think has led to the “statistic” of the vast majority of students that “drop out” after graduating high school. It is because so many churches operate their youth/student ministries as almost a completely different church. When the students graduate, they feel like they’ve almost been kicked out of church.
This is something our church has been really working at overcoming, particularly since we had a huge group of students that didn’t move away to college a few years back; that was the catalyst we needed. For the moment, our students move right through our middle school and high school ministry and then into the college/career ministry. It is at this point that we have truly begun integrating them into the “adult” church while still giving them a sense of belonging (and not like they have been kicked out.
But I think that the “statistic” is not going to change unless our youth/student ministries begin to integrate students into the life of the church in a more meaningful way.
Brother Olon,
I agree…. Integrating is a difficult task, since the “tradition” for now(not a good one) is to separate.
We are working with two church plants currently, and we have made an intentional move not to have “youth groups”. What that means to us is that we treat youth/college age as always part of the entire body, never separating. It is a stark contrast for visitors, because they are always looking for the youth to depart at some point, or go and do something on their own in the evenings during the week. We prefer to worship together, emphasizing the family.
We have found some folks can’t quite accept the change, and may move on to something they are comfortable with though. Our challenge is to communicate this as normal to those that have never experienced how the church functions when gathered.
The only separation we make currently is for the children below the age of about 7 or 8 years. We do have nursery and a biblical lesson for those ages that is separate from the adults,…all others though participate and edify the church together in all venues.
I might add though….we do encourage our young people to get together on their own a lot,..which they do, yet realizing there is no reason to separate when the church meets for worship and fellowship.
Thank you for working, discipling, and mentoring our young folks!
Blessings,
Chris