I remember the day like it was yesterday. Youth ministry for me began with a phone message from my minister saying that yes, we could indeed start our own youth group. I was 16 years old at the time. A buddy and I had just completed a Leadership Development Camp. It was a significant time of growth. We wanted to continue that growth in our congregation, but we didn't have a youth group at our church. So we asked if we could start one. I waited for that phone message for weeks, see-sawing back and forth on whether or not the congregation would risk a youth group-by youth, for youth.

When we got the okay, I was jubilant! I was triumphant! I was going to get a set of keys to the church! And I was fearful!

But I received a promise that day as well-a promise that as my buddy and I stepped into leadership, we did not go alone. Our minister and a small committee of people were there to support us, to help us draw up a plan, to be resources, to hold us accountable and to back us up, if (or should I say, when) criticism came. I remain thankful for the risks my congregation took that day-risks to invest in our leadership potential as young people. All these years later I am still doing youth ministry and, in my better moments, I still feel the jubilation and excitement and fear of that moment when my ministry began.

I'm not telling this story because my beginnings in ministry were all that extraordinary -every call into ministry is a beautiful moment. I'm telling you my story because I believe there is a shift taking place in the framework of how we do youth ministry.

Entertainment Versus Developing Leadership

There was a time when youth ministry was about entertaining kids-having attractive programs with hip, dynamic leaders and over-the-top MTV-style packaging. The mission was to make church cool. Success was determined by attendance and size of the group, and the plan was to bend over backwards to make Christianity youth-friendly.

Thankfully, many churches are trading in that entertainment model for a form of youth ministry that emphasizes the development of leaders. The reasons are clear. Youth ministry as entertainment creates a generation of church "attendees" (people who "church shop", based on what a church can do to serve their needs), whereas this new model creates church leaders (people who look to connect with a church based on what they can do to serve God in that community). One is a short-term, surface level, feel-good approach for the congregation, while the other is a long-term, visionary, risk-taking, biblical approach for the kingdom.

This shift in emphasis is not only good for the church; it's good for the students we serve. Youthspecialties.com recently featured an article by American youth ministers Dennis "Tiger" Mcluen and Chuck Wysong. Reflecting on the students they've served, the veteran youth ministers write:

Transformation Brings Rewards

Something transformational (and biblical) happens in a young person when they are challenged to step up to the role of leadership. They feel validated and entrusted, noticed, loved and set apart as a chosen person (see 1Peter 2:9). They are forced to look deep in their hearts and ask themselves hard questions about what they believe and who they want to become (Joshua 24:14,15). They are pushed out of the me-focused world we live in and asked to live a life of serving others and putting others first (Galatians 5:13). True Christian leadership is always about taking on the sacrificial and servant role of Christ. It is not always upfront or high profile, but it is always rewarding, community-focused and the best way for young people to transform themselves towards Christ-like maturity.

A youth ministry whose aim is to create Christian leaders does not always look like the coolest ministry in town. It is not always the largest or the most dynamic. It does not always have the hippest or most upfront youth leader. But if the church is interested in growing Christ's kingdom and impacting young people over the long term, we need to make this shift towards raising up student leaders. As I look back on my congregation growing up, we didn't have a huge youth ministry at the time, but the investment that was made in cultivating me as a leader had far more impact on my development than any entertainment-driven youth group ever could have.

Recognizing Gifts

It's important, however, to realize that this shift is about more than finding more jobs for young people to do at the church. It's about recognizing the gifts individual young people possess. It's about trusting them and walking with them as they experience success and failure. It's about providing them with a Christian model of leadership, embodied in the ministry of Jesus that seeks to serve others and see them restored to fullness of life. There are enough token opportunities for young people in the church. Without these vital biblical components, Christian leadership looks too much like worldly leadership-youth forums become model UN's, leadership camps become camp counselor interviews and church leadership becomes more fuel for the burnout machine.

Trusting young people with leadership roles is risky business. Sometimes young people can disappoint. Sometimes it's hard to walk alongside them in meaningful ways. Sometimes a congregation will get burned. But once in a while, the risk a congregation takes in raising up student leaders pays off. God is at work when we trust him and his children. He has the power to transform young people, the church, the world, and even we ourselves, if we let him. I am confident God will raise up a new generation of servant leaders for our Church, if we give youth the space and support they need and trust the God who already wants to do so.

Andrew Hyde is Staff Associate at St. James United Church in Waterdown, Ont.

(1) Empowering and Equipping Student Leaders, www.youthspecialties.com//articles/topics/student_leadership/empowering.php