youth ministry | basics

Youth Ministry 3.0: A Manifesto of Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, and Where We Need To Go- by Mark Oestreicher  

As the former president of Youth Specialties, Mark Oestreicher (or Marko) has witnessed all types of youth ministers and youth ministries over the years. Marko compiles his observations of the history of youth ministry and casts a vision for the future of youth ministry on the pages of his most recent book, Youth Ministry 3.0.

This book does a great job of covering the history of youth ministry and explaining the last 60 years of youth ministry and the evolution of youth ministry within the church. Marko’s analysis of the past is spot on and brings to light many mishaps in youth ministry, but also sheds light on many victories in youth ministry, including the establishment of Young Life, Youth Specialties, parachurch organizations, and more churches focusing resources and efforts on the teenage culture.

But Marko uses the past to help cast a vision for the future. He explains how the old way of “doing” youth ministry will not work with today’s youth culture. If youth ministries are going to remain effective at reaching kids, they must evolve into a new kind of youth ministry that works with a post-modern mindset. “If Youth Ministry 1.0 allowed culture to inform its language and topics, and if Youth Ministry 2.0 allowed culture to inform its methods and measurements of success, then Youth Ministry 3.0 needs to allow culture to inform contextualization.” (72) Marko emphasizes the need for communion and mission in Youth Ministry 3.0.

The most interesting component of this book was the dialogue taking place in the margins. Marko is the author of a blog at www.whyismarko.com and he shares comments and thoughts from other youth ministers on the topics he writing about in this book. He has made this book a living book and demonstrates the Youth Ministry 3.0 model in doing so.

If you are a youth minister and plan to continue working with kids for more than 2 weeks or if you are pursuing a calling into youth ministry, this is book is a must-read. Not only will it help you to understand the history of youth ministry (quite frankly, there are other books out there that are better at that component), but this could be one of the best books at casting the vision for the future of youth ministry.