What are you doing in the youth room? Why are you involved with the youth ministry at your church? Don’t you know how hard it is? How frustrating teens can be? They are noisy, boisterous, and totally self-absorbed! They pay little attention and require constant supervision. Why are you putting yourself through this?

If no one at church as asked you these questions, then perhaps you have asked them of yourself. Let me take a few guesses as to why you are in the youth room.

1. You are a parent of teens. There’s no one else in the congregation interested or capable, and though you are already super-busy and don’t have any formal
training for youth ministry, you don’t want your kids to miss out. You want them
to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ now, and when they are with you again in
eternity.
2. You are young. You really loved youth group when you were in it; the games, the trips, the servant events, the gatherings. You know how important those adults
were in forming you as a young believer in Jesus Christ. So, even though you are
having a great time as a leader and really are enjoying it for yourself, you are also
feeling a responsibility to pass on to the next generation what you received.
3. You are a DCE, associate or sole pastor, family life director, deaconess or lay minister. You are full-time (or part-time). It’s in your call. Enough said? Not at all. You’re not in the youth room because you have to be. You’re in the youth room because you want to be. This is the ministry for which you have been educated. The young people are your congregation, the precious souls for which you have a genuine spiritual responsibility. You want them to know whom they’ve received
in Jesus!

No doubt there are other reasons as well that you are in the youth room. But if this is you, then you’re in the right place when you step into your church’s youth room. You are also in the right place when you participate at www.lutheranyouthroom.org. This is a website for you, to be Lutheran in practice and in doctrine. Here you will find helpful blogs with insights from seasoned youth workers and from novices exploring youth ministry. There will be a forum area where you can link with other youth volunteers and workers in your area. You can share a servant event, a Bible study, a game that went really well (or not). You
can read reviews on websites, books, and games. Here you will be encouraged in your very important work. So, thank you for stopping in, and I hope you enjoy and make full use of www.lutheranyouthroom.org.

Dr. John Oberdeck was a parish pastor in Southern Illinois for ten years, and served on the faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis in the Practical Department for thirteen years before coming to CUW in 2002, most recently serving as the Director of Lay Ministry. He retired in June 2017. He and his wife, Ginny, have three grown children and seven growing grandchildren.

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