Can we have $$-less youth group?
If so, what would it look like?
I wonder if we have succumbed so much to the marketing and materialistic side of culture that we have forgotten what youth ministry is all about!....
Have we set ourselves up to be completely dependent on the dollar?
Does our economy dictate our youth ministry structure? Should it?
Listen, I am to blame on this one. I had a summer calendar full of days trips, service project weeks, movie nights, mini-golf, etc.
Almost every single event cost money. Even the activities we do at the church, while they may not cost our students money, take a toll on my youth budget. But the elders don't mind because it gets students here and so it is money well-spent. Or is it?
In the course of an average year, if a student were to participate in every event we offer, they would probably have to shell out between $1,000-$2,000. But parents don't mind since the price of golf memberships here run $30,000 or more, with $5,000 annual fees. “A few grand to keep my kid involved in church is a great deal,” they would say.
Now for students who cannot afford it, we offer scholarships to ensure that every single student can go if they want to. But again, everything revolves around money (and in a sense entertainment)
I realize this is where our culture is, and I do believe in embracing culture. But I also believe in the power of Jesus to transform culture in areas that are counter-biblical.
It appears to me in the books of Acts that monies collected in the early church went directly to help the widows and orphans and to feed the hungry. At some point, even Paul argues, that those who do the Lord's work should receive money for it so they don't have to work elsewhere. But I wonder where in the history of Christianity did the tithe money go towards funding students’ boat trips on the Sea of Galilee, their ski trip to Sinai, and purchasing the latest lights to trick out the synagogue’s teen room?
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