Last week at my new youth ministry coaching program group in Nashville, during a conversation about seniors in their second semester fading away from what was previously a high commitment to the youth ministry, one of the guys (Brad Fiscus, the director of youth ministries for the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church) suggested a very intriguing idea.
We all know that seniors are super busy. We all know they have extra pressures. Wnd we all know they’re distracted.
But Brad posed this fantastic question:
Could the drop off of seniors be a factor of them distancing themselves in preparation for the forced separation of graduating out of our groups?
That sure reframes things. I mean, think of it this way: “lame ducks” almost always fade. Heck, the vast majority of youth workers I know who are moving to another church have a hard time maintaining passion and energy in their current role, even if they still genuinely care for the church and students.
If we think of seniors in this light, I wonder if it would give us more compassion for them, rather than the guilting and cajoling I hear from so many youth workers. Instead of “How can i get you to come to youth group?” our question becomes, “How can i serve you in this transition?”
