Presence-Centered Youth Ministry – Pt. 3
This is part three of a look at Presence-Centered Youth Ministry by Mike King. A team of folks at LifeBridge is taking a look at this book in the context of discussing the future of student ministry in our community.
In part one we looked at chapters one and two.
In part two we looked at chapters three and four.
Presence-Centered Youth Ministry
Chapter Five – The Youth Worker as Spiritual Guide
“Presence-centered youth ministry starts with youth workers who practice the presence of God.” – pg. 61
Mike explains the origin of this phrase “practicing the presence of God” – Brother Lawrence who taught the practice of constantly turning one’s mind and heart toward God throughout the day. This is all in the context of having something to offer youth that has the substance of a real experience with God as opposed to mere fear-factor type entertainment. The focus moves from a youth worker having to ‘do something’ to the kids to the youth worker who facilitates a meeting between kids and God.
“Presence-centered youth ministry is about a radical realignment away from our doings–our programs, our expertise, our communication skills–to a focus on being: being real, being with God, being wrapped up in love with Jesus.” pg. 65
“What is needed is not the training of religious technicians but the formation of spiritual leaders.” pg. 66
Love this: “Os Guiness was asked by a non-Christian foreigner, ‘How come when I meet a Buddhist leader I feel like I am in the presence of a holy man, but when I meet a Christian leader, I feel like I have met an entrepreneur, a mover and shaker, a wheeler dealer?’” pg. 67
The remainder of the chapter works out some of what ‘authenticity’ means, including ‘a place for doubt’ and call for ministry to be done out of the fullness (or ‘overflow’ as we talk about it in the LifeBridge community) of life of the youth workers.
Chapter Six – Trusting the Holy Spirit with Your Ministry
Mike spends a couple pages talking about his experience at Taizé, a monastic worship community in France that is based around the ancient practice of rhythmic worship–fixed hour prayer, liturgy, etc…
Mike makes a case for the Biblical precedent for the idea of Sacred Space: Abraham in Gen. 12 building an altar; Jacob in 28 doing the same. Then he spends a bit explaining some of the significance of ancient Biblical forms of worship that including water, fire, incense and other material/physical aids. I won’t attempt to summarize this here, but it’s worth reading. I should point out a great section in Alan Hirsch’s book, The Forgotten Ways (pg. 95), which offers a healthy caution regarding the potentially negative implicit message of ’sacred spaces’.
I think others write about this sort of thing in a compelling way as well. See N. T. Wright’s Simply Christian for a great section on how Heaven and Earth “interlock and overlap” as a model for explaining the Judeo/Christian understanding of ’sacred space’. Wright helped me make sense of not only Old Testament instances such as Moses and the burning bush or Jacob’s ladder, but also of New Testament thought about worship elements like the Eucharist (communion), miracles of Jesus and the Apostles, or even of the iconic (eikonic) nature of the Church as a community where the ‘now’ meets the ‘not yet’. Pretty strong.
Yes – I really resonate with your last paragraph of this post. The “now” meeting the “not yet” – isn’t that exactly what we pray for in the “Lord’s Prayer.” It is what I think the celtic refer to as the “thin place” – where heaven and earth meet. It is captured in the celtic knot – the interweaving of heaven and earth. I think it is a hopeful thought that for those who have eyes to see – any old bush can become a “burning bush” if in fact God is everywhere present and desireous to reveal His Kingdom among us. At the same time, there are those places marked out as a Bethel, a place where an alter is built where God meets us (we see this often in the OT)… that may not be a bad practice for us “forgetful types.”
Doug,
Thanks for the thoughts. Funny you should mention: I’ve been teaching through the Lord’s Prayer at my church, LifeBridge. Celtic spirituality understood this idea of heaven and earth being connected (sometimes to the extreme of pantheism) even before Christianity arrived – that’s why many of the existing symbols were adopted by Christians.
I think you’re right – there seems to be some help in recognizing sacred space, as it seems to reflect how God has made heaven and earth to interact. As long as we don’t end up with a sacred/secular split like most of us have been handed by modernity, I’m all for it! Maybe a way to think of it is that all space is sacred, but there are spaces and instances where the veil is thinner, where God’s space breaks into our space.
Not to belabor… but it maybe the either/or that makes as you say what has been so ugly about the sacred/secular split. I like your last sentance, I think that captures what I was trying to say in the paragraph! Nicely and succinctly done.
I’ve known Mike King from his very first entrance into minisrty. I’ve watched him evolve. In my most humble view, the evolution is not a good one and this book is a departure from sound Biblical understanding toward a mystical / “experiencial” and even a full blone leap into existentialism.