Is Jr. High ministry the most important in the Church?
This past Monday our family went to the Mall of America for Minnesota Districts, Family Day. We bought tickets to the theme park for the family. But there was just one problem; my 12 year old son is scared of roller coasters. About 6 years ago, when we lived in Michigan, we went to Michigan's Adventures in Muskegon, and my son rode a kiddy coaster and he has not gotten on a coaster since. This past summer when we were in Orlando, we went to Universal and Sea World and he missed out on so much fun, because he would not get on any of the "big rides". But something has happened since this past summer that increased my son’s risk taking; yes, puberty!
Research gives us a biological explanation for my son’s behavior. Science shows us that teens' brains are still growing and developing. Or you might say, the teen brain is still “baking” and is not complete (it won’t be done “baking” until 20-25). The teen brain is different from adult brains. These differences account for the risk taking that teenagers are known for. Also, this development brings mood swings, impulsiveness, defiance, aggression and the desire to experiment (for more info click here).
This isn’t all negative. Mark Oestreicher said, “Understanding adolescent brain development and adolescent development in general is a very important thing that any youth worker can do to improve their effectiveness in ministry.” He goes on to say, “that the way the brain is utilized in the two years following the onset of puberty is how the brain will be fine tuned for the rest of life.”
If this is true, we need to begin to put a larger emphasis on our Junior High ministries. Instead of waiting for our teens to get to High School before they go through our discipleship programs, we need to shift discipleship to the “tween years”. If we wait until they are “mature enough” then we have missed our most effective years. Around 12 years old is when we need to begin to help the student begin to struggle with learning what is Authentic Faith, begin to practice Spiritual Disciplines and start to create Moral Boundaries and Healthy Friendships. They need to begin to make Wise Choices and understanding Ultimate Authority and need to put Others First. (ok, if you didn’t figure it out, those are Andy Stanley’s, 7 Checkpoints)
So the practices for the next two years of my son’s life will be a major foundation of his faith. What are you teaching students who are in your student ministries between the ages of 12-15? Do you know? More importantly, do you care?
Oh by the way, when we were at MOA my son road every rollercoaster there and he wanted more so Cedar Point (the best theme park in America), not Valley Fair is where we need to go to see how daring he really is!
