Youth ministry
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Youth ministry, also commonly referred to as youth group, is an age-specific religious ministry of faith groups or other religious organizations, usually from ages 12 to 30, whose mission is to involve and engage with young people who attend their places of worship, or who live in their community. Christian youth ministry usually encompasses one or more of the following:
- encouraging young people (whether they have professed a faith or not) to learn more about a given faith and to become more involved in spiritual life
- providing open religiousagenda
The doctrine of
Youth ministry often consists of students in sixth grade though twelfth grade and adult leaders. Every youth ministry is structured differently and the culture will vary among youth ministries depending on how the ministry cultivates culture. Some youth ministries are also student led where students take on the responsibility of planning services.
Christianity
Protestantism
In Protestant churches, the term "ministry" often implies the service of an
Catholicism
Catholic youth work covers a worldwide range of activities carried out with young people, usually in the name of the Catholic Church and with the intention of imparting the Catholic faith to them and inviting them to practice and live out the faith in their lives. Activities in the field range from small scale youth groups attached to parishes or Catholic schools, to large international gatherings, such as World Youth Day. It is a field which has evolved much over recent decades, especially in comparison to more formal methods of education or catechesis within the church. Nearly all dioceses and a great deal of parishes have some form of youth provision running, although a great deal of areas particularly in the developed world are finding youth work both more difficult and rare as the numbers of young people regularly practicing the Catholic faith continue to decline. In contrast, though, the new and exciting developments of recent decades and particularly the influence of the new movements within the church are ensuring that youth work continues to be an active and fruitful field.
Catholic young people
Unlike the case in some Protestant churches, a youth minister in the
Unitarian Universalism
There are organizations within the
Education and career path
Youth ministers may be trained in an
See also
- Adolescence
- Christianity in the United States#Youth programs
- List of youth organizations
- Youth development
- Youth program
- Youth subculture