Is Youth Minisitry Important?
OK, check this out: Geaorge Barna (www.barna.org) writes in his book "Real Teens" that there are "four significant reasons why every adult should take time to understand teenagers:
•Teenagers largely define the values and leisure endeavors of our nation.
•Our economy is substantially shaped by their choices as consumers and by their work habits in the labor force.
•The nature of the family, the foundational unit of our society, depends on how teenagers prioritize family and approach parenting.
•The future of the Church will be determined by their faith contours and commitments. In other words, the substance of our culture hangs in the balance with the changing of the guard every couple of decades. Why? Because once people hit their mid-20s and beyond, they are who they are, and the degree of personal change they undergo in terms of character and values is minimal. If the content of our culture—manners, traditions, language, leisure pursuits, values, customs and beliefs—is going to change, the transitions will be championed by those who have the fewest routines and the least to lose through change, and who possess the greatest freedom to experiment with life’s fundamentals."