Contemplating youth ministry

Some compelling thoughts on youth ministry in this blog post by Brian Kirk. He contrasts the "attractional model" of youth ministry with the practice of Jesus to withdraw in order to listen for God in quiet times of rest. He points out that the monastic community of Taize is a wildly popular destination for young people, and sees this as evidence that they are looking for opportunities to meet God in just such times of quiet contemplation.

Here are a couple of excerpts. It's certainly worth thinking about.

...the attractional model of youth ministry (or as I have dubbed it "the DIS-strational model") suggests that mimicking the practices of our consumerist entertainment-based culture may be the most effective way to draw young people to Christianity, showing teens that church can be just as fun and exciting as going to a rock concert or the local amusement park.

Given this, I wonder: What would happen if, for a season in our ministries, we gave ourselves permission to let go of using flash and noise to attract youth to God and instead trusted that what they might really desire is silence, contemplation, solitude, and prayer? What would happen if we let go for a time of the idea of trying to attract youth into our buildings and instead focused on helping them to experience God's presence in every aspect of their lives, particularly beyond the walls of the church? What if we decided to see what our youth programs might look like if we locked the doors of our youth rooms and sought to do ministry together out in the world?