Theology and Youth Ministry

Two very interesting things have happened recently in youth ministry as it relates to theology. One, Time magazine published an article noting that many youth ministries are now moving away from the pop culture motif to a more theology-centered program. You can read about it here: In Touch With Jesus.

The other thing that has happened ocurred to me this morning when I check my email and received my Youth Specialties Update. These email updates have links to articles, research, websites, etc. that may be of interest to youth pastors. Here's the one that caught my eye:

"The Limits of God's Grace"; By Bart Campolo -- "A few years ago, after being politely asked to depart early from yet another speaking engagement for giving the wrong answer to the question about the limits of God's mercy, I decided it wasn't fair to keep sneaking up on unsuspecting Evangelicals."

I thought to myself, "Huh." I decided not to read it, because I knew it would upset me. Instead I made my way over to a blog that I frequent that is usually very uplifiting. Unfortunately, today the discussion was all about Campolo's article. Read the article here, then read the discussion here.

My conclusion: Time magazine may have it right. Perhaps youth ministry as a whole is moving towards a more theological discussion. My concern now is that we discuss the right theology. God help us!