Youth Ministry Misfits: Recent Episodes
Tim Mullen
We are for the misfits. Those who don't fit at school, those who don't fit in at church, and those who feel they don't fit anywhere. We are misfits, and we are called to be misfits and to be for the misfits.
Isabella Choate has worked and volunteered across several sectors, as a youth consultant, independent advisor, Boorloo Justice, as a co-Chair in many different settings. They share about their wisdom on the intersectionality between mental health, gender and sexual diversity, and disability. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
Sara leads the youth ministry over at Quinns, and has studied a Bachelor of Youth Work with another institution. She loves being on the 'brink' of chaos, and this is a good model for our practice with young people. She boils down youth ministry to a simple art - but it's not easy because it requires getting uncomfortable.
In this episode I met with Nathan Forster, who is a counsellor at Alta-1 College. He shared about his story of faith, and how he now reflects on his days in youth ministry with fondness, but also with some cringe because of the things that could have gone wrong. Listen to find out what he would have done differently!
For more information on Alta-1, visit https://www.alta-1.com.au.
For more information on training in mental health, and Tabor Advance, complete a contact form here: https://tabor.edu.au/contact-us/
I revisited my Masters thesis, sharing about why young people leave the church, and discuss some of the conclusions to how we can make youth ministries a safer place. In short? Equal power relationships, and Spiritual Accompany.
Thanks to Jon Bergman of Avenir Leadership (https://avenirleadership.org) for a great conversation about humility and thoughtful dialogue.
I chatted with Dr John Tan of Youth Work Association of Singapore (YWAS) who shared a bit about his own story of faith, as well as how his experience of the church led him to facilitate youth ministry in a new and creative way. We discussed how people in youth ministry and youth work can stand in the gap between the "adult" world and the world of young people. You can listen to his podcast here: https://shor.by/drjohntan
Inspired by the song of the same name, I discussed who are the poor and the powerless, and what youth ministries can work on to help them to 'sing out Hallelujah!"
I've been preparing for a subject I'm teaching next semester about violence, and I felt compelled to share some of the things I've learnt as I prepare! There are some big implications for youth ministry.
Schoolies week has just come to an end in Australia, and with it comes many media misrepresentations of young people as violent, dangerous, but also as vulnerable. How do our assumptions and labels of young people affect the way we do youth ministry?
I chatted with my sister - who felt like a misfit in the church after some life experiences that caused people to respond to her differently.
We chat about what this means for the church as a whole, but also for youth ministry.
I had a great chat with my colleague, Dr Kirsten Macaitis, about what she learned from her study of spirituality and camps, and what this means for the conversation around youth ministry.
I had a chat with Dr Ben Lohmeyer of Flinders University about some of the differences between youth work and youth ministry - and some of the gaps that youth ministry has in the space of listening to and joining with young people.
I have a chat with one of Tabor's alumni, Ben Rowe, about his ministry to young people on the streets, in shopping centres and so on. We chat about why this kind of ministry is important, and what it might mean for churches.
I discuss the purpose of youth ministry from multiple angles, using Arthur David Canales (2006) eight models. Which one of these models is better suited to the Misfits? Which one do you think is most appropriate for youth ministry?
I have a chat with a mate of mine, Ben Smith, about the question - what is youth ministry really about? What is its essence?
I reflect on (again) my interview with James Harris, and chat about some things I've been learning from my PhD.
I was really inspired by my chat with James Harris last week, and so I delved into some of these ideas about how to work with what we sometimes call "the naughty kids."
I chat with James Harris of YouthWork.io about his experiences with the church, punk rock, and how churches can reach the misfits.
Tim shares about his story of youth ministry, Chaplaincy, Youth Work, and Tabor, as well as some of the outcomes of his research, Young people and the Baptist church: Staying and Leaving.