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Give me your thoughts. Even if you are not interested in plugging this, please take a minute and let me know what you think. Should we stop calling our ministries by the title "student ministries?"
8 Comments Add this link to... Bury
8 Comments Add this link to... Bury
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Comments
I disagree. Calling me "Pastor" doesn't limit my view of who I am nor does it limit my overall identity. I get the author's point, but I think he's splitting hairs.
I do think the language we use is very important, but saying student in my opinion says we think of you as higher than a teenager because even college students are often referred to as students. I do hate it when adults refer to teenagers as kids, but the word student like tim said is like splitting hairs.
On the flip side, when I hear some say "my kids" it has a familial undertone, indicating a close relationship. I think teens like that. Not the term "kids", but the familial undertone.
When I hear someone say "my students" I don't sense the relationship so much as I sense "this person learns from me in a classroom setting" I think teens want to feel like they are more than just recipients of our knowledge.
Instead of being called Pastor by your boss, imagine being introduced as "This is Joe, he learns from me."
my question to Nikomas is this, where do you seperate your family from the ministry?
My personal children do not like it and actually call me on it when I refer to my students as my kids. They often already feel like they are being robbed of me so much by the church and then to have who they are be robbed as well to is not really worth the title "my kids."
I do agree that we want to create the familial feel of ministry but am not sure that I want to replace my family with the students at the church.
The authors of the New Testament are constantly reminding us that we are family (brothers and sisters, God as our father, Jesus as our brother, etc)..so I think there is a precedent for having a familial tone to our ministry. They also use the teacher/student relationship (disciple/rabbi, etc.). I think "student" ministry better describes what the overall ministry is about, yet referring to each of the individuals as students has the potential to send the an unintended message to the teens (we are here to teach you...instead of we are here to teach you and care for you and help you along this spiritual journey). Again, by no means am I advocating for the term "kids" to be used...but I like relational terminology. However, I don't know what would work without sounding cult-ish.
there's nothing at all wrong with healthy conversation about ministry. That's why there is a comment box. Without coversation the church would be in a world of hurt. But I'm glad you've joined the discussion!
there is a realization as well that this post has been up 11 days and we only have 7 comments on it. I think that helps us understand that we are out doing ministry not just sitting online discussing it.