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Essentials to Youth Ministry (1)
The Architecture of Youth Ministry
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Starting from scratch #4
Growing a Youth Ministry


Personal and Professional Conduct of all youth workers
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" And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit."
~ Ephesians 2:19

"The architect is a molder of men, whether or not he
consciously assumes the responsibility."
~ Frank Lloyd Wright

What shapes a life? What shapes the soul of a people? What structures exist under God and through God's purpose and will that molds and fashions humanity? Obviously, the ministry of the church plays the most significant role in shaping people for the Kingdom of God. Our ministries to students play a significant role in shaping lives. Certainly, God is using many other people and structures to reach and shape students, but what a sobering thought it is when we consider the shaping influence our ministries have on students. Therefore, the architecture and design of the ministries must never be neglected or haphazard. Ministry architecture and design plays a critical role in determining the ethos of a community of people. In the white harvest fields of youth culture, youth ministry architecture should be a huge consideration.

God:The Cosmic Architect

Since Noah's construction of the Ark, definable worship architecture and space has played a major role in life, particularly for the people of God. Buildings, structure and other created environments impact us and contribute to the shaping of people. Likewise, the "space" of ministry contributes significantly to the shaping of people.

For centuries, artists have constructed sacred spaces so that people could engage God and experience His presence. The world of art and architecture has rich and necessary link to the things of God and to the people of God. Great architecture flows from the heart of God. God is and has always been the master architect. From the moment God spoke and created our world He has revealed Himself in part as an architect, as creator. He took a formless, dark and empty world and constructed an environment that declared His majesty. It became a perfect environment to house a people, made in His image, reflecting His Glory and residing in perfect fellowship with Him. God's architectural works not only shape lives but in fact, sustain them. No where else does form and function reside with better harmony and balance. Certain constructed spaces evoke unique feelings and convey certain messages. Our homes make statements regarding tastes, style, priority and values. Everything from the color choices of paint to the landscape to the to the selection of décor speak and impact and inform. Consequently, as people created in the image of God, the impulse to create and construct is a part of our make-up. It's in the hardwire.

For God's people, the construction of sacred worship space has a high priority. And this priority is given by God Himself. Since the days of Noah's Ark to the altar's of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the tabernacle of Moses and the Temple of Solomon, we have been keenly aware of the relationship between constructed space and the worship of God. These spaces remind us of the majesty, the power and the glory of God (at least they should). They provide inspiration and speak metaphorically of who God is and who we are in Christ. We tend to think of artistry and architecture solely in terms of tangible creations, but there is more art and more architecture to be created that lies hidden in the unseen realm.

The birth of the Church and the ushering in of the New Covenant brought on radical changes and implications for the idea of "sacred space" and spiritual architecture. Because of the radical shift in the dwelling place of God's Spirit, from the temple to the body (the temple of the Holy Spirit), the architecture of the Kingdom becomes increasingly less tangible. Certainly, tangible architecture is still important, but more so for the metaphorical implications. The outward structures serve to remind us of the inward realities of being the temple of the Holy Spirit. Several years ago, my wife and I and some friends visited the monastery in Conyers, GA. The enormous sanctuary/cathedral (constructed by the monks themselves in the 1940's) was awe inspiring. Entering the building ignited a sense of the holy and divine. The vaulted, ribbed ceiling and the powerful silence moved us to fearful worship of the Holy God. The immaculate nature of the facility evoked reminders of purity and God's shear glory. Chatting together after this experience reminded us that the reverence and holiness and purity of that sanctuary is what the inner recesses of our hearts should look like as the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit of God. The space literally taught and reinforced the some of the attributes of the God we worship. The physical architecture of the cathedral was a powerful metaphorical image of the reality within as Christians. God is not confined to buildings, but dwells in the hearts of those who receive Him.

The Architecture of student ministry
This brings us to the key thought, the architecture of student ministry. The greatest works of art or architecture are not tangible at all, but are those hidden places of the human heart that are given wholly over to Christ. Beauty, as the apostle Peter describes it, is not solely in outward things, but dwells most profoundly within the "hidden person of the heart." When we see the Lord constructing in our young people a temple unto Him or see them becoming a dynamic spiritual house, it is without doubt the most beautiful thing. These creations (a life given to God in discipleship) are always the most intricate, complex, compelling and bring the greatest glory to God.

The preparatory ministry of Jesus with the disciples is the first and finest example of ministry architecture of the Spirit. It was a ministry that had very little physical or tangible architecture. But His training of the twelve had spiritual structure and design galore. For Jesus, the youth room, that relevant place of ministry and identity, was found on the streets of Capernaum and on the stormy Galillean Sea. The evangelism training laboratory was the local city context itself! He created an unforgettable ethos in that short, three-year period. It was more than theological knowledge, but direct, intimate interaction with truth itself. He created environments (by the Father's design) that challenged and pushed the disciples. He orchestrated moments of divine tension and opened revelatory Kingdom windows by preaching in powerful metaphorical images and stories. In the house of Jesus' ministry were rooms of conviction, revelation, affirmation, failure, repentance, healing, freedom and joy. His leadership showed an attitude of reverence, submission, joy, abandon and ultimate freedom and security. In one fluid motion Jesus established a ministry that had no building but had plenty of architecture and "Spirit Design".

The Gospel accounts of Jesus' ministry to the disciples show a rhythmic flow between evangelism, edification, equipping, etc. It is difficult to find the hard lines dividing outreach from discipleship and vice versa. They both seem to feed off each other.

The YouthWorker as Redemptive Architect
We recognize the importance of space and environment in youth ministry. How many youth pastors over the years have fought the elder board for a youth room or for more youth space? These spaces play a role (we believe) in the shaping of a relevant identity for students and student ministry. In an experience-driven, multi-sensory 21st century youth culture, the architecture of youth ministry becomes something that must be taken seriously. Andy Stanley and Stuart Hall, in their book, The Seven Checkpoints, speak of the importance of establishing a context for the content of ministry. Relevant ministry context for a savvy, sensory sensitive culture is huge. For the youthworker this presents a daunting range of possibilities when it comes to creating ministry environments and experiences. The idea of ministry context is a compelling one. In his book, An Unstoppable Force, Erwin Mcmanus pops open the idea of pastors and church leaders being "cultural architects" and coins a chapter title "Spirit Design Theory". Mcmanus spends a lot of time describing how a church creates an "ethos" (for better or for worse). The architecture travels far beyond a room or meeting space. It involves the attitude, the heart, the expectation and the tone of the ministry. The concept of youth ministry architecture runs much deeper than choosing posters for the youth meeting space. Your ministry is literally shaping lives. The environment you create through within the ministry carries tremendous potential and responsibility. This also goes beyond having a mission statement or list of core values (although these play an important role). Every ministry carries with it certain shape, a form and unique design. The components, being many and varied, are both visible and invisible. Mcmanus states,

True leadership affects the soul of an organization and the spirit Of the people…We need to recapture the invisible aspects of Leadership. We must focus our attention on the creating and shaping Of ethos and then on the structures that best nurture and Harness its potential. In the end leadership is nothing less than spiritual. And spiritual leaders are essentially cultural architects.

It is vital that we construct environments that are more than information gathering times. Our role as soul architects must encompass more than the dispensing of theological knowledge for students. It must encompass more than mere social opportunity as well. We must create deliberate community developing whole disciples for Christ. They must have experiential learning environments. The postmodern student is an "experiential learner". In the words of Leonard Sweet,

"Many attention-deficit-disorder kids are really multiple kinesthetics: postmodern, electronic kids who learn not through lockstep, lecture-drill-test marches of the industrial age but through multi-sensory webs of stimulation and inspiration."

Frank Lloyd Wright And Organic Discipleship
Frank Lloyd Wright is without doubt, the most influential figure in the field of architecture in twentieth century America. His innovations in both commercial and residential architecture gave America, in many ways, its own unique architectural identity. One of the significant architectural innovations that Wright pioneered was the idea of "Organic Architecture". Organic architecture ushered in new possibilities for home spaces that were, at the time, under a heavy Victorian influence. Instead of boxy, strictly defined rooms, Wright helped "…create the open plan with rooms that opened each other." One essay concerning Wright's organic architecture describes it like this,

Wright hated the "box". At the time of Wright's entrance to architecture, most houses and structures were boxy with no originality or individuality. His organic principles called for an open house design, and an easy flow between the outside environment and the inside of the building. The box was containment. It contained within everything. It was living or ought to be living. Whereas the new idea was to eliminate the box and let everything that was in go outward and associate with its environment. The "box" design set limitations of space, which was against all the basic ideas of organic architecture.

The stress on Wright's organic concept is that each component of the site, structure and material should build towards a whole and unified work. The form and function begin to merge as one working unit, with one complimenting the other. One of the greatest challenges and responsibilities of a youth worker is to seek the from the beginning. Doing youth ministry without a vision of what we want our students to look like as they mature in Christ is futile. A student ministry should never be a haphazard collision of programs and trips, but a series of environments and expeditions aimed at cultivating whole disciples.

Discipleship Environments
For those of us involved in Youth Ministry, perhaps we need to explore a more organic discipleship architecture. Remove all unnecessary walls and boundaries preventing students from developing a whole-life view of their faith in Christ.
The implications for youth ministry in a de-compartmentalized, postmodern world are enormous at best and intriguing at very least. Wright's innovations in architecture provide an archetype for the kinds of radical shifts that perhaps need to be made for more effective youth ministry. Taking Wright's cues, let's consider several departures from old architectural forms:

Like the boxed, strictly defined Victorian architecture that Wright deconstructed, modern ministry constructs tended to create many of the same clean lines. In a world dominated by compartments, ministry to students tended to follow suit. For example, the concept of outreach we relegated to nursing home visits or an annual mission trip. The concept of evangelism was relegated certain, specific outings or trips where we asked students to "share" their faith and, rather than these becoming a lifestyle, it became something you do when the youth group program calendar calls for it. Somehow, subconsciously, we constructed lines that kept evangelism separate from "real life" and the everyday world. It is similar to the idea that been perpetuated confusing the office of the evangelist described by Paul in Ephesians and the responsibility of every believer to be a witness, described by Jesus throughout the gospels and specifically in Acts1:8.

"Sacramentalize" everything. Throw away the compartmentalized nature of faith. Create a ministry that refuses separate rooms, but one flowing space that is in every way and in every place invaded by God. The need to "de-compartmentalize" is long over due. Several years ago while shopping at the mall, I felt led to approach a group of junior high girls to share Christ with them and to encourage them with God's love. At some point in the course of our exchange, one of the girls boldly and defiantly declared, "Oh, that Jesus thing? I already did that!" So many young people (and dare I say, us adults?) live in this incredibly compartmentalized world of a different mask for each segment of their lives. Because we have compartmentalized salvation into a hand raised at camp rather than a way of life to enter into through repentance and relationship with Christ, their faith is summed up in one brief moment's response. And frankly, 85% of what they hear throughout the remainder of their time in the youth ministry is aimed at getting other students to make the same response. What would happen in youth ministries if the compartmentalization of the "Holy Moment" were enlarged so that every moment became Holy unto the Lord? What would happen if we tore apart the sacred spaces in our ministry and cried out to God to allow every space and event to be sacred unto Him?

Seeing all of life as a sacramental teaches students that worship is more than a song, that witnessing is more than an event and that service is more than a quarterly project. Striving for a whole-life approach breaks the barriers of a compartmentalized faith and ministry. It is the idea that evangelism is a whole life idea; that worship is a whole life idea. With this type of ministry ethos, or structure, mission becomes so much more than a weeklong summer experience, it becomes an everyday awareness. Missions are not in a "room down the hall", it’s a reality I see right now, and it's the reality of the world where I stand.

Stepping into the Studio
In a metaphorical sense, your ministry to students is a studio of Spirit design. The interior spaces are devoted to the craft of loving God. Sacred spaces for worship and disciplines, spaces of community and nurture. These spaces are strategic and intentional, designed to connect the creator with the created. Here, the young artists in your ministry discover their identity in the Master, Jesus Christ. They discover relationships with peers that spur them on in artistry of discipleship. While the interior spaces tend to emphasize the interior of a young disciple, it is not limited interior experiences only and vice versa. Just as the Holy Spirit is a teacher in the sanctuary and in the streets, so our ministry studio will be. Your greatest teaching may very come outside a youth room. The inside space is never for nothing, it is never wasted, but is always economized. Youth Ministry artists treasure the commodities of time and resources and never pour out anything for just nothing.

The outside spaces of the ministry studio push the artistry into the fields where doors of opportunity swing on ready. Here the studio becomes a field lab where young disciples join in the work of the master craftsman to color and flavor the world with the Kingdom song. Here the studio becomes a platform for humble service and grace-filled living- a display of art for the world to witness. Mission trips, outreaches within the community and other group outings create the studio of the ministry in the "live" world setting. Here, the work of the inside space is put to the test and refined in fire. Here, the young disciple artists expand their horizons and feel the pulse God - his heart-beat for the world.

Both the inside and outside architectural elements thrive and feed on one another ( see Philemon v.6). And this is the genius behind Frank Lloyd Wright's organic architecture. His interior spaces blended with the exterior to form one whole, one unified work. Our ministries to students fall down when we fail to cultivate the interior and exterior of discipleship. In fact, a strong exterior without a correspondingly strong interior will not be effective. Amazingly, this interior/exterior often becomes interchangeable. Evangelism happens in the interior and nurture happens on the street because God is looking to shape us and direct us and win people to himself all the time, everywhere! Your most powerful prayer session could happen on the side of the road and your most poignant outreach could happen in the youth room.

One of Wright's desires was to see the building blend with the natural surroundings, to embrace the existing environment. Obviously, the biblical mandate is to be in the world, yet not of the world. The incarnation provides the strongest mandate for contextual ministry. The act of God encasing himself in human flesh with all its vulnerabilities in order to redeem mankind should motivate us in constructing ministries relative to our local cultural context. In fact, Wright used construction materials that were from the existing environment and that reflected the natural surroundings. He wanted the interior spaces to flow into the exterior spaces with a certain harmony. For too long we have structured church as a fortress from the world and not a community bearing light and hope for the world. For so long we have built fortresses and gates to keep ourselves unspotted by the world and now its time to invade the environment and surroundings with redemptive hope. Instead cloistering a community of students away from the world, let's equip a community of students to infiltrate their cultural context with the burning light of Christ. What are the cultural distinctives that mark your community. What are the native distinctives? How is your ministry embracing those to bring the gospel? These elements will be unique to each community and creates opportunity for a more organic ministry.

New Design architects :

As we ride into the first quarter of the 21C, I believe we will begin to see whole new paradigms of youth ministry. As we shift away culturally from a more modern form of education and ministry strategy, the youthworker as architect becomes increasingly important. The experiential and the participatory elements of the learning and discipleship process for youth ministry is crucial. Perhaps this is one reason that worship has exploded recent years. Worship invites participation. In worship, we experience the presence of God in powerful ways. Through worship, students are able to corporately and individually cry out to the Father. Through worship, people experience more than an object lesson or illustration, they get God himself!

The day of mere intellectual transference of Bible facts and knowledge is over. Youth ministries that do not help lead students into the presence of God (and into the world in the presence of God) and ignite them for incarnational ministry are quickly becoming obsolete. That is why the craft and art of the youth worker is crucial. We do not put together programs, we construct environments and opportunities for students to engage God. We must begin to construct environments that invite students to participate in the active pursuit of knowing and experiencing God.

Your youth ministry is a studio. The studio runs from the sanctuary to the student meeting room and bleeds out into the streets, into the schools and avenues, coffee shops, malls and homes- wherever students dwell. Your ministry studio is where the lost are recreated in Christ. It's where students practice the art of discipleship. The studio is where people try and fail and try and succeed and are encouraged to try again. The studio is where young followers of Jesus are trained, molded, crafted and fashioned for the master.

Is your ministry confined to a box? Let's tear down some walls.

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