The random thoughts of a pastor in a place where "always reforming" is a way of life.

Monday, September 25, 2006

First Time

I have finally joined my colleagues in the twenty-first century by becoming a blogger. It is too soon to tell for sure, but perhaps this will be a life-changing event.

I am not entirely sure what this blog will become. Perhaps it will be a place for me to throw random ramblings to the great thinkers of the world. Perhaps it will be a place of complete rubbish which no one will ever desire to visit, akin to a trash heap or Gary, Indiana. Or perhaps this will become an area of real dialogue over the really tough issues in the community, the church, and the world. Whatever the case, I'm looking forward to the ride.

For the inaugural blog, how about a discussion of the place of youth ministry on the east coast in the year 2006. As a backdrop, being relatively new to New Jersey, I bring with me some idealizations of what to expect from church youth groups here. We had an amazing twelve middle school students attend last night, which fulfilled my greatest expectations. On the other hand, we only had one high school student attend. Perhaps the traditional "Northwest Iowa" youth group meeting isn't going to cut the mustard for high schoolers here. What I need is something a little more cutting edge, something risky, something that just might fail, but then again, just might succeed. My problem is that I was never really in touch with the high school psyche when I was in high school, and things haven't gotten any better for me since.
That is what I was thinking today...