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Resource: Determining Needs in Your Youth Ministry
Dr. Peter L. Benson and Dorothy L. Williams for Search
Institute
Group Books, 1987
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What is the purpose of this resource?
This resource is designed to provide churches with a tool to assess what is important to the young people in their church. A 162-question survey is designed to elicit information about young people’s feelings about themselves, their families, church, school and moral values. - How does this resource define youth ministry?
What are the key elements of youth ministry in this resource?
Without giving specifics about what specific activities should be a part of youth ministry, this book assumes that any holistic plan for youth ministry in a congregation should take seriously the young people involved in it. The survey tool provided in this book doesn’t just ask questions about how young people feel about God and the church, but also asks questions about where the young people go for help, what they worry about, their feelings about their future, etc. It assumes that programming will be affected by the results of this survey, but the book isn’t prescriptive in its suggestions for what that would look like. - How are youth defined? (age group)
The survey provides a space to say whether you are in grades 7 – 12, but the survey could easily be used by 6th graders in a system where middle school begins with that grade. - What understanding of young people is present in
this resource?
Adolescents are seen as having secret lives that are often not expressed every day. The changes that occur in adolescence can be confusing and the young people may or may not be talking to others about what they are thinking and feeling about a variety of experiences. Young people are seen as those who feel, think, believe and act, and the survey instrument is designed to help you be more aware of all of those areas. - Do you see any particular theological perspective
or agenda within this material? If so, what is it?
There is no particular theological perspective present. - How could this resource be used and by whom?
This resource could be used by anyone interested in learning more about what matters to the young people in their congregation. The survey is designed to be conducted by an “independent group” who then shares the information with a variety of groups within the church – session, parents, young people themselves. It anticipates that a great deal of time and energy will be put into planning for the survey, tabulating results, and carefully interpreting the results for informed planning. I think the survey could be useful even if you used it on a smaller scale. - What is included when you purchase this resource?
What is the cost of this resource?
This book is out of print, but can checked out from the Media Resource Center. The resource includes 20 copies of the youth survey, 20 copies of the answer sheet, one copy of a tally sheet, and 1 copy of a summary sheet. Any of these items can be photocopied for local church use. The resource also includes examples of publicity letters, suggestions for preparing for the survey and interpreting the results, and some suggested sessions for youth and adults after the survey results have been tallied. - What is your overall evaluation of the resource?
(strengths and weakness, etc.)
I think this would prove to be a very useful resource in helping churches understand their young people better. Some of the questions seemed slightly dated, but they might be able to be reframed. I don’t know if a congregation would do all that was suggested in order to administer the survey, but any attempt to understand the young people in a congregation is a step in the right direction!