Protestant youth ministry

A Protestant/Evangelical Youth ministry is a Christian ministry intended to instruct and disciple youths in what it means to be a Christian, how to mature as a Christian, and how to encourage others to claim Jesus as their . This is accomplished through teaching, relationship building and/or mentoring. Youth ministries may vary widely depending on their denomination, size, liberal or conservative outlook and geographic location. The ministries themselves are almost always built on relationships between the youth minister and the student and their shared perception of their relationship to God. Youth have become an integral part of nearly every church’s ministry programming, and youth ministries continue to have a profound impact on the societies in which they exist.

While youth organizations exist worldwide, the history section of this article will put a special focus on the development of youth ministry in America.

The beginnings of youth ministry were in the mid-19th century, in the wake of the industrial revolution. Churches took note of all the young men who moved into central urban areas to work in factories. Laypersons who noticed these young adults working six days a week and gallivanting about town on Sundays, aspired to educate them. Thus early youth ministry began when churches brought older children and teenagers into classrooms to teach them how to read the Bible. Early ministry was designed for unchurched children with no formal education; while the primary goal of early youth ministry was education, a desirable secondary effect was that students would realize through biblical passages that they are sinners in need of forgiveness.

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