YPT in Action: Charles Hedman
We like to talk about the importance of theological depth in youth ministry - but what does that actually look like? YPT is not promoting a one-size-fits-all approach to youth ministry. Instead, we want to encourage youth workers to be anchored in the biblical essentials while practicing wise contextualization in their particular setting. “YPT in Action” will be an ongoing series where youth workers in a variety of contexts answer the same questions so we can learn from one another.
Name: Charles Hedman
Church/Ministry: Capitol Hill Baptist Church (Ministry name: Project 3:8)
Title: Associate Pastor
How long have you served in this ministry: 8 years
How long have you served in vocational ministry overall: 13 years
Ministry Setting: Washington, DC
Average Church Attendance: 900
Average Youth Group Attendance: 50
Age range of students in ministry: 7th-12th grades
What are your regularly-scheduled youth ministry programs?
Our ministry has four key components:
Friday night gatherings: These gatherings are the core of our ministry. We meet three Fridays a month. Twice per month, we have “teaching night” which entails large group teaching as described below along with small group breakout sessions for further application. Once per month, we take the kids off campus for a fun event and to build fellowship.
Youth Core Seminars: Each quarter, we offer a youth core seminar which focuses on a topical lesson from the Bible. We have offered seminars on such things as dating, friendships, comparative religions, music, technology, and many more. I keep these seminars to 4-6 week increments to keep interest high.
Retreats: Twice per year, we put on an off-campus retreat for our youth. They are 40-hour retreats with 3 talks and plenty of fun.
Discipling Relationships: We work to get each student in the ministry into a discipling relationship with at least one member of our church.
How would you describe your teaching style in youth group (preaching, teaching, discussion leading… and how long do you usually teach for)
I have a teaching style with a discussion focus as I try elicit students’ thoughts socratically. I teach for approximately 35-40 minutes leading the students expositionally through a text of Scripture. I use an iPad with the Scripture text on it and project the screen onto a large television much like John Piper’s series called “Look at the Book.”
What are some recent series you’ve taught through, and how many weeks long were they?
This has looked different each of my 8 years at CHBC. We took 4 years to go through the Gospel of John verse-by-verse. The next two years were spent going through the book of Acts in the same way. The following year, we took a year to do more of a biblical theology study of the Old Testament, picking and choosing specific passages in the Old Testament and connecting them with the New Testament and Christ. This year, we are spending the entire year going through Romans, chapter 8. My goal is to vary the scope of the text that we are looking at, so that the kids can understand how to read both big and small pieces of Scripture and fit things together with the biblical storyline.
YPT obviously values teaching theology and doctrine in our ministry to students. What does that look like for you?
I value a teaching philosophy that incorporates biblical theology, systematic theology, hermeneutics, and general biblical studies. By the time our students have engaged in the ministry for four years, they will have a very good understanding of how to read their Bible and how to fit the pieces of the Bible together systematically.
How do you seek to partner with parents?
We offer parenting seminars each year, instructing the parents on how to raise, connect with, and teach the Bible to their teenagers. I also provide parents with follow-up discussion questions each week that are meant to build upon the lesson taught in the youth group meeting. Additionally, we try to provide parents with book resources that allow them to grow in their parenting abilities. And, of course, communication with the parents is paramount. We do this through a weekly newsletter.
How do you seek to integrate students into the life of the church?
We do this primarily through discipling relationships. It is my goal to have every student in the ministry discipled by at least one member of our church.
What are some of the books you think every youth worker would benefit from reading? (don’t just choose all youth ministry books, but don’t only choose theology books either. Highlight 3-5 books with one sentence each about why you’re recommending it.)
Thoughts for Young Men (JC Ryle): Ryle provides the young Christian with a manual on the Christian life replete with warnings, exhortations, and instruction about this life's many trials, temptations, and common pitfalls.
Big God: How to Approach Suffering, Spread the Gospel, Make Decisions and Pray in the Light of a God Who Really is in the Driving Seat of the World (Orlando Saer): Saer uses biblical theology to demonstrate that the God of the universe is bigger than we perceive Him to be.
Becoming Elisabeth Elliot (Ellen Vaughn): A remarkable biography of one of the most remarkable Christian woman of the last century—what shaped her convictions, forged her faith, and honed an unyielding passion to win souls for Christ.
Hudson Taylor: Gospel Pioneer to China (Vance Christie): A short but powerful account of the life of a man who was truly great in the Kingdom of God.
What are some particular issues/struggles that your students/families encounter that may not be prominent in other ministry contexts? How does that affect the shape of your ministry?
If a student attends a public school in DC, they will likely be the only Christian or the only one who comes from a Christian family. It is very dark in Washington, DC. That presents a host of challenges and opportunities for our students.
What’s one thing that you do in your ministry that could be easily-adapted for others? (probably an event for students or parents or a way to help foster intergenerational relationships in the church, but could be anything you think is helpful to recommend)
I think our intentional fostering of discipling relationships in the church is paramount and something to be replicated by all churches. Relationships are critical to students’ growth and, as the culture disciples our students, we want to counteract Satan’s measures by discipling students through the members of God’s church.
Update (answering a commonly-asked question since publishing this interview): How do you set up your iPad to teach as described above?
What I do is plug an iPad into the back of a large screen television using a long cord or simply “mirror” the screen from my iPad onto the screen (if a newer screen). I use the website Scripture Mark from Blue Letter Bible which allows me to pull up various passages. On the screen, there are options to mark up the text using an Apple pen. You can choose different colors and even draw boxes, circles, or arrows between words as well as use the pen to write on the text itself.