YPT in Action: Vince Greenwald
We like to talk about the importance of theological depth in youth ministry - but what does that actually look like? YPT isn’t 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.
Name: Vince Greenwald
Church/Ministry: Immanuel Church
Title: Assistant Pastor
Location: Nashville, TN
Ministry Setting: Urban/City
How long have you served in this ministry: 5 Years
Average Church Attendance: 1050
Average Youth Group Attendance: 85
Age range of students in ministry: 10-18 years old
What are your ministry's regularly scheduled programs over the course of a month?
Our students have three weekly touchpoints, ranked in order:
1. The corporate worship gathering
2. Wednesday night "city groups"(disciple groups that meet at the church)
3. Sunday morning seminar (classroom-style teaching broken up into 5th-6th graders and 7th-12th graders)
Are there any retreats/camps or other special events that are semi-regular or annual features of your ministry?
Fall retreat - Early in the semester, we take a retreat together. The goal is for students to hear the gospel preached and have a blast together, relationally connecting with their groups on the front end of the year!
Winter Disciple Now Conference - The last weekend in February, we lead a disciple now conference with a few other area churches. Our small groups stay in host homes. It's cheap, easy, fun, and our most attended overnight event of the year.
Middle School EDGE conference - We go to a smaller Reformed middle school conference called the EDGE in Chattanooga. The teaching is awesome, the environment is fun, and middle schoolers have an amazing time. Most friendships in our youth group start at the EDGE.
High School Retreat - We've had a hard time getting high schoolers excited about camp lately, so we've opted towards a local missions project
What does "Youth Group" look like in your ministry?
Youth group looks like our students being fully engaged in the life of Immanuel Nashville. Towards that end, we provide two weekly opportunities for gospel + safety + time to happen. These are a supplement to the regular ministry of Immanuel Church, not a substitution. Teenagers don't need different. They just need more.
How would you describe your teaching style in youth group?
We teach on Wednesday nights in small groups. I prepare a leader guide that walks through the passage and how to teach it. We look at every text and ask four questions: What does this teach us about God? What does this teach us about people? Where do we see the gospel in this passage? How can we respond to this passage in obedience?
We teach in small groups because it stretches students' attention spans. When it's interactive and intimate, kids who space out during sermons are often able to stay engaged longer.
What are some recent series you’ve taught through, and how many weeks long were they?
During our Sunday seminar this past year, we went through the new city catechism. It was a great exposure to systematic theology for our students, who normally focus on a few verses at a time. On Wednesday nights, we went through Romans this past spring.
YPT obviously values teaching theology and doctrine in our ministry to students. What does that look like for you?
It's in everything we do. We don't do fluffy stuff in youth group. We hang out before and after and have a blast together. But when we're studying or teaching, we're getting after it. Work hard, play hard!
How do you prioritize partnering with parents?
We try to prioritize friendship with parents. In a crisis, when things get hard, I want parents to know the leaders, and I want them to know me. I think this is built through regular communication but even more through a hundred tiny conversations. Texts and quick check-ins at church are so important. I try to avoid making partnering with parents too formulaic or impersonal.
How do you integrate students into the life of the church?
We don't do anything that takes students out of the church and we try to do everything to send them into the broader church. We especially encourage serving in different areas of the church, and we build downtime into Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights so that mingling can happen.
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?
Our student ministry draws from 30+ schools. Our students are very spread out. Connecting on the front end is hard because students don't bring any friendships into the student ministry. Overnight camps really address this.
What are some of the books you think every youth worker would benefit from reading?
You're Not Crazy by Ray Ortlund Jr. and Sam Allberry
Knowing God by JI Packer (YPT book review here)
The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson
Lead Them to Jesus by Mike McGarry
Anything that Rooted Ministry publishes or posts