Which is better: Breadth or Depth?

Breadth Depth1

This fall in my youth ministry, we did a series on the attributes of God based on words that teens use to describe God that may or may not actually be accurate.

The last week of this series we discussed how, if at all, God resembles a genie. Doing so gave us the perfect opportunity to discuss prayer, something we talk about surprisingly little in our youth ministry.

All too aware of this, during this particular lesson, in order to try give teens an overview of prayer, I chose breadth rather than depth. As a result, we explored at least a dozen different Scripture passages on prayer, doing brief fly-bys over each, designed simply to acquaint teens with what the Bible says about prayer.

Afterward, as my adult leaders and I processed the night, a few expressed their frustration over the lack of depth in our conversation. You see, by skimming the surface of lots of passages, we were unable to dig deeply into any of them.

Of course, I made that choice intentionally.

Nevertheless, it came with at least two costs.

Read the rest of this article here. 

Jen Bradbury on Youth Ministry

Jen serves as the Minister of Youth and Family at Atonement Lutheran Church in Barrington, Illinois. A veteran youth worker, Jen holds an MA in Youth Ministry Leadership from Huntington University. Jen is the author of The Jesus Gap: What Teens Actually Believe about Jesus (The Youth Cartel), The Real Jesus (The Youth Cartel), Unleashing the Hidden Potential of Your Student Leaders (Abingdon), and A Mission That Matters (Abingdon). Her writing has also appeared in YouthWorker Journal, Immerse, and The Christian Century. Jen is also the Assistant Director of Arbor Research Group where she has led many national studies. When not doing ministry or research, she and her husband, Doug, and daughter, Hope, can be found traveling and enjoying life together.

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A Mission That Matters: How To Do Short-Term Missions Without Long-Term Harm

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Unleashing the Hidden Potential of your Student Leaders

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The Real Jesus

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The Jesus Gap

What Teens Actually Believe About Jesus

Based on National Research

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