What's On The Menu? Food In Youth Ministry

The super bowl is right around the corner. Parties have been planned, pizza’s ordered, and crates of Mountain Dew have been stockpiled for weeks. Yes, I believe that spending $250 dollars on Mountain dew is a perfectly justifiable ministry expense. Your jr. high adult volunteers might kill you later but at least you’ll have enough fuel to get you through the super bowl party and then some. With this annual celebration right around the corner I want to talk about an experience that I had as a youth pastor and some follow up with some thoughts that you might want to consider before your students come to your event.

It was the super bowl. I had planned a gathering for my ministry. I had sent out my invitations and asked students to bring money for pizza. Papa Johns would be coming and I couldn’t wait to dip my crust in the warm garlic dipping sauce. Yum! Twenty-four hours before the event would be held I would get two emails from parents who were strong advocates for healthy living in the church. They were not friendly emails. One accused me of poisoning the bodies of our youth with pizza. Yep, you heard me right. I was accused of poisoning them. The final result was the concession of having a veggie tray in the middle of the table. I felt like I was brokering a deal and that lawyers needed to be involved. I must admit, I rolled my eyes at the entire thing and thought that their personal passions took the issue way further than it needed to go. And by the way, no students ate any veggies. So it ended up being a waste in my mind. However…

Fast forward to now. I’ll still have pizza at a super bowl party but I’m also going to partake of the veggie tray. Why? Historically, youth ministry has been fueled by sugar, carbs, sugar, carbs, meat, more sugar, and carbs. Fueled to the point where I’d like to see a study that measures the affects of a youth ministry lifestyle in correlation with adult-onset diabetes. Is there a connection? I’m not honestly sure, however I think we as youth leaders can make smarter choices about what we put in front of our students. It’s important for our students to not only see the Word of God being poured into our lives but also see healthy habits and choices being made as well. I’m not saying that the whole table needs to be filled with a spread from Whole Foods and Organic everything. There’s a good chance that your students might not come if you do that. However, you’re in charge aren’t you? The example and standards that you set up will make an impression and impact on your students.

Also keep in mind that more students are aware of what they are putting in their bodies. 1 in 3 of the students in your ministry have some type of food allergy. To plan a menu for a youth gathering and only consider sugar, carbs, and fat is not really going to cut it with these future generations of students. Think outside the box when it comes to these gatherings. Make sure you take into account the various needs of your students. Be an excellent host or hostess as you invite those in the community to come to your events. So ask yourself before kickoff, “What’s on the menu?”