FIVES CRIES OF YOUTH

Merton P. Strommen wrote a book in 1974 entitled: Five Cries of Youth, published by Harper & Row, that was based on self-reports from a 420-item survey of over 7,000 churched and unchurched teenagers. The Five Cries were:

1. Self-Hatred (loneliness)
What is needed here is friendship ministry where the self-esteem of youth is developed though the warmth and friendship found in small groups.

2. Psychological Orphans (family trouble)
What is needed is family ministry where parents are helped to love each other, to establish a climate of trust and to communicate with their teenagers; and where ministry has a family approach that creates support groups in which friendship skills can be developed.

3. Social Protest (outrage)
What is needed here are social ministries where youth can serve people in their communities, be trained to be a friend to the lonely and rejected, make changes in their schools, and grow in their concern for others.

4. Prejudiced (closed minds)
What is needed here are educational ministries - to confront stereotypes, stimulate reflection and clarify the trust of God’s grace.

5. Joyous (joy)
What is needed here is church ministry where youth in the body can be committed to find their identify in God (personal) with others (through activities) and with themselves (where they can grow).

He says: “The cries which underlie the self-reports of 7,050 representative youth challenge the adequacy of a youth ministry that is all evangelism, all social involvement, all socializing activities, or all doctrinal instruction. They posit five basic needs or value-orientations, requiring five distinct accents in a youth ministry.” (preface, page xvi).

The commitment level model stresses the need to target ministry at all levels of spiritual growth - so evangelism, social interaction, basic follow-up, discipleship, social action and leadership development are all targeted.