Danny Hinton: Rethinking Next-Generation Ministry

On this episode of The Bounce, Bob Lepine chats with Dr. Danny Hinton about his Ph.D. thesis on kids who remained committed to their faith after graduating high school and becoming disciple-makers. They discuss the current state of youth ministry, the importance of holistic development, and the need for churches to focus on equipping their existing congregation to spread their faith confidently. Dr. Hinton also mentions the Downline discipleship ministry, which has locations across the Midwest, and his unique challenge in finding churches and organizations that intentionally raise disciple-makers for his nationwide study. Additionally, they touch on the importance of apologetics, the role of parents vs. youth leaders in influencing young adults, and the challenges youth pastors face.

Danny Hinton is an experienced youth pastor who witnessed 75% of church kids abandoning their faith by the end of their freshman year in college. He discovered that those who remained faithful did so because of an extraordinary family or personal discipleship. Realizing that this wasn't enough, Danny started defining the end goal of youth ministry as developing authentic relationships with Christ, understanding theology, resisting philosophical movements, and becoming disciple-makers. He then set out to find 18 to 29-year-old disciple makers in America, which was a difficult task. Danny wanted to contribute to the scholarly conversation. After conducting extensive research, he found that the real win for youth ministry is producing disciple-makers who share the gospel and disciple younger believers.

Timestamped Overview

[00:03:42] Church youth leaving faith at alarming rates.

[00:07:38] Selected churches and organizations surveyed for discipleship study.

[00:11:01] Family discipleship is not correlated with disciple-making.

[00:15:36] Parents and living faith are influential in discipleship.

[00:18:39] Mom and youth leader most influential, evangelism lacking.

[00:21:51] Measuring authentic faith; launching point for adults.

[00:25:09] Non-believers challenge church youth, meet a mentor.

[00:30:17] Unlikely connections shape children's faith communities.

[00:33:40] Apologetics is theology in practice.

[00:39:02] Program focuses on equipping kids for ministry.

[00:44:35] Tethering salvation to a tree brings growth.

[00:47:07] Small group discusses passing on faith.

[00:49:05] Fascinating conversation promoting lifelong discipleship.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

1. The Great Commission Collective (GCC): https://gccollective.org

2. Downline: https://www.downlinelittlerock.com/