Relational Discipleship in Ministry with Youth
Mapping the past, confronting the gaps, shaping the future.
This white paper offers a comprehensive assessment of the current landscape of youth discipleship, with a particular focus on the practice and promise of relational ministry. Drawing from an interdisciplinary network of scholars and practitioners, it synthesizes empirical research, theological reflection, and contextual analysis to examine how trust-based relationships serve as the primary context for faith formation in an era marked by institutional disaffiliation and cultural fragmentation.
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The paper identifies enduring strengths and emerging gaps in both the literature and practice of youth ministry, including the under-representation of marginalized voices. Rather than prescribing uniform solutions, this report serves as a framework for discerning how relational approaches to discipleship can be adapted, evaluated, and scaled across diverse ministry ecosystems.
In 2025, TENx10 invited Future of Faith to lead a clear, practice-oriented look at the scholarship around relational discipleship. That work produced Relational Discipleship in Ministry with Youth, a white paper prepared by Future of Faith with the TENx10 Research Advisory Board. The project traces how relational approaches have grown across diverse communities, identifies what still gets missed, and lays out concrete moves that help ministries build trust, belonging, and shared leadership with young people. Future of Faith exists to make research usable for real ministry contexts. We synthesize evidence, listen well in the field, and translate insights into tools leaders can put to work this week. Questions or feedback? Email hello@futureoffaith.org.