what is youth ministry?

I was a Lutheran youth a few years ago.  My congregation had a small youth group. We did stuff together. We had a youth room with old couches in it.  We went to youth events.  We played games and occasionally read the bible and prayed.  We had fun.  As a youth, I taught Sunday school and vacation bible school to younger kids. Congregational youth ministry formed me as a Lutheran Christian and influenced my calling to become a pastor.  I do not write this today to disparage the good youth ministry that congregations are doing.  I write to encourage congregations that do not think they have youth or youth ministry anymore.
As an adult, I have led youth groups.  I have been a youth camp counselor. In my first call as a pastor, I served a large Lutheran congregation in youth ministry. We had fun.  What I discovered, though, was a problem. Congregation-based youth ministry is costly.  It can be exhausting and frustrating.  You plan an event only to have it overshadowed by several other local youth activities; sports, dances, band, etc...You try to get spiritual with kids and they mentally check out. When you're together, the fellowship is fun. But consistency and the constant need to "entertain" in order to garner attention and commitment can make a youth worker feel like their spinning their wheels.  Congregational youth ministry can be amazing.  I know some outstanding youth ministers doing bold formation work with kids.  But the stakes are getting higher as we realize how alienated emerging generation of youth are from church culture. So few teens and twenty-somethings are connected/committed to churches; some polls say less than 20% consider themselves affiliated with a religious group. We all know that the fastest growing religious category in the U.S. is the "nones". So what do we do?

3 things I learned from Jesus today and a last thing

I am a believer.  I read the bible daily.  Sometimes I learn.  Sometimes I don't.  I am a Pastor of a Lutheran church.  I gather a small group of adults together to pray and listen to the bible on Tuesdays.  We are not flashy.  It is not entertainment.  We are not trying to be relevant or attract a crowd.  We are trying to live faithfully, like God matters to us.
I read from the Gospel of Luke today.  It was a short passage from the fifth chapter of a gospel we started reading in December.  It said this:  "Once when Jesus was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy.  When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord if you choose, you can make me clean."  The Jesus, stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I do choose.  Be made clean." And immediately the leprosy left him.  And he ordered him to tell no one.  "Go,"he said, "and show yourself to the priest, and as Moses commanded, make an offering for your cleansing, for a testimony to them."  But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases.  but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray. (Gospel of Luke 5:12-16.)
I think it is unfortunate that a bible story like this one is not better known.  There is something in there for everyone, believer or unbeliever. This is what I learned today: