One of the most frequently asked questions is, what are the differences between Youth EE and the adult version? Youth EE is best described as more “user friendly” for young people. While the basic outline has not been changed, the wording, style, transitions, and illustrations have been altered to be more appropriate to the normal discourse of a student.

There has been a great deal of research and writing about the Baby Boomers, Busters, Generation-X’ers and Millenium crowd. Youth Pastors would serve their ministries well to learn the dynamics of the youth culture. Originally the EE Gospel Presentation was written at a time when Baby Boomers were very young. Most people held onto certain presuppositions and had a distinct predisposition towards Christianity that enabled EE to be effective. However, younger generations of people are growing up in a culture that views Christianity in a different way. It therefore would be reasonable that we carefully examine how we present the Gospel today versus 20 years ago. Youth EE attempts to do that. Although the basic Gospel, which is a timeless truth, has not changed from Adult EE, many sections and ways of making points of the Gospel have been revised.

A good analogy might be the difference between a traditional and a contemporary service. Some people, and many of those are from an older generation and perspective, prefer the traditional approach to worship. On the other hand, the growth of contemporary services has been remarkable in our culture. Although there are both strong and weaker examples of both kinds of worship, the point is, one speaks more effectively to some people and the other to another crowd. In the same way, the EE Gospel Presentation is a proven tool for effectively sharing the Gospel, and the Youth EE adaptation, like the contemporary service, speaks in terms and a language that is more “user friendly” for many.

Here are two examples of differences between Youth EE and Adult EE:

1. Compare the transitional statements between the “Man” and “God” sections of the Gospel presentation, where the nature of sin is continued by an examination of God’s character:

A. Adult transition: “This comes into sharper focus when we look at what the Bible says about God”.

B. Youth transition: “There must be a completely different way, God’s way”

2. The “omelet” illustration is substituted in the Youth presentation. Few young people would ever make an omelet for a friend. Many do not even know what an omelet is! The Youth presentation uses an example of getting straight “A’s” and being on the honor role, compared to getting one “D” and missing the honor roll.

Youth EE is not intended to be some sort of “dumbed down” version of the standard Adult EE presentation, using language that would only be appropriate for young children. Nor is it written in some sort of “hip” adolescent vernacular. Rather, it is simply less formal, and seeks to express the Gospel using phrases and a style that younger people would find comfortable.

Because the basic EE Outline is not compromised, the transition from Youth EE to the adult version, when needed, is easily made. One of the goals of Youth EE is to develop from the ranks of young people, future church leaders who will be equipped to train others in EE wherever they may go as adults.

Our office looks forward to being able to assist you in any way we can in equipping the young people of your church youth group for evangelism. I can think of no greater challenge! Please contact us and let us know how we may serve you.

Grateful for your partnership in the Gospel,