sides
If you haven’t heard by now, let me help you get the rock that you’re living under off of you. Mark Oestreicher – lovingly referred to as “Marko” – was ‘released’ by Youth Specialties on Monday by Zondervan. I’ll pause a minute and let that sink in.
There’s much that isn’t known at this point. Why? Was this in the plans since day one when Zondervan bought YS? Did the trips to Michigan finally push Marko over the edge where he went through the Zondervan office threatening bodily harm to all suits with a rubber chicken? Will YS now be the newest addition to get your youth version Precious Moments? Does Zondervan have any clue what they’ve just done to themselves?
Here’s what I DO know – I hurt. I hurt for Marko and his family. I think he’s ‘deep’ enough, ‘mature’ enough to know that his value and importance are beyond the title and position he held at YS. Not that this lessens the pain at this moment. In the long run – he and his family are going to be just fine…better than fine.
I also know the reason so many youth workers loved YS because they knew they were getting a quality product that spoke to youth culture relevantly. YS was committed to ministering to the hearts of youth pastors and youthworkers. Not because it was a ministry plan but because people like Yac and Marko knew that relationships matter most, more than curriculum.
On the other side of the fence, Zondervan hasn’t published a relevant youth ministry book on their own in years. The “Big Boys” of Christian publishing have been irrelevant in student ministry for years. Graphically, subject wise, language, the vanilla-ness of it all. They still write for white, suburb, upper-middle class, non-divorced families that live in the south. Most of us haven’t noticed it or been bothered by it because of YS.
I wonder if that’s changed now. I wonder if the future of YS is really a “Back to the Future” for the rest of us. And to me this is the real tragedy of the week. I’m completely confident that Marko will find a place to land, to minister, to continue his impact on student ministry for the Kingdom. He’s not the loser here.
Zondervan are losers in this. Not that kind of loser…well…okay, that kind as well. They’ve lost/fired a prophetic voice for student ministry. In an arena where relational equity is everything, they just shoved that out the door and who knows when they’ll earn that back.
I wonder if the real losers in all of this mess is us. Will we get yet another few years of safe, irrelevant, vanilla curriculum from a company that is going to do its best to not offend anyone? Will we go ‘back to Egypt?’ Or will two crazy guys start making books in their garage again and on their Macs and start the revolution all over?
Here’s hoping that happens…again.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Chris // Oct 22, 2009 at 10:23 pm
…and your just the man for the job. Let me know if you need to borrow my folding machine.
2 Kurt // Oct 22, 2009 at 10:48 pm
The day Zondy bought YS the writing was on the wall. Sure, they said they would let YS be YS…but that rarely happens in the corporate world.
I didn’t always agree with everything YS did, but I loved them for pushing buttons and challenging us youthworkers to think, feel, try, dare, etc.
3 Zondervan, Marko & Me : Len Evans // Oct 23, 2009 at 2:09 am
[...] Grant wrote The McDonaldization of YS? [...]
4 Jim // Oct 23, 2009 at 4:12 am
One word..disappointing! Just like Lifeway books keeping books up on the shelves by authors whose theoligy has more hole that swiss cheese merely because they are good money makers. Makes me wonder if Christ was on earth today, would He jump in His cars and drive to every Lifeway location and start cleanin house. When making a buck is more important than speading the truth of the gospel, it’s time to close up shop. I know my comment wasn’t directly related to the story, but that was what was on my mind…..”and that’s all i got to say about that”…
5 Pam // Oct 23, 2009 at 8:19 am
Truly heartbreaking. Yep, Zondervan shot themselves in the foot with this move. And how on earth could the NYWC be even “more relevant, inspirational, and impactful” than it was already. It was such a top-notch conference. I am scared to think what it will look like now. *sigh*
6 Tragic Week for the cause of Youth Ministry « Youth Ministry Matters // Oct 23, 2009 at 11:24 am
[...] Thoughtful Blog on the subject [...]
7 Mark Allen // Oct 23, 2009 at 1:44 pm
It is us who lose, Zondervan has officially gotten rid of everything that was YS. Now it is just a brand for crappy materials to be published under. So sad.
Whatever Marko decides, we will be behind him.
8 lynn // Oct 29, 2009 at 8:37 pm
I hate to say it but where is the trust in “God” over all things that happen??? Where is the belief that God works “in spite” of humans (Zondervan)and their possible mistakes??? Maybe we all need to take another look at Romans 8:28 and actually put into practice what we teach our students…..
9 Grant // Oct 30, 2009 at 8:50 am
God does work all things out for good. Doesn’t mean that all things are good.
It also doesn’t mean that in the process of dealing with things we put on the ‘everything is going to be all right’ mask either.
I hope we teaching and modeling for students this aspect of life as well.
Leave a Comment