Wow, already a few weeks into a new decade and still grappling with how we make the Gospel relevant to this generation of young people. It is a challenge, but let's not forget that it is God who builds. Recently I was with a youth worker where they are seeing young people come to faith at their Drop In Centre. Young people have started coming to the team prayer meetings - I'm not talking here about Christian kids, these are some who just feel at home in the place. During the prayer time which consisted of people from 4 different churches in the town one young man dropped to his knees in tears. He talked of an experience where this ‘man' in white sat next to him, he didn't know who it was but he felt so relaxed with him. The ‘man' touched the young persons head and he saw all sorts of bad things he'd done flash before him. The ‘man' took his hand away and it was like they'd all gone. This young person has never been to church, had no clue who the man in white might be, but is changed by this experience. Yes, now there is the important role of journeying with him and helping him to understand who the man in white is, but sometimes we need to give God space to work. It is good to remind ourselves that God chooses us, but he needs us to not get in the way!
Having spent so much time visiting and meeting with people to start conversations I felt it was important that I developed priorities that reflected some of the key issues that were raised.
The Youth Service Strategy for the next 3 years is now in use and already I am making contact with a range of people to take some of these forward. My focus is in 5 areas:
To provide parishes with a theological framework and practical ways of engaging young people in the context of mission.
To provide support to parishes to undertake ministry with young people.
To provide and support events and opportunities where young people can gather, grow and give out.
These are then influenced by the processes of Leadership & management and Communications.
Do download the Youth Service Strategy summary which is available on this site.
I would value ongoing comments and discussions from and with people, and am excited that the original conversations started at the beginning of the year have led to a number of ongoing dialogue where new ideas and initiatives are developing.
September 2009: It has been great during the first half of 2009 to be visiting so many deaneries and parishes. Part of that was working alongside John Kiddle - very biblical going out in 2's!
People were very open to sharing about their situation, their stories, dreams and issues. It was a real privilege to sit and talk with people over many days. My apologies for the mid afternoon slots when I think I might have nodded off once or twice - again the value of travelling in 2's!
So what did we get out of it, what difference will it make? I got loads and I know John did too. We are working on a summary at the moment which we want to get round as soon as possible. It is a challenge to produce something that is helpful but not so long that no-one will read it.
One of the key questions I have been left with is how do we really become more missional in our parishes? We are good, in the main, at pastoring the children and young people who are there, but we do not generally step outside the church and engage with young people. Even those churches that are doing a great job at engaging with their communities are often not hitting it off in terms of young people. I suppose one of my questions is ‘What does missional youth work look like in a parish?' So often we respond by setting up a project which allows everything else to go on as before. The issues of how we engage young people into the life of the church remain largely untouched; we need a major paradigm shift; a change in thinking so that we become, by nature missional - more concerned with sharing Jesus to people outside - than just focussing on keeping it how we like it on the inside.
We need the balance of outward and inward; we need the discipleship and nurture but we also need the challenge and commitment. Do you know of places where this is working? I need to hear stories, we need examples to learn from, to work through and encourage others to engage. Taking a leap into the unknown is difficult, if we can learn from other people's experiences, then that leap doesn't feel quite so big.
Post your thoughts, examples, whatever here for a conversation on this strand.
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I agree with you whole-heartedly. The term that is knocked about all over the place is ‘Mission-shaped Church’, but more often than not this has been skewed to become safer for those of us in churches, and we work under a ‘Church-Shaped Mission’ which is so fundamentally different.
Jesus tells us to in the world but not of it. That doesn’t mean locked away in our churches praying that God will change the world for us. Instead He sent us out to ‘make disciples of all nations’ to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless, and love our neighbours. Surely the key is meeting young people where they are and instead of bringing them back to church with us, we stay where they are, taking the love of Jesus with us. Jesus ate, spent time, chilled out in other peoples homes not take them back to His place for them to see what He was about. Jesus is as relevant in the vast array of cultures young people live in, as in our churches. I think we just need to pray about how God wants us to do it, step out of the boat and trust that God goes with us, preparing the way ahead, and that with Him we can ‘walk on that water.’ Be prepared for God’s heart for the poor, the lost, the broken to shape our hearts and our idea of ‘church.’
By Jaming on 2009 09 11