All Issues articles – Page 67
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IssuesLasting Discipleship
With the numbers of 18-30s in our churches at an all-time low, what does that tell us about the effectiveness of youth ministry? Jo Derry asks experts and practitioners how we can think beyond the teenage years, and invest in young people now to encourage their long-term spiritual growth.
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IssuesNine ways to respond to teenagers mourning the loss of One Direction
After whispers and rumours for weeks, last night the news finally broke: One Direction are going on a break. Obviously this is the biggest thing to happen to the world of youth culture in a long time; fortunately, Jamie Cutteridge is on hand with some advice…
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IssuesStephen Hawking speaks out on One Direction
Professor Stephen Hawking speaking at the Sydney Opera House, responding to a journalist’s question about Zayn leaving One Direction. This might be the year’s most crucial piece of youth ministry advice.
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IssuesOne Direction
One Direction caused a row this month, when parents of a school in Ireland asked the school to change the date of its First Communion,
as it clashed with the band’s concert. -
IssuesDigital Etiquette
A teenager’s online world has its own standards – many of which can strike us as alarmingly detached from acceptable off-line behaviour. Youthwork’s journalist Phoebe Thompson examines the internet code of honour, and offers some practical suggestions for your engagement with teens online.
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IssuesCan you dig it?
I have this exit strategy in my head. It goes something like this: ‘If it all comes crashing down, I’ll grab the family (and the Mac), jump on the nearest train and head to a static caravan on the Island of Iona where I’ll live off wild rhubarb and the sound of monk’s chanting.’ Foolproof.
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IssuesDo Gap Years Make A Difference?
Many of us have sent young people off on gap years to various corners of the UK and the whole world with the best of intentions, but what are they achieving? Do gap years change the lives of the people they claim to serve, or are they a self-indulgent vanity project? Youthwork editor Phoebe Thompson speaks to the people who make those trips happen to find out.
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IssuesReal life: ‘Two of my friends died’
In 2015 I had just become a youth leader at a church in South East England, after moving there for university from the Midlands. I was six hours away from home, and the expense of getting back only made the distance feel further. This was one of the biggest steps of faith I have taken in my 22 years of life.
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IssuesDiscussion: The Diary of a Teenage Girl
This summer’s release of The Diary of a Teenage Girl received both critical acclaim and a degree of worry. The film was a hit with the reviewers, but its depiction of a relationship between a 15 and a 35-year-old also drew criticism. Simon Bass from CCPAS told Premier Youthwork:
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IssuesYoung People and Personal Devotion
50% of young people who identify as Christians don’t read their Bible more than once a month.
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IssuesThe Youth Work Lab: Faith Development
Welcome to the Youth Work Lab: the place where key youth work theories are tried and tested by on-the-ground practitioners. Each month, the team from StreetSpace selects and explores a piece of youth work theory, and puts it to the test in creative and pioneering ways
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IssuesRE ‘lacks Intellectual development’
The teaching of Christianity in schools has been labelled ‘incoherent’ and ‘too stereotypical’ by an academic leading a project to improve RE lessons. Dr Nigel Fancourt of Oxford University said that lessons can lack ‘intellectual development’. Dr Fancourt’s comments came after a poll which showed support for teaching Christianity in schools.
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IssuesRE ‘Lacks Intellectual Development’
The teaching of Christianity in schools has been labelled ‘incoherent’ and ‘too stereotypical’ by an academic leading a project to improve RE lessons.
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Issues
Revelation - Episode VII - The Final Destination
In the final instalment of his epic series on Revelation, Steve Griffiths takes us back to the very beginning with one simple reminder: it’s all
about God. -
IssuesSpiritual Gifts, Group Size, Defining Sin
Our experts answer your questions on Children’s and Families ministry.
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IssuesReady-to-use Mentoring: Faith and Deeds
Last month a friend of mine posted a comment online about how much pain he was in from a persistent knee problem. I knew he wasn’t a Christian but felt compassion for him and had faith that God could heal his knee.
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IssuesTraining numbers decline
Evidence from research into student numbers on Christian youth ministry courses in the UK has indicated that there has been a slow decline over the last five years. In September 2011, there were 623 students but by September 2015, there were 536, a fall of 14 per cent. When combining undergraduate and postgraduate courses, there was an interesting rise in postgraduate students in 2015. The UK Christian Youth Work Consortium has been collecting the numbers of students on such courses for the last five years.
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IssuesPope Francis speaks up for young people at World Youth Day
Pope Francis’s visit to Brazil for World Youth Day 2013 saw him encourage millions of young people.
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IssuesSpecial day games
In the last few games columns, I’ve asked you to think back to games you played as kids which you definitely should not play anymore. Thank you for sending in suggestions, and it gives me great pleasure to announce the top five:
