If you’ve only just joined this blog series, I would thoroughly recommend having a read through the original blog by Martin Saunders which kick-started this series a few months ago, and all of the fascinating comments from youth workers underneath.
Re-reading this blog, I think it’s fair to say the following: most of us agree that there is a problem. There is a rumbling feeling among those of us in youth work circles that what we are doing isn’t working; the old paradigms of youth ministry are creaking under the rapidly changing climate of youth culture. The harbingers of doom are declaring that young people are leaving the Church at an alarming rate, and that we are in very grave danger of disengaging an entire generation from Christianity. The statistics would suggest decline, from the traditional institutional church at least.
I think there are a few points to make off the back of this.
1. Don’t worry. I don’t think our response to a projected decline should be one of anxiety. In his powerful book Contemplative Youth Ministry, the Godfather of youth work Mark Yaconelli tells the story of his first venture into youth work, and how he rapidly became burned out. He was slaving away, desperately trying to meet the needs of every young person in his midst, to no great effect. These are his reflections:
‘Looking back, it’s easy to see that this whirlwind of effort wasn’t really about the Christian life. Although I believed I was trying to help young people discover Jesus’ way of love, in reality I was more worried about meeting expectations. Thus the focus of my ministry wasn’t God’s love, but rather the anxiety and expectations of myself and the other adults in the church.
Sadly this kind of anxiety is a common motivator within western Christianity, often masking itself as spiritual passion. It is a driven-ness to perform, an obsession with results, a concentration on goals and outcomes that discounts the ordinary graces and small cries for mercy inhabiting our daily lives. Our anxiety-filled ministries expose an unspoken belief that God is utterly untrustworthy, that God’s impotence has forced us to take responsibility for the souls of young people ourselves.’
I have certainly felt burdened by the weight of responsibility of ‘making young people Christians’ before. Maybe you can identify with this. This can feel even more overwhelming when we project our context onto a national scale, and feel that somehow we youth workers must save every young person in the UK. This is a burden we were never meant to carry; it is not our responsibility to turn the tide on ‘young people leaving the church’. If we set out with this agenda – we will fail. It is God’s work to sustain his church, so the pressure on us is off.
What should we do then? Put up our feet while the world goes to pot? Nay! And now for my second reflection…
2. Most of us agree that it’s time to innovate, and that a solution is possible. Reading through the contributions under that original blog, and in the many blogs since, (particularly Phil Knox’s here - got a lot of love for Phil’s optimism) I don’t get the feeling that the youth work community is on the brink of giving up. We agree that we might need to reimagine some things, and in some areas go back to the drawing board, but I see increased commitment, not hopelessness or apathy. There is an openness to innovation, and a desire to see it happen in practice.
In order to innovate, we need to get a handle on the situation. And I’m not just talking numbers of young people in churches or attending youth groups, but real in-depth analysis of what we are doing, why we are doing it, and why it is or isn’t working. Sure, young people might be leaving the church, but are they joining other less known about churches? If they are leaving the church, is it due to a lack of faith or is their faith intact? What does the faith of young people who remain in church look like? What kind of faith are we growing? Is there a faithful remnant of young people remaining in churches, more dedicated, more committed, and more passionate about God than ever before…?
At Youthscape we are about to launch the Youthscape Centre for Research, to ask exactly these questions. We want to discover how it is that we can better engage with young people in this time and place, and foster faith in this generation. We need youth workers all over the UK to get involved with what we are doing in order to help us paint an in-depth picture of our work with young people and to inform innovation and strategy. Please, please get involved – we desperately need your wisdom and insight! You can sign up here.
There are many other individuals and groups out there already having these conversations and doing interesting work. The guys over at The Table (a collaboration between CYM, CMS, Streetspace and FYT) are having conversations with anyone and everyone who wants to be involved (see http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-table-cooking-from-scratch-tickets-14726847397 for more info) and Concrete is rallying youth workers to reflect deeply on their work. In the secular youth work world the Centre for Youth Impact has been established to develop theories of change, and models for evidencing change to funders.
Don’t give up friends. And don’t lose hope. Youth work is so so challenging, but there is exciting stuff afoot. Get involved with any or all of the above – and let’s see what we can dream up together!
Phoebe Thompson is head of research at Youthscape, consulting editor of Premier Youthwork and currently studying an MA in Systematic Theology at Kings College London. To find out more about the work of Youthscape – visit Youthscape.co.uk. To talk more to Phoebe – Tweet her @phoebethompson_
