Tuesday 7th November 2006
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Young people attending a Youth Alpha course, photo Alpha UK |
We know that the youth of today are the congregation of our churches tomorrow. Yet as parishes we often seem paralysed with inaction on the issue. And it’s getting serious. Sally Jarman looks at one of the ways of engaging with youthful spirituality, and hears from churches that have bravely gone where others fear to tread.
The big issue
In the 1990s, around 1,000 under-15s a week stopped attending church. A whole generation of children are now being born to parents who either lost interest in church, or never went at all. If this trend continues our parish churches simply won’t survive.
In Peter Brierley’s book ‘Reaching and Keeping Tweenagers’ 87 per cent of 10-14 year olds surveyed said they thought church was boring. And perhaps it is. Even churches that offer Sunday clubs often falter in enthusiasm and ideas for the over 10s, leaving them adrift in the wider congregation.
It’s tempting to look at large churches such as Soul Survivor, overflowing with eager, youthful members and energetic leaders, and think that nothing we can do could match that. But if we do nothing we are missing an opportunity to offer young people local, Christian community in their lives. Somewhere they can belong within God’s family. in already familiar surroundings. A great start to adulthood. And if they feel at home, perhaps they’ll stay.
But, where to start? In small churches, particularly, it can be daunting contemplating youth activities. Human resources might be thin on the ground and, anyway, are they cool or hi-tech enough for teenagers?
One way to start might be to offer a chance for young people, churchgoers or not, to explore their spirituality together. One conclusion from Peter Brierley’s study of tweenagers is that they love a gang, and love meeting and interacting with people. So that’s a good start.
Youth Alpha and Youth Emmaus are two ready-prepared courses that churches can tap into. The fact that the structure is already there makes it easier to organise, and the course can be held anywhere, from the church hall to a cafe or someone’s house.
As well as exploring the many questions young people have in a non-threatening environment, it offers the opportunity to find out where, if anywhere, they would like to go next on their journey in faith.
Why Bother?
‘I’m a great believer in Youth Emmaus and Youth Alpha as a framework for engaging with young people! Recent important pieces of research by Phil Rankin and Bob and Sylvia Mayo (‘Buried Spirituality’ and ‘Making sense of Generation Y’) have discovered that, for so many young people, their spirituality is buried and unexplored.
Plenty of people have told them what to think, what to believe (and they’ve often rejected religion on this basis), but rarely have they had chance to think, explore and articulate what they’ve experienced of God, faith and spirituality.
Courses such as Youth Emmaus and Youth Alpha offer a great chance to do just that. They provide some guidance, a framework for discussion and exploration, fun and the ‘how to’ bit of being with a group of young people.
As Marc Yaconelli so rightly says: ‘Anyone who befriends young people knows they’re people of spirit – people drawn to song, dance, story and silence”
Running a Youth Alpha or Youth Emmaus course can be great fun for those taking part and for those organising it. Creating a place to eat and talk together, to explore spirituality, to laugh, to question and to think with teenagers is a great adventure and privilege.
A word of warning though! Running one of these programmes will mean that your faith will be challenged and stretched by the questions of young people, you will learn and grow in the process. And so might your church.’
Ian Macdonald is the Youth Adviser for the Diocese of Oxford.
More information on page 2:
A view from churches who have tried it ...
page 3:
Where can I get Youth Alpha and Youth Emmaus ...?
Top tips for youth courses ...