Although in my life I have worked with many young people through my (mostly paid) jobs as a school’s worker, church youth worker, youth charity director, SRE educator and Romance Academy leader, she didn’t call me as any of these. She called me as one of the safe adults she sometimes chatted to after the morning service at church when she used to come along. In that moment my qualifications, youth work experience, resource writing, coffee drinking with other youth workers and conference attending didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I was someone who cared and was there.
Or was it? Because I am someone with (some) youth work qualifications and experience. I do spend my waking hours mulling over issues like violence in teenage relationships, drinking coffee with passionate and informed youth workers and listening to the concerns and hopes expressed by phenomenal young people. And here in lies the age-old rub. When it comes to youth ministry, who does it best? The qualified professionals? The dedicated volunteers? And when we think about the future of youth ministry, who do we need more of? Or rather, who could we not really survive without? As is often the case, the answer is resounding ‘both’!
I don’t want to go back to the days when youth ministry focused around a Friday night free-for-all. As great as they were, simply co-ordinating young people’s social calendar around church activities isn’t the path to growing mature, life-long disciples. Conversely, neither do I want a future where the only people talking to and investing in young people are the few who are trained, qualified and employed. As great as they (you!) are, youth ministry is too important to be left just to youth workers.
Youth ministry is too important to be left just to youth workers
Youth ministry is less about a lone voice on a platform, and more about a family on a mission, inviting young people into heart-thrilling union with Christ, and into the father’s ‘forever family’. It requires the input of the innovators, dreamers, nurturers, adventurers, cooks, communicators, experts, theologians, worshippers, artists, old and young. The future of youth ministry in the UK needs an all-in approach: one where we all get to contribute. Youth ministry is our family affair.
But too often youth work feels like the department most affected by funding, resourcing, personnel and ‘proper-line-management’ cuts!
We know that the average churchgoer often feels overwhelmed by all the issues facing young people today. It can cause them to distance themselves from youth ministry, and in some cases from the young people themselves, instead of rushing in to help. We know there are increasing numbers of churches that haven’t had a young person, let alone a youth ministry, in the building for a long time.
So what does this mean? Will we need to just get used to there being fewer churches employing the professional youth worker? Yes. Will it be possible for every church to grow the skills they need to reach the next generation? Probably not. Does this mean the end of youth ministry as we know it? In some cases, yes. Does this mean the end of youth ministry? Absolutely not: but we will need to re-invent what we do.
I have a ridiculous, audacious dream that we can create more churches – call them fresh expressions, missional communities, pioneering plants, whatever is this week’s phrase of choice – that are wholly focussed on reaching young people and where all the members of that church are equipped to connect and disciple young people that come to faith.
I’d love to see us create collectives of passionate people – call them what you like: risk-embracing learning communities, resource hubs, coaching churches – that are wholly focused on innovating new approaches to reaching, supporting and discipling young people. They’ll lead the field in responding to the needs of young people in areas such as mental health, social care, porn, employment, education, gangs, gender identity, family breakdown, abuse and addiction.
I already know that God is raising up within and among us the agitators, dreamers, creators and builders who will churn up the old ways that don’t work anymore and dare us to step into new ideas and approaches; who will help us adopt language and symbols that give meaning to the gospel. My friend Ali Compton calls us, ‘The people who are willing to count the cost, to pick up our cross as we represent the kingdom and shape the culture.’
We could cloak ourselves in the fear that uncertainty and change often brings. Or we could throw off the cloak and leap into the future God is inviting us to create with him. I don’t know anyone who loves young people like he does. He’s utterly faithful and has more he wants to do in and through us all than we could dare to dream, even when we’re dreaming bigger!
Brennan Manning puts it this way: ‘The reality of naked trust is the life of the pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because God has signalled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise.’
