There were the youth group Bibles which were technically ‘hardbacks’, but were hanging onto their spines for dear life.
There was the dodgy OHP device. There was the time when a volunteer’s coat got set on fire by the projector. And then there was Unihoc. Lots and lots of Unihoc. There were more significant memories too: the weekends away when we spent hours pouring our hearts out to God in silent reflection; the intense theological conversations between myself and others around the youth leader’s dining room table; the first time my youth worker encouraged me to lead something.
The youth group wasn’t perfect by any means, but many of the young people successfully made the transition into adult church, and some have even gone into youth work or ministry themselves (not that this is somehow the holy ideal). In some sense, therefore, it ‘worked’. So as I began my own youth work journey a few years ago I dusted off the old leadership packs, Bible study notes and term planners I had become accustomed to. What ‘worked’ then will ‘work’ now, I thought to myself. Right?
Well…maybe. I quickly learned that youth work today is a completely different ball game; my young people reside in a different world to the one I was a teen in. Growing up in a smallish city, devoid of any internet connectivity, the rules for me were different. Make-up was at best a touch of lipgloss and at worst an overdose of eyeliner, and the height of hair fashion was crimping. (I can only be grateful that there is no internet-based evidence of this era.) Our young people cannot help but be bombarded with images of celebrities and the instagram-filtered lives of friends on an hourly basis through social media sites – and are faced with the daily digital demand to look a certain way. Lucinda Borkett- Jones had a fascinating chat with Emma Woolf this month (which you can read on p.12) about the pressure young people face to be thin, and how so much of our mental space as a culture is occupied with thoughts about being slimmer, and of not being good enough. We feel privileged to have a special series of meeting guides from Cocoon Resources on the topic of self-worth this month (p.30), to help you address this issue with your young people.
There are other cultural shifts too. As Mark Oestreicher outlines in ‘Adolthood’ (p.18) – the age of adolescence, which traditionally ended at 18, now seems to continue into the late 20s and even 30s. What does this mean for youth ministry? Should we extend our youth work to 30 too, or is it right that we encourage young people into adulthood through embracing the rest of Church life?
At the start of this new year, it’s good to think about the big picture of youth work. Becky May does just that in ‘The future of youth work’ (p.14), talking to leading voices from across the youth ministry world about where we have been, and what’s next.
Of course – we don’t just want to chase the new, and there are things about youth ministry which are timeless: our relationship with God, and relationships with young people. But we also can’t just flog a dead horse, old and outdated programmes and structures which no longer meet the needs of the young people we serve. This has got to mean more than just replacing the OHPs and dusty carpets with iPads and fancy bean bags. We need innovative thinkers like never before. We need to be bold and admit when things aren’t working. We need to think about why we do what we do. We need to invest all of our creativity, energy and passion into this glorious calling that we have. I hope this excites you, as we enter the new year. Happy 2014 – let’s make it a good one.
THIS MONTH PHOEBE made the New Year’s Resolution not to make any New Year’s Resolutions. SHE HAS Already failed it.
