Three years older? Certainly, that’s the way time works.
Three years wiser? Perhaps.
Huge student loan? Probably. A different person? Definitely!
The most common response of those who have been through undergraduate or postgraduate training for Christian youth work or ministry is that they came out a different person. They have changed from the people they were when they went in: possibly wiser; definitely older; in a new place financially and in a new place in their understanding of God, of themselves, of the Church and most especially, of the way in which they work with young people. The change that takes place in those who successfully engage with vocational degree courses is known as ‘formation’ and is probably the most important part of their training and experience.
What is formation?
The term ‘formation’ is regularly found in vocational degree courses and other forms of employment training. It is a key element of training / degree courses for people who want to be vicars, ministers or pastors. It is also used in many other professions including nursing, social work, teaching and youth work. It is a shorthand term for the changes which are required within a person in order for them to successfully enter a new profession or way of working.
In most ordinary undergraduate degree courses, the aim is the gathering of knowledge and, more specifically, creating critical thinkers who know where to find information and how to assess it academically. However, vocational degree courses – where students are also training for professional work – normally require a set of skills and competence appropriate to the work and the development of the attitudes which are required by professionals in that field.
In youth work, which is the foundation of many Christian youth ministry courses, the skills and attitudes required are: a regular and consistent way of working which ensures that we meet the needs of young people, to operate within equality and diversity guidelines and to work with young people where they are and where they choose to participate. Within Christian youth work, we also need to develop abilities to establish a deepening spirituality in ourselves and the young people, a willingness to explore the complexity and paradoxes of theology, and an understanding of how to work within a church or Christian agency.
Moorlands College has collected these skills and attitudes into the SPAR acronym. Ian Kirby, the academic vice principal explains: ‘Moorlands is committed to enabling holistic development of each student. We sum this up in the beautifully cheesy phrase “giving students the SPAR treatment”, that is, we want to see people grow spiritually (S), develop effective practical skills (P), increase their intellectual, academic resources (A), and be able to relate to people successfully (R). We recognise that different students need to concentrate on these areas to different extents, but the areas are all essential. It’s not possible to quantify the areas in a way that would allow the comparison. A good character is essential, but competence is critical too.’
Andy Du Feu, who heads up the BA (hons) in applied theology at the college and is a qualified youth worker says: ‘Holistic Christian formation is our non-negotiable in terms of approach to learning. We have embedded the four-fold acronym, SPAR, into every aspect of our training at Moorlands College.’
At Mattersey Hall, an Elim College, they use ‘head – hands – heart’ to highlight the key areas of formation. The vice principal Steven Jenkins, explains the three-fold idea: ‘Head – academic degree studies as well as other non-BA lectures on areas such as life skills, care and counselling, and ministry gifts. Heart – we put time and effort into pastoring our students through a pastoral team who counsel, pray with and advise students, and we have regular mentor groups where each student is assigned a staff member who will meet with them periodically to determine how the student is doing in all areas of their life and studies. Hands – we feel that a practical outworking of their studies is vital on an on-going basis. For example, every student is assigned a church where each weekend, they are engaged in local church ministry. We also take every student on an overseas, cross-cultural mission each year of their course.’
The staff team within Midlands CYM have spent a lot of time exploring and expressing their approach to formation. Jo Whitehead, the assistant director, explains that they have developed: ‘A seven-stranded model of learning and development, which encourages students to engage intentionally with personal, spiritual, ministerial, theological, professional, academic and community growth. These strands are understood to interact, weave together and overlap to provide a holistic learning experience.’
Formation is a common and important element of all the training courses and degrees for those who wish to undertake a qualification in Christian youth work. It is the term used to describe the process of enabling students to be different when they leave from who they were when they started the course.
How does formation happen?
For most Christian youth ministry courses, formation develops across the whole course. It is taught in the college or training agency, often practised in small group work and becomes a reality as students actively engage in practice in a placement which often forms a major part of their course, where they learn by doing.
While the institutions work to deliver ‘formation’, more happens through the actual experience of learning together. Erisa Katona graduated last summer from Oak Hill College: ‘I believe I am more mature as a Christian and as a person since joining the course. A large part of that was not directly from the course itself but was through friendships made during the course and interactions with other students. Therefore it was campus life that has helped towards my formation.’
Martin Hardwidge, a tutor at Oasis College agrees: ‘For better or worse, formation only happens in community, in the chaotic interplay of relationships, values and purpose. We’re a community of practice here and formation is an intentional and inevitable outcome.’
Formation is at the heart of the courses, and arises out of a passion for the gospel. Paul Friend, CEO of South West Youth Ministries (SWYM) says: ‘At SWYM, we are passionate about students developing in character alongside skills. One of my personal passions is to get rid of the assumption that youth workers burn out. Within SWYM we have built a whole network of support around each trainee to try and help develop them as a whole person. Through cluster groups, area co-ordinators, personal and spiritual mentors and small groups, we seek to show students that we care more about them and their walk with God and growing character than we do about their academic achievement, although of course we celebrate this as well. I am convinced that what young people need are professional Christ-like practitioners who not only know how to run good youth work but who are secure in who they are as God’s children and who can inspire young people to walk more closely with Jesus.’
Tough sledding
Formation is challenging. To move from one way of thinking to another, or from one way of practice to another, is hard. Recognising the need to re-assess our values, or even to reflect on the possibility that our worldview may need to change, can be a deeply challenging experience. As we have seen, those who run the courses put in a lot of work, beyond the academic studies, to enable the change to take place. But the academic studies themselves can be challenging. Undertaking a university degree course requires you to think outside of the box and many students experience the spiritual challenge of exploring a broader view of theology, finding themselves questioning long-held beliefs.
Merethe Dahl Turner is now a mission and youth pastor in Stroud, having studied the BTh in mission with SWYM. She identifies the theological challenge as being very hard at first: ‘One thing I discovered when it came to God and the Christian life is that it is not black and white. Having to write essays about topics and look into Bible passages from different angles, you realise that there are so many interpretations and views. Life would be a lot simpler if you could put everything down as either right or wrong. [As a result of the course, I learned] how to study the Bible and get more out of it. I love those moments when I suddenly see things from a different angle or get a bigger revelation of God.’
Michele Mahon, who studied at Oasis College, says: ‘I am now more unprejudiced towards people who are different from me, having had the opportunity during the course to be challenged on many of my previously held views. My theological understanding has been broadened, having had exposure to numerous paradigms and world views.’
The ‘toughness’ can be stimulating. John Reynolds is now a youth worker in Ruislip and says of his time at the London School of Theology: ‘I’ve also been equipped to understand scripture better. Rather than simply being told what a passage meant, I was given the tools to think through passages for myself. This revolutionised my prayer life, my preaching and the way I related to God himself.’
Claudia Thrift, a graduate of the children’s and youth specialism pathway at Oak Hill echoes those comments: ‘I think when most people start at Oak Hill, they think they know at least something about God. Then very quickly, you realise that that something is a tiny drop in the ocean. Every day you learn so much more about him, but every day he seems bigger and more beautiful. I finished the course more in love with God, more inspired to share him with others and more convinced that what I had just finished was the start and not the end of a lifetime of learning.’
Rumours of glory
While it is hard work, the majority of people progressing through the degree and into employment see formation as the most positive thing that happened.
Michele Mahon, reflecting on her studies at Oasis College, says, ‘I can honestly say the course changed me for the better.’
Martin Hardwidge has been a senior lecturer at Oasis College of Higher Education for many years and describes the evidence of formation happening as ‘rumours of glory’: ‘There are things I observe, which are incidentally also reasons why I love my job. I see formation happening when level four [first year students] begin to suspect levels six and seven [second and third year] are a bunch of heretics. When, on reflection, Moltmann, Gramsci, Fiddes and Bauman all start to connect. When being angry enough to try and change the world becomes normative. When past graduates return to teach and inspire current students. When awed silence is the only appropriate response to the vitality, commitment and courage of what youth work students are achieving in placement.’
David Howell is a consultant specialising in youth ministry and further and higher education.
