Práxeis Journal

ACADEMIC JOURNAL | CHILDREN, YOUTH AND MISSION

ISSUE 1 | APRIL 2014

a new journal published by the Institute for Children Youth and Mission.

At the Institute for Children, Youth and Mission, we believe that life affirming, life enriching and life transforming work among children and young people is a critically important task for the church. Whether this mission is directed to seeking the common good of all, seeking to nurture children and young people in Christian communities, or enabling the good news of the Gospel to be heard, experienced and explored this mission needs to be prioritised, performed well and passed on.

At our heart, CYM is a mission-enabling organisation.

Práxeis is a voice into that space. Our hope is that Práxeis will stretch thinking and stimulate discussion on children, youth and mission work. Our hope is that Práxeis will offer ‘wisdom’; more than cleverness; deeper than knowledge; more than thinking; ‘wisdom’ is found through action, participation and experience.

Wisdom is what we hope the contributors will bring as they share their reflections on, research into and reactions to the challenging task of Christian work with children and families, young people and communities, schools and churches. Each issue will share well founded wisdom from practitioners and academics and ask you to mix this with your own understanding and insights.

Sharing this communal wisdom - this practical wisdom we have worked hard to gain - is a vital element of supporting the work that goes on in churches and organisations across the UK. Those of us working in children and youth work are well aware

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of the complexities of this challenge and the need to innovate in the practice we engage in. Understanding these complexities, and judging the success of our innovations, requires wisdom. We hope you will find that here. However, the wisdom we share with each other will never be enough to fully equip us to serve in this work. We will always be stretched beyond what we feel we understand and what we think we can offer. Práxeis captures this. Práxeis is the prophetic wisdom that comes from reflecting on our own understanding and action in conjunction with seeking God’s wisdom and the transformation of all we can do by the Spirit of God. How we do this is the primary focus of the conversation Práxeis will stimulate.

We hope that Práxeis will speak into your context, your challenges and your calling to be part of God’s mission to children and young people. We hope that you will be able to draw on the wisdom it offers and share the wisdom you have through the blog pages, or articles of your own. Above all we hope that God’s wisdom is with you in all that you do.

Dr Nick Shepherd,

CEO, Institute for Children Youth and Mission

PRÁXEIS | FAITH IN ACTION

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CHILDREN AND YOUTH MINISTRY AND CHURCH GROWTH

A summary of the key insights from the recent church growth research report/presentation

BEING A CHRISTIAN YOUTH WORKER:

finding ourselves by losing ourselves

YOUTH MINISTRY AND THEOLOGICAL SHORTHAND

QUESTIONING ‘FAITH’ - IS FAITH DEVELOPMENT THEORY STILL FIT FOR PURPOSE

A snapshot of the approach CE is taking to re-imagining faith development theory

CHAPLAINCY - THE FUTURE?

Reflections on future of RE, Chaplaincy and opportunities for Christian children’s and youth work

BIG ISSUES FACING MINISTRY TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

DISCIPLING GENERATION Y

04 09 15 20 24 28 32

//ARTICLE

//COMMENTARY

// BOOK REVIEW

DAVID VOAS UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX INTRODUCTION The Church of England has suffered from numerical decline in recent decades. The problem is not that adults are leaving the Church: it is that young adults are not joining. Half of the children of churchgoing parents do not attend when they reach adulthood. Simply put, ageing churchgoers are not being replaced.

We know something from previous research about the impact of parental practice, affiliation and belief on the religiosity of their children. Two non-religious parents successfully transmit their lack of religion. Two religious parents have roughly a 50/50 chance of passing on the faith. One religious parent does only half as well as two together. The results for attendance, self-described affiliation, and the importance of religious belief are very similar (Voas and Crockett 2005).

What these results suggest is that in Britain institutional religion now has a half-life of one generation, to borrow the terminology of radioactive decay. The generation now in middle age has produced children who are only half as likely as they are to attend church, to identify themselves as belonging to a denomination, or to say that belief is important to them.

The situation seems paradoxical. If parents regard religion as important – and one presumes that they do – why have they failed to pass it on to their offspring?

One key question is whether we are seeing the effects of value change among young people or of value change among parents. It is possible that parents have simply become less committed to religious involvement by their children. As the value attached to autonomy has increased, adolescents are increasingly allowed to avoid church.

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The European Values Study allows us to investigate this issue. It includes a battery of items introduced as follows: “Here is a list of qualities that children can be encouraged to learn at home. Which, if any, do you consider to be especially important? Please choose up to five.” Eleven qualities are listed: good manners; independence; hard work; feeling of responsibility; imagination; tolerance and respect for other people; thrift, saving money and things; determination, perseverance; religious faith; unselfishness; obedience.

The British sample included 505 respondents who identified themselves as Anglicans. Religious faith was by a considerable margin the quality that was mentioned least often by this group as something that children ought to acquire. It was included as a priority by only 11%, as compared to good manners by 94%, tolerance and respect by 83%, independence by 47%, or even imagination (the second-least popular) by 27%. On average, people who call themselves Anglican seem unconcerned about transmitting religion to the next generation.

Perhaps, though, things change if we exclude nominal Anglicans. We might naturally suppose that people who say that religion is very important in their own lives would include religious faith in their list of qualities that are especially important for children to learn at home.

In fact, however, only 36% do so. Of the much larger number who say that religion is ‘quite important’ to them, a mere 10% mention faith as something important for their children to acquire. Among Anglicans who say that they attend services at least once a month, the figure is 28%. In other words, even religious Anglicans seem surprisingly reluctant to make inculcation of religion a priority in child-rearing.

PRÁXEIS | FAITH IN ACTION

The key finding from analysis of the full dataset (for many countries and denominations) is that institutional involvement in a religion, including respect for the role of religious organisations, is the crucial characteristic in distinguishing between respondents who do or do not make religion a priority in raising children. It is not enough to regard religion as important, or to be ‘spiritual’: without some tie to an institution – past or current involvement in church, or a high regard for its functions –people tend not to make religious transmission a priority. The religiously unaffiliated and people who say “I have my own way of connecting with the divine” are unlikely to see transmission as important, even if they regard religion as important in their own lives. By contrast, churchgoers or members of religious organisations, and people who say that the church answers moral and family problems, do want to see children raised in a faith. Being connected to church makes one significantly more likely to see religious faith as important for children (Voas and Doebler 2012).

Secularisation cannot be explained solely in relation to the intergenerational transmission of beliefs and values, of course. Secular activities (including television, music, the internet, games and so on) compete with religion for time and attention. Geographical mobility may have positive or negative effects on churchgoing. These and other factors are important, but ultimately religion depends on the commitment of one generation to pass it on to the next.

The 2011 census of population tells us that there are about 23 children under the age of 16 for every 100 adults in England. Interestingly, the Statistics for Mission 2011 report produced by the Church of England gives a marginally better ratio for average weekly attendance.

The national totals are 216,900 children and 874,600 adults attending (either Sunday or mid-week), or almost exactly one child for every four adults. If those children continued to participate in adulthood, weekly attendance at worship would be maintained at current levels. It needs to be noted that the Sunday figures are less favourable; with midweek services excluded, the ratio is closer to one child for every six adults.

The gap between weekly and Sunday attendance is important. For adults average weekly attendance is only 15% higher than average Sunday attendance; for children it is 61% higher. A substantial proportion (38%) of children are only counted midweek, and these services may be their only exposure to church. The positive interpretation is that there may be considerable scope for innovation in midweek worship, as well as real opportunities to reach children from non-churchgoing families. The cautionary note is that some of the events – particularly those at schools or in playgroups – may not be especially effective in producing an enduring connection to religious activity.

CHILDREN AND YOUTH MINISTRY AND CHURCH GROWTH

Another implication is that the point at which most young people are lost to the Church comes during youth and early adulthood rather than childhood. Although connections may be weak if children are not attending Sunday school or Sunday services, a large number still have some association with the Church. Generational replacement is breaking down at the point where young people are making their own decisions about what to do.

This point is underlined by the 2011 census results (Figure 1). Parents answer the census questions for their children, and unsurprisingly children aged 10-14 are described as Christian with about the same frequency as their parents (aged 40-44 on average). Many people are not inclined to ascribe a religious affiliation to infants or very young children, and conversely adolescents aged 15-19 are starting to demonstrate their independence: these two factors produce the characteristic hump in the reported affiliation of children. The defection at age 20-24 is even greater. Thereafter one finds the typical generational profile of religious belonging, and affiliation rises steadily from young adults to the elderly.

Figure 1: Christians as a percentage of the population, minority religious groups omitted (England and Wales, 2011 census)

THE CHURCH GROWTH RESEARCH PROGRAMME Retaining children and youth is critical; it is easier to raise people as churchgoers than to turn the unchurched into attenders. Recent history suggests that gains and losses during adulthood are roughly in balance; the challenge is to retain the new generation. As part of the Church of England’s Church Growth Research Programme, we conducted a survey of 1,700 churches to try to identify the factors underlying growth and decline (Voas and Watt 2014).

While retaining the young generation is crucial to the Church as a whole, it does not necessarily follow that parish churches will only grow if children are well represented. As it happens, though, there is indeed a positive correlation between the child:adult ratio and church growth at the local level. These positive correlations are found for all measures of growth,

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THE CHURCH GROWTH RESEARCH PROGRAMME Headline findings from a major piece of research conducted by the Church of England over 18 months - Survey of 11,700 churches in 2011.

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PRﾃ々EIS | FAITH IN ACTION

including growth in adult usual Sunday attendance.

Although it is never easy to identify the causal mechanisms – families produce growth, but they are also attracted to churches that are growing – it seems plausible that children help to keep churches healthy.

Figure 2 shows the relationship between the child:adult ratio and self-reported growth. Churches where children are well represented are twice as likely to be growing as those where they are scarce.

4. Which of the following does your church provide for

children? (Tick all that apply)

Figure 2: Child:adult ratio and self-reported growth

5. Which of the following does your church provide for

youth? (Tick all that apply)

• Leader for children’s activities • Worship services designed for children • Midweek worship with pre-school children • Holiday clubs • Admission to communion before confirmation • Special services for schools (e.g. carol services)

• Youth worker, minister or leader for youth activities • Organised youth group • Choirs or other music groups • Retreats, conferences or camps • Worship services designed for youth • Holiday clubs • Confirmation classes • Congregational events planned or led by youth • Special services for schools • Counselling (e.g. sex education, substance abuse) The survey included a number of questions about activities and staffing for young people. Of course there is a chicken-and-egg problem of interpretation: parents may only come to a church that provides for their children, but the amount of provision for children is strongly influenced by how many there are. Thus it is no surprise that churches with a good proportion of children are more likely than others to have a range of appropriate programmes. With data from just one year, we cannot say how far the activities attract the children or the children generate the need for the activities. In any event supply and demand are likely to be mutually reinforcing.

What we can do, however, is to see which types of programmes or staff are most closely associated with growth.

THE RELEVANT QUESTIONS FROM THE SURVEY INCLUDE:

1. Is this church linked to a Church of England school?

[If yes] Is it over-subscribed?

2.

Does your church have any of the following programmes or activities? If yes, do they involve only existing members or do they attract new people to join?

• Sunday school or children’s groups • Youth/young adult activities or programmes

3. During the past 12 months, has your church run any

of the following services for your own members or

for people in the community?

• Child day care, pre-school, before or after-school programmes

CHILDREN AND YOUTH MINISTRY AND CHURCH GROWTH

• Uniformed youth organisation We are particularly interested in which variables show the largest influence on two outcomes: the ratio of children to adults, and church growth. It is no great surprise that every item listed above is correlated with the child:adult ratio. The strongest association is with Sunday schools, not because they are unusual (81% of responding churches had them) but because not having a Sunday school is a sign that there are no children.

Most of the items are also correlated with growth, though the associations are a good deal weaker than for the child:adult ratio. Interestingly, having a uniformed youth organisation is related to church decline. Presumably Boys’ Brigades tend to be found in parishes with traditional activities that for other reasons are struggling to maintain their numbers.

In multivariate analysis, the explanatory variables that show the largest effects on the proportion of children are Sunday schools and worship services designed for children. Being linked with a Church school (particularly if it is oversubscribed) also has an important influence.

The existence of youth programmes has an impact, suggesting that the churches that are most successful in attracting children have provision for teens and young adults as well.

The results for church growth are interesting. Here the Church school has a key role, with youth programmes also appearing to have an effect (if falling just short of statistical significance, controlling for all of the other variables listed above). Youth retreats, conferences or camps make a difference; only 21% of churches in the sample have them, and they may be taken as

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a sign of real investment in youth work. Uniformed youth organisations remain negatively associated with growth, as are (more surprisingly) special services for schools, which more than three quarters of churches provide. Overall the findings underline the importance of retaining young people, particularly in the critical period of adolescence and early adulthood. They also suggest that the best programmes are likely to involve new ways of building community with and among the young, and may require considerable amounts of time and effort.

In their written comments on the reasons for church growth, our survey respondents recognised the importance of attracting young families to church. A handful of respondents wrote about youth work or ‘young people’ in general, but most gave the impression that they are primarily interested in children. While that strategy has the benefit of focusing on families, it may not address the crucial transition from child to adult attendance. An additional difficulty is that extensive provision for children and especially youth requires a critical mass and so may not be possible for smaller churches. Some degree of specialisation, whereby one particular church in an area becomes the ‘family church’, is probably inevitable.

Where churches had paid staff (apart from clergy), we asked which roles they fill (administrator, verger, music director, etc.). Controlling for other variables,

the largest effects came from employing a children’s or youth worker. Churches that employ a children’s / youth worker are only half as likely to be declining as those with paid staff in some other function (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Growth and employment of a children’s/youth worker

Once again, then, we find a connection between the investment in young people and church growth. While the long-term importance of generational replacement is clear at a national level, it is striking to find that it also seems to be in the interests of parish churches to make youth ministry a priority.

DAVID VOAS David is a quantitative social scientist with a background in demography. He is the National Programme Director in Great Britain for the European Values Study and co-director of British Religion in Numbers (www.brin.ac.uk), an online centre for British data on religion. He serves on the editorial boards of the British Journal of Sociology and the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. He is currently leading an investigation of religious and secular morality in Europe, and has been commissioned by the Church of England to study church growth and decline.

REFERENCES Voas, David & Crockett, Alasdair (2005) Religion in Britain: Neither believing nor belonging, Sociology 39(1): 11-28 Voas, David & Doebler, Stefanie (2013) Secularization in Europe: An analysis of inter-generational religious change, in Value Contrasts and Consensus in Present-Day Europe, ed. W Arts & L Halman, Brill.

Voas, David & Watt, Laura (2014) Numerical change in church attendance: National, local and individual factors. Church of England. www.churchgrowthresearch.org.uk/progress_findings_reports

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PRÁXEIS | FAITH IN ACTION

NICK SHEPHERD

This is an excerpt from the first chapter of Christian Youth work in THEORY AND PRACTICE: A HANDBOOK Please see page 13 for more details of how to get your copy

We do youth work as Christians for no other reason that that we tell the gospel story. We may wish to frame our practice in terms of educational theory, counselling, community work, sport and leisure provision, or any number of theoretical models of working with young people, but to do so as Christian youth workers is to seek to integrate these perspectives into the overarching nature of the larger gospel story. PETE WARD. On an Australian farm, it is said, there are no fences just many wells. You can imagine the picture; a vast open land where animals are free to roam needs no fences to protect property or livestock, but inhabitants and animals need water to survive. The location of wells to water the land and animals are the defining features to geography they keep the animals in and it pays to let your animals wander to other wells to keep them alive from time to time. This reflects my approach to sketching the landscape of Christian youth work, the territory covered by this practice and the boundaries which define it.

This approach is helpful in our task of defining Christian youth work in two ways. First of all, as I will trace in a moment, the geography of youth work practice in general is diverse. I want to avoid the tendency to define youth work, or Christian youth work by tightly delineating a particular approach or practice that fits my imposed criteria. Davies suggests that youth work is in essence a practice that human beings have made up – made up

to serve particular conditions for the socialization and care of the young in late modern cultures (Batsleer & Davies, 2010, p.1). Where discussions have restricted the understanding of youth work to a particular narrow definition, I would want to suggest that a type of ontological slip has occurred where ‘youth work’ has been mistaken for a real thing rather than a human product. The understanding of what might constitute required work to enable young people to move through youth to adulthood changes as our understanding of young people and their lives changes. Even where similar understandings inform work, the practice of youth work changes from one cultural context to another. Youth work is not a real thing, it might be a cause or ideology to be defended and it is clearly a distinguishable field of practice. Yet it is an activity that is trying to achieve something purposeful, and as such is open to change and reinterpretation.

YOUTH WORK: LOSING AND FINDING ITSELF A key problem in contemporary conceptions of youth work is establishing its efficacy and identity (Coussée, 2008, p.3). Scratch any of the contemporary debates in youth work (Christian or not) and Cousée appears correct. How do we justify what type of work is worth doing? Is youth work of universal benefit or targeted at particular young people for particular purposes? If youth work is such a vital process, what do we make of the fact that most young people might seem to do fine without it? Baizerman (1996) offers a note of caution to such boundary marking in youth work suggesting that

BEING A CHRISTIAN YOUTH WORKER: FINDING OURSELVES BY LOSING OURSELVES

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there are many forms of youth work praxis globally and we shouldn’t be constrained to a single model. If youth work then is a family of practices, how does Christian youth relate?

Christian involvement in youth work goes right back to the start. This is important for a number of reasons.

Firstly, youth work is a relatively new social activity that has only recently begun to define the wells around which it gathers. Secondly, the presence and participation of Christians in youth work remains high but theology or practical outworking of faith is marginalized in contemporary practice. Thirdly, those who work with young people in churches today face a choice over whether youth work as a process or profession is to be deemed the best way of approaching the tasks of nurture and discipleship; mission and evangelism.

There is consensus that foundations for modern youth work practice were nurtured in the social and educational activities connected to the tasks of Christian evangelization or Christian education (Smith, 2003). The ‘need’ for youth work is largely linked to the particular place that youth plays in differing societies and over the course of the 20th century youth work has evolved on from these faith based roots and become a public activity (Davies, 1999) where Christian engagement is more of a negotiated activity – both theoretically and in praxis. Since the landmark Albemarle (1960) report youth work in the UK as a profession has seen a development of several distinct discourses that seek to locate efficacy and identity around youth work as a educative activity with a moral philosophical, social pedagogical and ethical basis. One result of this process is that many uniformed or voluntary groups have become disconnected from this professionalized work and as such have been downgraded from youth work to work with young people (Sercombe, 2010), although this is not to infer that they are inferior. In many contexts youth movements, or young people’s involvement in the arts and sport are considered as the most productive and beneficial activities to encourage young people to engage in (Perret-Clermont et al, 2004) The influential UK report Youth A Part suggests that Christian youth work may very well better fit this more generalized category in asserting that ‘youth work begins to happen wherever a Christian adult meets regularly with a group of young people’ – socially over food, in activities such as choirs or in youth groups (Church of England Board of Education, 1996, p.3). This is an important precursor to debating what Christian youth work might be, as it establishes a degree of contingency on the value of ‘youth work’ as a descriptive category and distinct form of practice.

To that end it is important to identify what distinguishes youth work from work with young people. In the UK at least this could be regarded as a conscious, institutionalized establishing of principles for practice

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around key values and skills. These values and competencies become the basis around which youth workers are trained or apprenticed to become qualified. Tacitly, these are association, empowerment, equality and participation and the application of these dispositions and skills towards interventions that are determined in partnership with young people (Roberts, 2009). On these principles, the efficacy and identity of modern youth work can be clustered around a least three educative activities that derive basis for practice from a core set of values and processes. First there is youth work that is regarded as an informal educational activity to support young people in the development of identity, moral understanding and choices and the pursuit of a fulfilling life (Young, 2006; Sercombe, 2010).

It can be associated with young people’s participation In democracy with either a focus on conscientization as to their economic exclusion in society (Nicholls, 2012) or the further empowerment of young people’s own capacity and interest in participation in civic society (Jeffs & Smith, 2005; Packham, 2008), such as through volunteering (Coussée, 2008). Further, there is a strand of activity that sees youth work as concerned with young people’s social welfare, either in enabling educational attainment, addressing issues of prejudice and marginalization and the provision of accessible and meaningful cultural (leisure) activities (Jeffs & Smith, 2010). There are differences of opinion within and between these foci for youth work – but in essence they represent what might be called youth work ‘proper’.

We have immediately then two distinguishable branches of the family where Christians can engage in work with young people. The first is as participants and leaders within voluntary organizations – including those that retain a strong faith basis such as the Boys Brigade.

Secondly there is the realm of youth work ‘proper’. Here we will find voluntary organisations as well; including key Christian agencies such as the YMCA alongside local authority provision. I count these as two parts of the youth work family and the heritage of Christian involvement in youth work means that participation by Christians in these fields is high. There is also a third area that we need to evaluate to complete our review of the family of practices that Christian youth work might be perceived to cover, Youth Ministry.

Youth Ministry is a term that is arguably more associated with the development of work with young people in the United States (Pahl, 2000). Youth Ministry though does not simply mean the pastoral care of young people in churches – though this is the primary functional area.

Borgman (1997) who has pioneered youth ministry with young people not connected to the church suggests that youth ministry is an inter-disciplinary practice where workers engage young people in the roles of missionary, social worker and/or pastor. Here we perhaps have, a re-articulation or re-interpretation, of what some of the early pioneers in youth work were undertaking. We have

PRÁXEIS | FAITH IN ACTION

faith motivated engagement with young people with the motivation of engaging young people’s faith. This type of activity then raises some tensions with contemporary youth work, particularly in the UK or contexts where the type of youth work defined above has an established presence.

One attempt to diffuse some of the tensions between youth work and ministry has been offered by Danny Brierley, one of the first directors of explicitly Christian youth work courses in the UK. Such courses were developed to be more explicit in theological education and formation integrated with professional youth work values and competencies (Mayo 2002). Brierley (2003) recognized that there were circumstances where one could see conflicts presenting within theory and practice between the understanding and enactment of Christian Ministry and of Youth Work. To negotiate these proposes Brierley envisages a continuum of practice situating the Christian Minister/evangelist on one side of this continuum and non-Christian youth work on the other.

The space in between these two polls is occupied by the Christian youth worker. The task of Christian youth work is to ‘join up’ the theological basis, identity and character of being a Christian minister to young people with the philosophy, values and ethics and forms of practice of youth work. For Brierley, if either aspect is lost then this practice undertaken ceases to be Christian or ceases to be youth work. However, as Thompson (2007) notes – focusing on youth work as moral philosophical education towards human flourishing – a key problem with this approach, is it does little to help join up thinking or practice where there is conflict, or difference between these two poles. Further, it can because a subsuming of the vision for human flourishing that theological thinking supports in order to accommodate the prevailing discourses within youth work.

Ward (1997) addresses the difference between youth work and youth ministry by seeking to place the task of youth ministry as participating in the mission of God. Christian youth work for is an activity that seeks to engage young people in what he calls Christian, Relational Care (Ward, 1995). The scope of Christian youth work is to present being Christian to young people with openness and authenticity; being interested and involved in addressing the variety of needs and interest that differing groups of young people might present. The task here is not to convey a Christian message to young people, but to seek to develop purposeful relationships with young people through which they might inhabit and express ‘the gospel’ in meaningful, and often new ways.

To a degree this practice may appear to have much in common with youth work. However, Ward argues that whilst Christian youth work might use the ‘tools’ of similar disciplines the fundamental guiding principle is a commitment to ‘inculturate the gospel’ within youth culture (Ward, 1992). When churches and Christian agencies engage in youth work in communities and

schools, much of what is engaged in arguably falls into this type of activity (Shepherd & Brant, 2008). Further, the vast majority of Christian youth work is mostly the pastoral care of young people in churches. This is especially the case in the USA, but increasingly now the focus of practice elsewhere. Whilst some in the youth work world would wish to exclude this from youth work (Sercombe, 2010, p.32) and whilst there are stronger influences on the form of practice from ministerial theology and Christian education (Dean & Foster, 1998; Warren, 1998). It is not without reason to suggest that both missional Christian youth work and pastorally focused youth ministry could reasonably fall within the praxis that Baizerman describes as youth work. This view however is a moot point.

One objection to this argument comes from those who espouse youth work values and processes as crucial to efficacy of practice. Green (2005) for instance argues that Christian youth work does not need any distinct theological justification but can be based on the philosophy and values of youth work. It is Christian youth work when contextually focused work in church settings to enable their participation in the life and decision making structures of the church. As Ellis (1990) suggests, youth work as a form of educational practice is apt for this role as it has a sensitivity to participation and power that supports the task of Christian education.

Davies (2005) extends a similar position in regarding general youth work as an act of obligation to God to empower the vulnerable and educate the young. Aligned to this stance of the importance of youth work practice is a commitment to retain a strong sense of Christian identity within this field. Green and others argue that young people’s spiritual development is of universal and not sectarian importance (see http://durhamaccord. com). This type of Christian youth work should seek to engage young people in developing spirituality, not focusing on a particular religious tradition. This is not to be antithetical to any tradition, but be able to openly present the claims of faith traditions within the ‘secular’ space of youth work. Here then, Christian youth work might be perceived of as having a particular vocation towards the ‘common good’ (Pimlott, 2013) or towards providing a contextual space for practice where religious values and spiritual needs are specifically catered for (Green & Christian, 1998), a concern shared by other faith based work too (Khan 2013). Such action can be considered within the framework of the mission of God, but here youth work is offered as a tool to the mission of God, rather than youth work offering the tools to serve mission.

If the premise of youth work as a family of practices holds true then Christian youth work has representation across this family – in voluntary work with young people and in formal youth work settings. Across these two arenas a Christian presence in youth work is active in church or charity projects that see youth work as a

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contribution to the common good; in missional projects that seek to address social, spiritual and educational needs; in church pastoral care that seeks to attend to young people’s particular concerns or their inclusion and capacity to influence church life and in the agitation and affirmation of the place of faith and spirituality in youth work. A key reason behind this lies in the origins of youth work in Christian mission and education.

However, as youth work has broadened and developed differing discourses locating ‘Christian youth work’ have some key problem areas. One is that despite continued creativity and commitment ‘secular’ notions of youth work have pressurised a compartmentalisation

NICK

SHEPHERD

of Christian youth work to work with Christian young people. This belies the potential that Christian youth work has to contribute to the wider debates within the sector (Clayton & Stanton, 2008). However, whilst this survey affirms that Christians are present across the landscape of youth work, what approach can be taken to suggest the ‘wells’ that such practitioners might continue to draw from so as to ensure that the ‘Christian’ aspect of this practice is well watered and growing?

The conclusion to this article is found in Chapter 1 of Christian Youth work in Theory and Practice: A Handbook.

Please see page 13 for more details of how to get your copy.

Nick Shepherd is CEO of the Institute for Children, Youth and Mission. Nick has over twenty years experience in face-to-face youth work and expertise in project management, policy development and strategy. His PhD research was on young people’s participation in youth ministry and his academic interests lie in practical theology and the social and cultural study of youth. Current areas of research include young people’s faith formation in contemporary culture and theological education for youth and children’s work, with an emphasis in the use of qualitative methods, practitioner based action research and engaging children and young people in research. In teaching, Nick hopes to widen theoretical perspectives that will encourage practitioners to reflect, innovate and adapt.

REFERENCES Baizerman, M. Youth Work on the Street: Community’s Moral Compact with its Young People. Childhood, 1996, 3(2), 157-165. doi: 10.1177/0907568296003002003 Ballard, P. H., & Pritchard, J. Practical theology in action: Christian thinking in the service of church and society (2nd ed.). London: SPCK, 2006.

Batsleer, J., & Davies, B. (2010). What is youth work? Exeter: Learning Matters. *Good overview of youth work as a discipline.

Church of England Board of Education. Youth a part : young people and the church. London: Church House Publishing, 1996.

Clayton, M. & Stanton, N. The changing world’s view of Christian youth work.

Youth and Policy, 2008 100,, 109-118.

Ministry of Education The Youth Service in England and Wales. (The Albermarle Report). London: HMSO, 1960.

Nash, S. (Ed).Youth Ministry: a Multi-facted Approach. London: SPCK, 2012. *Explores Christian youth work through a range of metaphors for ministry.

Nicholls, D. For youth workers and youth work : speaking out for a better future.

Bristol: Policy Press, 2012.

Osmer, R. R. Practical theology : an introduction. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.

Packham, C. Active citizenship and community learning. Exeter: Learning Matters, 2008.

Coussée, F. A century of youth work policy. Gent: Academia Press, 2008.

Pahl, J. Youth ministry in modern America : 1930 to the present. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers, 2000.

Davies, B. A history of the youth service in England. Leicester: Youth Work Press, 1999.

Perret-Clermont, A.-N., Pontecorvo, C., Resnick, L. B., Zittoun, T., & Burge, B. (Eds). Joining society : Social interaction and learning in adolescence and youth.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (2004).

Davies, R. Christian Youth What? Perspectives: Journal of Reflective Youth Work Practice and Applied Theology, Spring 2005, 2-6.

Dean, K. C., & Foster, R. The godbearing life : the art of soul tending for youth ministry. Nashville: Upper Room Books, 1998.

Ellis, J. W. Informal Education: A Christian perspective. In T. Jeffs & M. Smith (Eds.), Using informal education: An alternative to casework, teaching and control? Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1990, pp.89-100.

Farley, E. Theologia : the fragmentation and unity of theological education.

Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983.

Green, M. Youthwork with Qualifications. Perspectives: Journal of Reflective Youth Work Practice and Applied Theology. 2005, Spring, 7-9.

Green, M., & Christian, C. Accompanying young people on their spiritual quest.

London: National Society/Church House Publishing, 1998.

Pimlott, N. Human Flourishing and the Common Good: The intention and shape of faith based youth work in the Big Society. PhD, University of Stafforshire, Stoke-on-Trent, 2013.

Roberts, J. M. Youth work ethics. Exeter: Learning Matters, 2009.

Sercombe, H. Youth work ethics. London: Sage, 2010.

Shepherd, N., & Brant, J. (Eds.). Church Unlimited:Youthwork and Mission Today.

Leicester: Youthwork the Partnership/Matador, 2008.

Smith, M. Methodism and Youth Work Retrieved 28 November, 2008, from http:// www.infed.org/youthwork/methodism_youth_work.htm, 2003.

Thomson, J. Telling the Difference. Cambridge: YTC Press, 2007.

Ward, P. Youth culture and the gospel. London: Marshall Pickering, 1992.

Jeffs, T., & Smith, M. J. Informal education : conversation, democracy and learning (3rd ed): Nottingham: Educational Heretics, 2005.

Ward, P. Christian Relational Care. In P. Ward (Ed.), Relational youthwork. Oxford: Lynx Communications, pp.13-40, 1995.

Jeffs, T., & Smith, M. J. Youth work practice. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

Ward, P. Youthwork and the Mission of God. London: SPCK, 2007. *Accessible introduction to Christian youth work.

Khan, M. G. Young Muslims, pedagogy and Islam : context and concepts. Bristol: Policy, 2013.

Warren, M. Youth Gospel Liberation (3rd ed) Dublin: Veritas, 1998.

Mayo, B. Centre for Youth Ministry Theological Education. Journal of Adult Theological Education, British Journal of Thelogical Education, 2002, 12(2).

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M O AY U 20 T 14

CHRISTIAN YOUTH WORK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE: A HANDBOOK

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Churches today face unique challenges as they seek to help young people engage with the Christian faith and youth workers, whether employed or volunteer, play a key role in supporting this process. Here is a comprehensive overview of Christian youth work, drawing together practice, theory and theology in a format which is both engaging and informative.

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BEING A CHRISTIAN YOUTH WORKER: FINDING OURSELVES BY LOSING OURSELVES

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1

DAVID BAILEY INTRODUCTION Questions came in quick succession: ‘So how do you communicate your faith?’, ‘How are you involved in mission amongst these young people?’ Stumbling over my words and grasping after some attempt at theological expression, ‘incarnationally’ and ‘through relationships’’ I replied hesitantly. This seemed to be enough to answer the questions from a well-meaning member of the congregation. I would now call this theological shorthand. This theological expression didn’t seem to fully articulate the nuances and complexities of my practice among young people, yet it evoked and had a connection with the deeper Christian Tradition in which my practice took place. Moreover, if the weakness of my own understanding of practice was limited, then this may point to a wider limitation amongst my fellow youth ministers and beyond into the related field.2 This article explores this notion of theological shorthand.

The idea was conceived as part of a doctoral research project through Kings College London. Located within the discipline of practical theology and utilising

qualitative research, youth ministry practitioners told stories about their mission amongst non-church young people3. Purposive sampling (Cohen et al 2007, p.115), the informal interview (Moschella 2008, pp.65-67), and Narrative Analysis (Riesman 1993) were adopted as the key qualitative, epistemological and analytical approaches. The process was held within a theological hermeneutic as expressed in work of Swinton and Mowat (2006). 4 As this concept of theological shorthand is explored, it briefly summarises the key research themes: relationships, like Jesus, being there, and time and journey. The article highlights the relationship between these themes and selected literature on youth ministry5 as missionary endeavour. The relationship between practice and the theological expression of youth ministry within the literature is considered and critiqued.

Through this process a problem with the theological expression of youth ministry is identified. Following this, the implications for current youth ministry practice are articulated.6

1

The terms youth work and youth ministry are debated, sometimes used interchangeably (Ward 1997); they can be seen as an unnecessary ‘dualism’, Brierley (2003). However, it is Thomson (2007, p.224-225) who offers the most robust critique of these, seeing that ‘youth ministry’ does not discount the issue of providing welfare as in ‘youth work’, but its prime focus is in the ‘building of the church’. This is how the term is used in this study.

2

Strauss & Corbin (1998, pp.9- 36) and Sheppard (2009, p.9).

3

As the empirical process was undertaken, there is a sense in which it required empathy and respect. As the lived experience of the youth ministers was examined, I wanted to honour the expertise, commitment and professionalism of these ministers of the Gospel in their service amongst young people, often in very difficult, challenging and hard circumstances. As these expressed forms of enacted mission are brought under scrutiny, there is a real sense that this is Holy ground (Ward 2013, p.1).

4

Generalisability is not the goal for this research, however, it is possible for the data to have ‘transferable resonance’ (Swinton and Mowat (2006, p.47), beyond the ‘voices’ of the youth ministers interviewed.

5

Within the research key literature was framed and chosen by drawing on the reading lists of the Oasis Youth Work and Ministry Course (1997 -2009), Oasis College of Higher Education (2010 – 2013) and CYM, Middlands Centre of Youth Ministry (2006-2009).

6

One of the developing areas of research within practical theology that resonates with this article is ‘Ordinary Theology’ (Astley 2002) and ‘Ordinary Christology’ (Christie, 2012). This is an exciting area of research, yet is limited for this piece due to the youth ministry practitioners involved having had more formal theological training (Oasis College and CYM Graduates) and, therefore, being more aware of the concepts within ‘academic theology’. A second related area is seen through the work of Cameron et al (2010), this is an appealing typology, however, it is limited again in terms of this work, because the typology has a particular focus on the relationship of disconnection between the modes of ‘operant’ and ‘espoused’. The outcomes of the research do not fit within either of these existing frameworks.

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YOUTH MINISTRY AND THEOLOGICAL SHORTHAND

Ward (1997), Borgman (1997), Dean (2004), Sudworth el al (2007), Pimlott and Pimlott (2008).

Within the empirical work, a slowing down of the process of youth ministry takes place; practice is explored frame by frame. It is discovered that relationships are affirmed as an overarching theme. Here, relationships function as communicative acts, as places of connection and transmission and are the threads that run through practice. At this point, relationships as communicative acts are circuits of influence and the place of subcultural engagement7 it is ‘prior mission’.8 However, this complex and nuanced practice is summed up by the youth ministers through the terms relationship, like Jesus, being there and time and journey. These resonate with youth ministry as a missiological task, rather than primarily a pastoral or educational one (Sudworth et al 2007, p.8). Within this missiological understanding of youth ministry, the youth minister is seen as the relational agent and driver of mission amongst young people: Youth Apart (1996, p.36), Ward (1997, p.43), Green and Christian (1998), Senter III et al (2001, p.80), Sudworth et al (2007, p.11) Borgman (1997, p.30), Dean (2004, p.183), Savage et al (2006, pp.122-135), Root (2007, p.62) and Pimlott and Pimlott (2008, p.75) all have relationships as a pivotal and central theme9. For Sudworth et al (2007, p.10), this has become a new paradigm within a post-Christendom context10. With this in mind, the youth ministry practitioners see relationships as central to their mission amongst non-churched young people - it is the thread that intertwines and weaves through their faith in practice11. Moreover, in the practice of the youth ministers, it is the youth ministry literature that acts as the normative voice for practice, importantly, this normative voice is louder and guides practice more than the ecclesial traditions of which they are part.

Therefore, relationships are a constructed practice for youth ministry, they are meaningful and meaning making. Relationships are meaningful because they are the medium of the mission and they are meaning making because they carry and communicate the faith, message and acts of mission of the youth minister12.

Consequently, the overarching theme of relationships as communicative acts, so constructed as practice, becomes the medium, act and the message, the energy for the transmission and communication of the Gospel amongst young people, resonating with the thoughts of

Nonetheless, in actual practice, this extremely complex and nuanced ministry is summed up through the words and themes of: relationships, like Jesus, being there, and time and journey. My term for this is theological shorthand. This theological shorthand reveals an embedded theology that evokes and has a connection with the wider theological picture of the Christian Tradition, yet this broader tradition is not expressed.

This is a ‘thin’ description of practice (Geertz 1973), this is ‘thin’ theology13. What I mean by this is that what is expressed reveals an enacted theology that evokes and has a relationship to a wider, deeper, richer set of beliefs from within the Christian Tradition, but this is expressed as shorthand, like a series of motifs and marks, it is a partial, a thin interpretation and theological description of the complexity of actual practice. These motifs and marks are the terms of relationship, like Jesus, being there and time and journey, yet paradoxically these descriptions are very meaningful in the animation of practice, and they point and are connected to a deeper theological reality14. Therefore, the theological shorthand expression of the complexities of practice is like a pencil sketch; this can be beautiful, meaningful and communicative. Yet, if examined closely, the complexities of enacted and lived theology embedded within practice can be seen in full-colour, as a full colour image, shimmering with light and shade, rich in depth and texture.

At the heart of this theological shorthand lies a problem with the theological expression of youth ministry.

There is a lightweight, thin and shorthand expression of theological thought around the use of the term relationship (Youth Apart (1996), Borgman (1997), Savage et al (2006), Sudworth et al (2007), Pimlott and Pimlott (2008)). Within these examples of the literature there is a very limited verbalization of the richness and theological depth of relationships or of the themes and theological capital of this within the Christian tradition. The richness of this term is not articulated and importantly, not drawn upon or expressed in the ‘lived in’ practice of youth ministers. That said, within the literature, Ward (1997, p.43) begins to give a deeper definition of the term relationship locating this within God’s mission to the world. Dean (2004, p.91) also

7 Root (2007) is critical of how relationships have functioned in this way within youth ministry.

8 Savage et al (2006, p.162) see prior mission, by drawing on the work of Ann Morisy, as appropriate contact and seeking an appropriate starting point with those who have little or no knowledge of the faith. However, this concept was not expressed by the youth ministers.

9 Griffiths (2008, 2013) is critical of how relationships, seen through ‘Chronos’ time, have become the dominant mode of mission within youth ministry.

10 This has elements that resonate with the themes of relationships, like Jesus, being there, time and journey. In this new paradigm it is the modes of relational, incarnational, long term and encounter with God that reverberate with the themes articulated by the youth ministers.

11 Root (2007, p.70) argues that this finds its expression as the cultural tool of relationalism that is enacted as personal influence. It finds foundation within the theological commitment to a personal relationship with Christ. This relationship is so central that it forms the core of the evangelical universe; it distinguishes them from non-evangelicals and non-Christians and personal relationships guide strategies of engagement across all other structures of culture, whether in family, government or larger society. Therefore, relationalism also guides youth ministry as missionary endeavour.

12 McLuhan (1964) ‘The Medium is the Message’, sees that a symbiotic relationships exits by which the medium influences how the message is perceived.

13 Following Ryle, Geertz (1973) holds that anthropology’s task is that of explaining cultures through ‘thick’ description which specifies many details, conceptual structures and meanings. This is opposed to ‘thin description’ this can be a factual account without any interpretation, therefore, a thin description for Geertz, is not only an insufficient account it may also be a misleading one.

14 The ‘four point’ expression of the gospel and Biblical story is an example of this. See: www.the4points.com . The four points represent the good news of the Christian message: God loves me, I have sinned, Jesus died for me, I need to decide to live for God. In addition, the brand WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) is another.

YOUTH MINISTRY AND THEOLOGICAL SHORTHAND

15

articulates a fuller understanding of relationships through ‘being there’ locating relationships beyond the focus of the individual as expressed through Ward (1997) and within the practice of the congregation. However, it is Root (2007)15 who gives the most articulate expression of the term relationships within current youth ministry.

Nonetheless, at the level of articulated practice, there is disengagement between the depth of theological expression of relationships found in Ward (1997), Dean (2004) and Root (2007) and the reality of lived practice.

Therefore, this theological shorthand expression of the complexities and nuances of practice is worth exploring further, moreover, there is an interrelation between the themes of relationships, like Jesus, being there, time and journey. Relationships that function as communicative acts, as places of connection and transmission, as circuits of influence are interrelated to and carry the second theme of being like Jesus. Being like Jesus, within the expression of the youth ministers, is seen as a model, the imitation of Jesus. This resonates through the literature on youth ministry and is expressed through Ward (1997, p.45), Pimlott and Pimlott (2008, p.75) and Griffiths (2013, p.30). As Dean (2004, p.46) sees, ‘imitating Christ’ has long been a staple of youth ministry16. However, Jesus as model again acts as ‘theological shorthand’, yet, like Jesus, encompasses a richness of ideas and theological capital, including the incarnation17, and mimesis18, yet, this aspect of practice is expressed in relatively simple terms. ‘Like Jesus’ as ‘model’ is how the youth minister practitioners enact mission amongst non-churched young people; but this is only part of the theological picture, as the reality of Christological participation, of being ‘in Christ’ is not expressed, revealing the question of where is Jesus in relation to practice open and non-conclusive.

The problem is that in enacting practice like Jesus as model, the person of Jesus operates at the level of an idea; it becomes a model for how to minister. There is a separation between like Jesus and participating within the risen reality of Christ’s presence as the power of mission. Enacting practice like Jesus removes us from who he is cosmically and distances us from his risen person and the Jesus of History.19 Being there is the enacted presence of the second, like Jesus. Being there acts as theological shorthand and a partial description of the complexities, the joys and sorrows of lived practice amongst young people.

Being there for young people is a performed theological moment in time and space through which the youth

ministers act as a ‘symbol’ (Tillich 1968). As a ‘symbol’, they embody qualities of that which they participate in (Jesus); what they point towards, however, this is not articulated - only the language of model is used and is seen as being like Jesus. The theme of being there reverberates through the literature: Ward (1997, p.59), Borgman (1997, p.28), Green and Christian (1998, p.21)20, Dean (2004, pp.90-91, 176-195), Sudworth et al (2007, p.11), Root (2007, p.124), Pimlott and Pimlott (2008, p.75, pp.141-145) all express elements of this practice. Furthermore, through the motif of being there, as expressed by the practitioners, it is discovered that mission is primarily focused on the individual youth minister and is not explicitly articulated in regards to the congregation or wider church. There is a lack of ecclesiology which risks un-tethering youth ministry practice from the tradition; this is not surprising, when it is the literature that can be seen as the normative voice within practice. That said, there is a corrective to this lack of ecclesiology. Ward (1997, p.65) argues that church is ‘not an optional extra’, and Green and Christian (1998, p.13) note that young people are to learn the art of stewardship of the church; Sudworth et al (2007, pp12-13, 102-114) say that young people need to be part of a worshiping community; Youth Apart (1996, p.37) sees the church as the aim of the Gospel; and Senter III et al (2001, pp.1-35) have a focus on an inclusive congregational approach. Moreover, both Dean (2004, p.91) and Root (2007, pp.17, 197-217) seek to locate the practice of being there to a congregation and a Christian community. In spite of this, there is, again, a level of disengagement between youth ministry theology and articulated practice.

If relationships as communicative acts are the threads that run through the expression of practice, and these carry being like Jesus which is expressed through the enacted practice of being there, then the creation of liminal spaces through time21 and journey is what the youth ministry practitioners are aiming for in their enacting of mission amongst non-churched young people. This is a place of wrestling, a place of waiting, a threshold where God can move and act. The creation of a liminal space opens the possibilities for mystery, a space where young people can encounter God. However, the possibility of a liminal space, a place for encountering God, is summed up again as theological shorthand through the notion of time and of journey. The notion of time finds acute resonance in Ward’s (1997, pp.43-60) work22 and resonates with the notion of nurture

15 Root (2007) engages with the concept of relationships through a Christology found and developed through the work of Bonheoffer.

16 Root (2007, p.53) argues that Young Life positioned the ‘incarnation’ as theological justification and the out working of this becomes a ‘pattern’ for ministry, this finds expression in the UK through the work of Ward (1997) and reverberates through current youth ministry practice. For a critique on the history of Young Life, see: Tanis (2013).

17 This rich theological term is referred to in the literature (Ward (1997), Sudworth et al (2007), Pimlott and Pimlott (2008), Griffiths (2013)) however, it is not expressed by the youth ministers, here, it is ‘replaced’ with the word relationship.

18 Dean (2004, p.47) sees that the Greek term ‘mimesis’, which we translate as ‘imitation’. ‘Mimesis’ means identification with the original and involves ‘methexis’ or participation.

19 See Yoder (1972, p.103). See also Vanhoozer (2010, p.280-294) 20 For a robust critique of this ‘Accompanying’ framework see Thomson (2007, p.246-252) 21 For an alternative approach see Griffiths (2008, 2013).

22 Ward (1997) adopts the five stage framework from ‘Young Life’, this takes a ‘long time’ and is a long-term process in building and establishing the relationships.

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and the implied time this takes in the work of Pimlott and Pimlott (2008, pp.141-145) and the idea of gift within Green and Christian (1998, p.21). The idea of journey again finds resonance within the literature; Green and Christian (1998) and Ward (1997, p.51) sees that entering the social world of young people is a spiritual journey.

This also echoes in the work of Sudworth et al (2007, p.13): that youth ministers should lead young people to have encounters with God rather than just belief in God. Additionally, in the work of Pimlott and Pimlott (2008, pp.145, 153) and Savage et al (2006, p.168) the word encounter and the idea of journey is expressed; again this complex and nuanced practice is summed up through the theological shorthand expression of time and journey.

IMPLICATIONS This idea of theological shorthand is significant. The practice of the practitioners evokes and reveals an embedded theology that fuels a way of life and service amongst young people. This way of life has a focus on right action (orthopraxis), on performing a function; it

evokes and has a connection to a deeper set of ‘right’ beliefs (orthodoxy) from the Christian Tradition, yet this is thinly expressed. Un-tethering youth ministry practice from the ecclesial tradition, the Biblical story and richness of the theological discussion, limits and restrains actual practice through the partial and thin (Geertz 1973) description of what is happening theologically. Profoundly, the level of theological expressions seems to be enough to sustain and fuel the practice of the youth ministers. However, this is a paradox, for if the theological horizons, this theological shorthand of practitioners could be expanded a vision of what is possible, what is out there could be explored.

Youth ministers could be invited to explore the dramatic, imaginative landscapes of theology and tradition, not as controlling interpretive frameworks, but as theological re-imagination, to discover and re-discover the ‘strange new worlds’ (Barth 1978, p.33) of the Bible, Christian Tradition and theology. A move, so enabled, would provide a rich and ‘thick’ (Geertz 1973) grammar to describe and articulate practice, seeing the richness of the Biblical story, Christian Tradition and theology in the service of contemporary lived youth ministry.

David is Lecturer in Theology and Ministry at Oasis College of Higher Education. He has 18 years experience of working with young people within a church ministry context. David’s research interests are the interplay and dialogue between Trinitarian theology, missiology and youth ministry practice.

David is married to Caroline, is Dad to Dan and Lydia, enjoys good coffee and is a surfer.

REFERENCES Astley, J. (2002). Ordinary Theology: Looking, Listening and Learning in Theology.

Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.

Barth, K. (1978). The Strange New World Within The Bible in The Word of God and the Word of Man, translated by Douglas Horton, Gloucester: Peter Smith.

Borgman, D. (1997). When Kumbaya Is Not Enough: A Practical Theology for Youth Ministry. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers.

Riessman, C. K. (1993). Narrative Analysis. London: Sage Publishing Root, A. (2007). Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry: From Strategy of Influence to a Theology of Incarnation. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP. Savage, S. B., Collins, S., & Mayo, B. (2006). Making Sense of Generation Y: The World View of 15 to 25 Year Olds. London: Church House Publishing.

Brierley, D. (2003). Joined Up: An Introduction to Youthwork and Ministry. Carlisle: Authentic.

Senter, M. H., Black, W., Clark, C., & Nel, M. (2001). Four Views of Youth Ministry and the Church: Inclusive Congregational, Preparatory, Missional, Strategic.

Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan.

Cameron, H., Bhatti, D., Duce, C., Sweeney, J., Watkins, C. (2010) Talking about God in Practice. London: SCM Press.

Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks; London: Sage Publishing.

Christie, A. (2012) Ordinary Christology. Farnham: Ashgate Church of England Board of Education. (1996). Youth a Part: Young People and the Church. London: Church House Publishing.

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research Methods in Education (6th ed.). London: Routledge.

Dean, K. C. (2004). Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans.

Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books Green, M., & Christian, C. (1998). Accompanying Young People on Their Spiritual Quest. London: National Society/Church House Publishing.

Griffiths, S. (2008). A Christlike Ministry. Cambridge: YTC Press.

Griffiths, S. (2013). Models for Youth Ministry. London: SPCK Press.

Holmes, S.R (2013). The Spirit, the Saints and Imagining Holiness in a Changing Culture. Unpublished.

Shepherd, N.M. (2009). Trying to be Christian: A qualitative study of young people’s participation in two Youth Ministry projects. Unpublished KCL PhD Thesis.

Sudworth, T., Cray, G., & Russell, C. (2007). Mission Shaped Youth: Rethinking Young People and Church. London: Church House Publishing.

Swinton, J., & Mowat, H. (2006). Practical Theology and Qualitative Research.

London: SCM Press.

Tannis S.G (2013) The History and Influence of the Young Life Organization on Youth Ministry in the United State. Unpublished.

Thomson, J. (2007). Telling the Difference. Cambridge: YTC Press.

Tillich, P. (1951). Systematic Theology (Vol 1). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Tillich, P. (1962). Dynamics of Faith, New York: Doubleday.

Vanhoozer, K.J. (2010). Remythologizing Theology. New York: Cambridge.

Ward, P. (1997). Youthwork and the Mission of God. London: SPCK.

Moschella, M, C. (2008) Ethnography as Pastoral Practice. Cleveland, Ohio: The Pilgrim Press.

Ward, P. (2013). Rehydration: Gospel and Practice in the Contemporary Church.

Unpublished.

Pimlott, J., & Pimlott, N. (2008). Youth Work after Christendom. Milton Keynes (UK), Colorado Springs (USA), Hyderbyad: Paternoster.

Yoder, H.J. (1972). The Politics of Jesus, Notra Dame: University of Notra Dame Press.

YOUTH MINISTRY AND THEOLOGICAL SHORTHAND

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is faith development theory still fit for purpose?

CAROLYN EDWARDS 18

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At a recent consultation for an ‘online children’s Bible engagement’ project, there was much discussion around the table about the word ‘development’. Those that are passionate, and indeed learned, about children’s spirituality argued strongly that this word and its associated expectations of measurement and success could not be used when talking about something as ‘ethereal’ and ‘fragile’ as children’s spirituality (Nye 2011). On the other hand, those involved in the discipleship of children, or the creation of ‘product’ to serve that discipleship were concerned that without some sort of ‘goal’ or expected outcome, there was no way of seeing whether we are meeting the needs of the children as Christian disciples of the present and future.

Luke 2:52 tells us that, in between the incident at the Temple where all who heard what the adolescent Jesus had to say were ‘amazed at his understanding’, and his baptism at what is considered to be the start of his adult ministry, ‘Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man’. At its most simplistic interpretation, a demonstration that development does happen, even in the Son of God! But perhaps it is our understanding of the word ‘development’ that is flawed, based as it often is on a Piagetian paradigm used widely to assess child development within the educational setting.

In our materialistic world ‘FAITH’ appears to be one of the many things that we should ‘HAVE’ In our materialistic world ‘Faith’ appears to be one of the many things that we should ‘have’. News reports talk about organisations failing because their profit has grown by only a small percent. In that soundbite report the processes of investment both financial and human, the response to external stimuli, and internal strengths and weaknesses, is forgotten. The endeavour, and achievement (sometimes against the odds) of hundreds, if not thousands, of people is reduced to a statistic.

It is this sense of ‘development’ that cannot be used to consider something that is organic and constantly changing as human beings encounter and respond to God and his part in their lives. When we see ‘faith’ as something that we own or requires return on investment, we lose the wonder of relationship with the Almighty.

Writing over 30 years ago, Fowler – often considered the ‘father of faith development theory’ urges us to

QUESTIONING ‘FAITH’ // COMMENTARY

consider faith as a verb rather than a noun (1981:10-19).

Walter Wangerin Jr. (1986), in his fascinating narrative on faith development, emphasises this active, organic approach by talking readily about ‘faithing’. Fowler’s description of ‘faith’ as a human capacity resonates with many of the ways we describe spirituality now – in terms of connection with the transcendent Other (i.e. God), others, and the world around us, and how we experience awe and wonder and meaning-making and purpose through those connections. Whilst I agree that there are critiques that can be made of his developmental model, I think there is a great deal of acknowledged wisdom in what he says based on the thinking of theologians like Tillich (1957), Niebuhr (1972) and Cantwell Smith (1973).

Feminist theologians have critiqued Fowler in the same way that feminist social scientists have critiqued the likes of Piaget and Kohlberg as purveying models that are androcentric in their approach in that they are linear and achievement/crisis based (see Slee, 2004). Certainly what we now understand of cognitive development is that it is more nuanced than previously annotated.

Our growing understanding of ‘social conditions’ like Asperger’s and autism, and the complexity of neurological processes that promote things like empathy help us to see that ‘being human’ and ‘growing up’ is not easily delineated. Neurological research is showing us that human cognitive and hormonal development continues in to the mid twenties (Casey et al, 2008).

Although this acceptance of ‘extended adolesence’ has been critiqued by those like Frank Furedi, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent - who believe that Western culture has ‘infantilised’ young people - surely this must challenge models that see childhood, adolescence and adulthood as discreetly defined stages, and must encourage us to acknowledge that people’s life experience and therefore presumably their faith experience is different from that observed when many of what are considered to be key developmental theories were being drawn up some decades ago.

Bruce Powers (1982) in his model of Faith Development talks about those between the ages of 7 and 18 being in the stage of ‘indoctrination’, where they are busy mastering of content of faith. In Galatians (5:22-23), Paul talks about the fruits of the spirit. Whilst there has been many a sermon series designed to consider what this looks like for adults and even young people, I think more work needs to be done on what ‘being Christ like’ means for children. For instance, what does ‘self control’ look like for a two year old who is striving for autonomy whilst still very dependent on adult carers? What does forbearance look like for an eleven year old making the transition from primary to secondary education? What do they need to ‘know’ about Christian dogma and doctrine to enable them to do this?

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If ‘DEVELOPMENT’ is not a helpful word, then how can we describe ‘CHANGE’ in ways that are informative and meaningful?

Many of the faith development models start with the foundation of trust – faith experienced through the consistent and reliable love of adult carers in infanthood. How is this understood by those that have not experienced this? I would argue that much of our understanding of faith development is framed within a ‘safe’ Western worldview. What impact does consideration of the ‘Divine terror’ (Mathews McGinnis, 2008) experienced by children and young people in the Exodus, or the reality of life in present day war torn countries, have on a foundation of trust? Does faith then become a non-starter? How do we fill in the gaps? How do we include the intervention of the Holy Spirit as a mediator of healing and wholeness?

CAROLYN EDWARDS

So, in conclusion, yes we need to have faith development theories; metaphors and models that help us to understand what we see is taking place, and enable us to enhance and encourage changes in the style and nature of the faithing that our children and young people (and for that matter adults) are doing. Too often I think the models have been taken in isolation.

Westerhoff’s rings may be familiar to many students of ministry but how much is understood of his model of ‘Community of Faith Enculturation’ (2012)? Certainly what has been demonstrated in the findings of the Fuller Youth Institute popularised in the ‘Sticky Faith’ programme is that encouraging ‘faithing’ that continues into adulthood is the responsibility of the whole community of faith, and therefore the whole community of faith needs to have a better understanding of what ‘faithing’ might feel like at particular ages and stages.

If ‘development’ is not a helpful word, then how can we describe ‘change’ in ways that are informative and meaningful? Perhaps instead of linear, stage related models we need to be taking the elements within these models that are evidenced in the lives of those that are ‘faithing’ and use them to help us think in terms of ‘journey and pattern’, ‘conversation and relationship’ and ‘cycles and phases’. What we want above all is for children and young people to know God and live in relationship with him, models and theories can help us facilitate this so there is some ‘fitness’ for purpose - our job though as reflective practitioners is to be making them ‘fitter’!

RECOMMENDED READING THE MEANING AND END OF RELIGION

by W. Cantwell Smith EXPERIENTIAL RELIGION

by R Niebuhr STICKY FAITH, EVERYDAY IDEAS TO BUILD LASTING FAITH IN YOUR KIDS

by K.E. Powell & C Clark GROWING FAITH

by B Powers WOMEN’S FAITH DEVELOPMENT, PATTERNS AND PROCESSES

by N Slee

Carolyn Edwards is an experienced Children’s Ministry practitioner having worked for over 25 years in a variety of church and school contexts. She is Deputy Director at Oxford CYM, and Senior Tutor for Children and Family Work. She is passionate about children’s spirituality and engaging them with the Bible and has written material for Scripture Union for many years. Her first book ‘Slugs and Snails and Puppy Dogs’ Tails’ about helping boys connect with God was published by IVP last year, and she has really enjoyed travelling around the country to talk about it. She is the very proud mother of two teenage girls and a younger boy, and loves good coffee and laughter with friends.

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PRÁXEIS | FAITH IN ACTION

"Training with CYM has helped me to develop holistically and encouraged me to become more confident personally and professionally."

Sarah, Engage student & Church Youth worker #inspringchange

“Making the decision to carve out this period of time to have the space to think, learn, be challenged and supported, to support others, try new things, see different practice …..will be the best decision you ever make!”

Sam, CYM BA graduate & Director of MSYN #inspiringchange

“The MA from CYM is academically stretching, theologically robust, and practically relevant for ministry today.”

Ali, CYM MA graduate & Diocesan Youth Advisor #inspiringchange

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NIGEL ROBERTS 22

PRﾃ々EIS | FAITH IN ACTION

In 2012 Mark Chater and Clive Erricker published a book entitled – Does Religious Education Have a Future?1 It was the latest in a long line of texts dissecting the perceived crisis in the teaching of the subject. The question, about the future of Religious Education, has been asked throughout the life of the subject but the questioning has intensified in recent years. As long ago as 2003 Penny Thompson2 recognised the road schools were taking. In her book she identified the fragility of the subject and how easily it could disappear under pressure from a burgeoning curriculum.

Now we live in the world she foresaw. Under the current government’s education policy the value of Religious Education has been calculated in terms of school league tables and that value is nil. The subject does not feature in the English Baccalaureate. The numbers of people taking it at GCSE has plummeted and the number of places at training colleges for RE specialists has been cut dramatically.3 Add to this the ongoing debate about the role of collective worship4 and we might be forgiven for thinking the role of faith in education is in decline and with it the role of the Christian Youth Worker in schools and colleges.

But that is not necessarily the case. Whilst Religious Education may be under pressure the subject has a number of advocates who are arguing for its continuance and development. The RE council of England and Wales have recently published their own curriculum review to sit alongside the national review commissioned by the Education Secretary.5 This review places the subject at the heart of education and emphasises its value for student’s spiritual development. It aims to transform the subject into one, which can be seen as academically rigorous and educationally challenging. This is all to the good.

Alongside this is the continuing commitment to the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development (SMSC) of all students at school and college. Enshrined in statute and inspected by OFSTED6 spiritual development remains a topic schools cannot ignore, and what is more there is some evidence that schools which take it seriously also enjoy high positions in league tables.7

But what does it look like? How is it measured? Who oversees it? These are questions that continue to occupy teachers, academics and faith groups alike.

Salisbury Diocese have gone so far as to produce their own measures for those schools for which they are responsible8.

Increasingly it would seem that schools are looking to chaplains to help them in this area. The growth of academies with a faith foundation would certainly be one of the reasons for the increased numbers of chaplains, both lay and ordained, but there appears to be an upward trend across all schools as well as in the FE sector; a fact that was noted with some alarm by the National Secular Society in their report on evangelicals in education.9

There would seem to be a natural fit for youth workers in the role of chaplain.

There would seem to be a natural fit for youth workers in the role of chaplain. Diane Tregale identifies seven facets of mission in the work of a chaplain in education: priest, pastor, prophet, missioner, discipler, servant, teacher10.

Whilst it would be wrong to suggest that a trained youth worker would be able to fulfill all the roles; the values and skills learned both in college and ‘on the job’ suggest that chaplaincy could be the name given to what they already do. As they accompany young people on their journeys they, like St Martin of Tours, share their cloak, share their lives with young people in need.

Kitty Te Riele has introduced the idea of a Pedagogy of Hope in all schools.11 She talks about someone, usually in her experience a class teacher, being prepared to interrupt the lives of young people; to present them with a range of alternative possibilities rather than facing them with a statistical probability – whether that be failure, exclusion, imprisonment or whatever is being suggested as the likely outcome of a young person’s life. This approach exemplifies all that is good in youth work as

1 Chater, M and Erricker,C (2012) Does Religious Education Have a Future? London. Routledge.

2 Thompson, P (2003) Whatever Happened to Religious Education? Liverpool. James Clarke 3 Paton, G. (2014). Religious education subjected to ‘rank discrimination’. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10656555/Religious-education-subjected-to-rank-discrimination.html.

4 The results of a recent BBC radio survey showed that nationally the majority of schools no longer held acts of collective worship at either primary or secondary level. comres. (2012). BBC Collective Worship Survey. Available: http:// www.comres.co.uk/poll/523/bbc-collective-worship-poll.htm.

5 Blaylock, L (2013). Religious Education Curriculum Review. London: Religious Education Council of England and Wales.

6 OFSTED (2013). Framework for School Inspection. London: OFSTED. p5.

7 Garner,R. (2014). Goves Education Revolution. Available: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/goves-revolution-pupils-return-to-traditional-subjects-in-huge-numbers-9081288.html?origin=internalSearch.

8 Uncredited (2012). Progression in Spirituality. Salisbury: Sallisbury Diocese. p1-5.

9 Uncredited (2013). Evangelism in State Schools . London: National Secular Society. p2.

10 Tregale (2011). Fresh Expressions of School Chaplaincy. Cambridge: Grove. p 5.

11 Te Riele, K (2009). Making Schools Different. London: Sage. p 66.

CHAPLAINCY - THE FUTURE? // COMMENTARY

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This Pedagogy of Hope is fundamental to chaplaincy.

well as reflects the character of Christ who was Himself prepared to interrupt lives and show people that they did have a choice; they did have potential, even in the face of death itself.

This Pedagogy of Hope is fundamental to chaplaincy.

Kitty Te Riele is Australian and she has seen her ideas adapted by the growing chaplaincy movement in her own country. Its success in changing lives has been acknowledged at high levels in government, who also recognise the tensions that arise when chaplaincy is seen as a front for evangelism.

Chaplaincy is not evangelism. Not in schools, not in Youth Offending Centres, not in hospitals. But it is mission. It is the accessible and available presence of Christ and the unconditional servant hearted practice of his love in any given context. But if it is not evangelism, how will churches view youth workers who adopt this role rather than that of someone ‘presenting the faith’ in more traditional means through assemblies and RE lessons? I believe that the church recognises the value of the role and that the presence of a chaplain in a school is an important aspect of what the church has to offer to society. It is not an alternative to RE as a youth work ministry. It is not something that needs to be done because other opportunities are fading; it is something much more.

NIGEL ROBERTS

Anthony Buckley12 relates a story of a school chaplain who helped a family linked to a school. He concludes ‘the chaplain was there, known to the school community and part of it, the church was easy to find. The colleague knew nothing about the parish system or how to find a vicar, but she didn’t need to’ (my emphases).

Chaplaincy done well, by Youth workers or clergy suitably equipped, makes the church easy to find. Makes Christ real. That is what the aim of Christian youth work has always been. So in one way chaplaincy isn’t just our future, it’s our foundation.

12 Buckley, A (2013). Help, There’s a School in my Parish. Cambridge: Grove. P22.

RECOMMENDED READING SCHOOL CHAPLAINCY : AN INTRODUCTION

by D Pohlman FRESH EXPRESSIONS OF SCHOOL CHAPLAINCY

by D Tregale SCHOOL ETHOS AND CHAPLAINCY

by D O’Malley BEING A CHAPLAIN

by M Threlfall-Holmes AT THE HEART OF EDUCATION

by J Norman

Nigel was educated at Nottingham University where he studied Law. He gained a post graduate diploma in Business Studies before embarking on a career in the mines and quarry industry where he specialised in environmental and planning issues. After ten years he felt called into youth ministry and has worked with YFC as a centre director and national educational advisor for over 25 years. He also works in education and for the last ten years has been involved in performing arts and extended schools.

He has co -written a number of text books for schools including the Explore series and Express community through Schools and is a regular contributor to various magazines on education.

He is married to Gillian with two children and two grandchildren

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PRÁXEIS | FAITH IN ACTION

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SAM DONOGHUE 26

PRﾃ々EIS | FAITH IN ACTION

Being asked to say what you see as the big issues facing something that you care about a great deal is always a bit dangerous. There is a risk of committing to paper a huge rant that gives the impression that you think that everything is hopeless, and that everything that happens in churches for children is just driving them away. Another issue is that people assume that I have the answers to the questions I ask when I’m very much still working on them! We may never quite solve them but it’s really important that we think deeply about them both in theory and then as an exploration of how we outwork them in our practice.

Sadly, not enough people are doing the reflecting needed and so we have the sad situation that people like John Westerhoff and Rebecca Nye write landmark books about and they have little impact on what happens in churches. Westerhoff’s book is as old as me and is an extraordinary work that seeks to understand how a child’s faith changes as they grow older. Its influence, however, has been limited as we remain locked in a cycle of pragmatism, using the same old resources that seem to get us through the week and getting away with it because generally keeping a group of children engaged for an hour on a Sunday isn’t actually as hard as we make out! The problem is that it’s not working as well as we like to think; we continue to struggle to retain children as they go through their teenage years and while numbers are never as bad as the doomsayers would have us believe, neither are they a source of huge encouragement.

One place we need to think again is the way that most of our models of children’s work are primarily education based.

Children are being taught about what it means to be a Christian and how to conform to the culture of the church. This model is very comfortable, it’s very measurable: you can have a quiz at the end and check the children have remembered that Zacchaeus was up a sycamore tree or that the parable of the Good Samaritan is about helping other people, we can look at the craft projects and see that they have been stuck together well and the colouring hasn’t gone over the lines. Most of all we can see that the children have behaved well and conformed to what we expected of them, but all the time within the child is a spiritual life, already connected to God that needs you to get out the way and let them

encounter God again. All you need to do is support, shape and facilitate this process, as Rebecca Nye reminds us: children are born ‘God compatible’ and don’t need us to do everything for them.

...we need to slow our programs down and let children have space to think, reflect and find their own place with God. This means that we need to slow our programs down and let children have space to think, reflect and find their own place with God. We need to draw on spiritual practice and some of what often gets called ‘alternative worship’ to create sacred places where our children are learning how to feed their souls and find God for themselves. Ivy Beckwith sums this up nicely when she says that we are in the work of ‘giving children the spiritual tools to last their whole lives’.

The limitations of an education based model are really exposed when we try and connect our children’s ministry to the church’ youth work, but this lack of connection is another significant issue I see. The lovely children that smile back at you in your children’s group will grow up and become teenagers.We need to acknowledge that and realise that our job as children’s workers is to nurture a faith that will be deep enough and robust enough to thrive in the life of a teenager. They will want to think for themselves and the things you taught them as a child will be attacked by their newly acquired critical thinking.

Westerhoff would characterise this as the switch between a faith based on affiliation and belonging to a ‘Searching faith’ that needs to find its own beliefs and values.

This means that I need to change my methods so that I’m not teaching children Bible stories, but giving children the stories themselves as gifts together with the theological tools to explore them themselves. Godly Play is excellent at this, and while I would acknowledge the concerns some would have around catechesis in this story telling method, I see the power in wondering together with children about how the stories speak to us and where we feel they impact our lives. Suddenly my role is totally transformed - I am no longer the teacher with the children needing me as filter between them and the Bible; I have become a fellow pilgrim here to learn from their insights as much as to add my own. All this means is that when they reach their teenage years and they want to explore to find their own beliefs and values,

BIG ISSUES FACING MINISTRY TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES // COMMENTARY

27

they know that church is the place to do so and that they have a framework for theological thought; rather than being held back in a place where the thinking is done for them and truth is non-negotiable.

My final issue I would like to touch on is what it means for a child to be a member of our churches. Children live in a strange dichotomy of being both our future and our present and we forget either of these at our peril.

Much of what I spoken about so far is about nurture that equips them for life but we must also ensure that children are fully members of our congregations now.

Too much children’s ministry is about holding the children in a ‘ghetto’ until they are able to join in with the adults without disturbing them, the move towards ‘kids church’ has meant that some these ghettos look amazing but they still keep away from the main body of the Christ. They need to be part of it; warts and all.

They need to be included when the church worships together as much as possible, especially when we share communion, but they also need to lead as well as be led and serve as well as be served because that is what being part of a community is about. After all, it’s in a multi-age, faith community that you will always find the best conditions for a child’s faith to grow.

RECOMMENDED READING WILL OUR CHILDREN HAVE FAITH

by J Westerhoff III CHILDREN’S SPIRITUALITY; WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT MATTERS

by R Nye FORMATIONAL CHILDREN’S MINISTRY

by I Beckwith CHILDREN’S MINISTRY IN THE WAY OF JESUS

by D Cainos & I Beckwith

Children live in a strange dichotomy of being both our future and our present and we forget either of these at our peril

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UNDERSTANDING CHILDREN, UNDERSTANDING GOD

by R Lamont

SAM DONOGHUE Sam Donoghue is the Head of Children’s and Youth Ministry Support for the Diocese of London and the Co-Editor of Childrenswork Magazine. He lives in South Essex where he enjoys baking bread, riding a bike and is a volunteer children’s worker.

PRÁXEIS | FAITH IN ACTION

1ST-4TH DECEMBER Chaplaincy Skills Bristol CYM

12TH-15TH JANUARY Mentoring Bristol CYM

12TH – 15TH JANUARY Higher Chaplaincy Midlands CYM

12TH – 15TH JANUARY Paediatric Chaplaincy Midlands CYM

12TH – 15TH JANUARY Schools chaplaincy Midlands CYM

12TH & 13TH JANUARY Play and Creativity Midlands CYM

15TH JANUARY, 5TH & 24TH FEBRUARY Work Based Learning Cambridge CYM

9TH & 10TH FEBRUARY Play and Creativity Midlands CYM 16TH – 19TH FEBRUARY Play & Creativity Bristol CYM

16TH - 19TH MARCH Training Skills Midlands CYM

20TH-23RD APRIL

Training Skills (including optional Level 3 Education & Training Certificate which replaces PTLLS) - Bristol CYM

11TH – 14TH MAY RE -Midlands CYM 18TH – 21ST MAY

Detached Youth Work Bristol CYM

WORSHIP & SPIRITUALITY (dates on request) Cambridge CYM

PIONEER SCHOOL dates on request Cambridge CYM

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THEMES FROM REVELATION FOR YOUTH MINISTRY BY REVD DR STEVE GRIFFITHS DISCIPLING GENERATION Y Themes from Revelation for youth ministry

BY STEVE GRIFFITHS

Available now, priced ﾂ｣7.99*, ISBN 978 1 84101 804 1, pb, 144 pages. http://www.brfonline.org.uk/9781841018041/ *Price correct on date of printing

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PRﾃ々EIS | FAITH IN ACTION

Having begun as a series of articles in Youthwork magazine, Steve Griffiths’ latest book sets out to explore some practical ways of approaching discipleship with young people through the lens of some key themes from the book of Revelation. Through ten short but densely packed chapters, spanning little over a hundred pages, he offers plenty of helpful reflections on discipling Generation Y, those he defines as being “born between the 1980’s and 2000’s”. Taking what remains for many a confusing and even frightening book of the Bible, he delivers fascinating insights arguing that, when it comes to Revelation, “a great deal of erroneous teaching has been given in recent years”.

Through each chapter Griffiths proceeds to weave together the three strands of his observations on the culture of Generation Y, the well-documented failings of many churches to effectively engage with the youth, and the biblical narrative drawn almost exclusively from Revelation. He argues that instead of encouraging young people simply to wonder ‘What would Jesus do?’ it is critical that young people instead learn to ask themselves the more culturally relevant and arguably more authentic question ‘What would God have me do, as me, in this situation?’ This presents the platform to offer his suggestions as to how the gospel might best be shared with young adults trying to make sense of the Christian faith in 21st Century Britain.

There is much to like about this book as Griffiths, in his characteristically assertive but eminently readable style, sets out an understanding of Revelation not as a linear map of things to come, but rather as a cyclical view of the same period of time viewed from seven very different perspectives. Each of these seven aspects, he argues, spans the time since the first and second comings of Christ, offering a picture of ‘completeness’ rooted in historical reality. Thus Revelation, he contends, remains vitally relevant in the “here and now”, providing the key to exploring faith with young people. Successive chapters consider the Christian understanding of God, the Church, Satan, suffering, social injustice, final judgement, salvation, worship, prayer and living as a disciple, all viewed through the lens of St. John’s letter during his exile on the island of Patmos. Perhaps most helpful are the questions posed at the end of each chapter to enable the reader, or potentially a team of church leaders or youth work volunteers, to consider the consequences for their own lives, the church and their work with Generation Y in the light of what has been previously considered. If you have the capacity to approach this book as a springboard to personal growth and reflection, in terms of engaging effectively in mission, then it is a rich resource that may well challenge and reshape some of your current thinking.

However, those looking for a ‘how to’ book may be disappointed. Griffiths defends this project well within his introduction and, successfully writing his own critique,

DISCIPLING GENERATION Y // BOOK REVIEW

sets out his “three disclaimers”. Firstly it is not intended to be a commentary on the book of Revelation, yet it felt as though this was what he would have loved to have written. It is clear that from his earliest days as a Christian the sixty-sixth book has grabbed his attention as “the crowning glory of the Bible” and I sincerely hope he is one day able to write the commentary that is undoubtedly within his capabilities. Secondly he acknowledges that it is “not a sociology of Generation Y” and those wanting to study (the somewhat problematic) generational theory in any depth would certainly need to look elsewhere. Finally, perhaps inevitably, there are sweeping generalisations throughout that at times detract from the brilliant reflections on Revelation. For all that the diminutive size of the book offers in terms of accessibility, I was left wanting more depth in each area.

Yet what this book does brilliantly is to raise highly pertinent questions that would help anyone involved in youth ministry to consider their own faith in practice and the language used to communicate that faith to young people.

If Revd Nicky Gumbel’s work once tried to help the Baby Boomer generation communicate the basics of Christian faith to Generation X, then Steve Griffiths has successfully managed to restate some central tenets in a way that makes them accessible to Generation Y and those that seek to disciple them. The use of Revelation brings a fresh approach that offers something genuinely new to the field.

With the so-called Generation Z (2000’s onwards) now reaching their early teens, they are set to become the most researched generation in history as media and marketing gurus race to understand how those dubbed as iGen will be defined. It matters that Generation Y are themselves able to express their faith in culturally relevant ways and this book might just be the key to finding a language that enables them to do this. Yet, given that Generation Y could now be in their mid-thirties and have even been involved in Youth Ministry for many years, the Church must surely already begin to consider how we communicate the mystery of faith beyond Generation Y. As fresh challenges face the Church, how will we engage in God’s mission to people of all ages and to the ends of the earth?

Themes from Revelation for Youth Ministry REVIEWED BY ROB TUMILTY 31

www. praxeis-journal.com

ISSUE 2: FAITH IN TRANSITION Available October 2014 TRANSITIONS TO BEING PROFESSIONAL TRANSITION TO CHURCH Young People and Mission CHILDREN TO YOUTH TRANSITIONS FROM YOUTH MESSY TEENAGERS QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE Content correct at time of print

ACADEMIC JOURNAL | CHILDREN, YOUTH AND MISSION

ISSUE 2 | OCT 2014