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Dear Folks:
This summer I’ve been contemplating Youth Ministry in this time and place. In many ways youth have the same needs that I did when I was a teen. They want to connect, they want to be seen, they want to have input into their futures. I was reminded of this when I was in Long Beach at the Western Regional Youth Event. At one particular meal, in the campus dining hall, which had a few circular booths for larger groups, I saw maybe a dozen or more youth piled on top of each other sharing French fries and laughter, just like I had done almost 40 years earlier. I could see friendships deepening and forming as they reached through the laughter and over each other for the fries.
I was part of the youth cohort that was beneficiary to the UCC’s pro-youth movement in the 80s. We learned about the quotas of youth and young adult delegates to various denominational meetings, gatherings and Boards, and we became those delegates. We were engaged, empowered, and encouraged to lead, and several of my friends from that era became pastors.
Youth empowerment is found in the Bible. Jeremiah, when called by God to be a prophet, said, “I don’t know how to speak; I am too young.” God engaged him with, “Do not say that you are too young, but go to the people I send you to…” (Jer. 1:4-8). When Goliath faced down David, “he disdained him for he was only a youth...” (I Sam 17:43). And then David, who was newly empowered by King Saul, reached into his pocket, found a rock and sling-shotted Goliath. As well, Timothy was encouraged by Paul with these words, “Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young…” [I Tim. 4:12]. God doesn’t seem to care about age. Youth and elders are called by God and God’s agents to serve in such a time as this.
In Long Beach, I sat with youth who were more articulate about climate, sexuality, gender issues, and their struggles in the faith than many adults. They were not too young to speak. They were not disdained because of their youth. They were not looked down on because they were young. They were engaged, empowered, encouraged when they spoke to adult leaders of the denomination. When the youngest of our delegation asked a question of an adult speaker, we all cheered him on.
I know there are youth and young adults who are shaping into leaders in our churches. What does it look like to have more young leaders in our churches? Are they disregarded, disdained, dismissed, or are they engaged, empowered, and encouraged? Do we expect them to become like the adults, or are they allowed to pile on each other in a circular booth to reach for laughter and fries?
I have strong opinions about youth ministry, in part because I was in that youth cohort that was lifted up by denominational policies and practices. And, what worked then may not work today. If you have an annual youth Sunday, where the kids run the whole service and choose music to their taste and the adults thin out and go to the cabin that weekend (the kids know that happens), how might you update that practice to be more enjoyed by both the youth and the adults? (Could every Sunday have some youth element?) If you are witnessing kids and their families exit the church after confirmation, does that reflect the Sunday school method of taking kids out of worship to sing and make crafts, and when they join the big church they find it boring?
I am hopeful that we will get this right. I pray that within our covenanted structure, we may find ways to engage, empower, and encourage our youth. I pray that our youth will find meaning in their faith and purpose in the church, and that they will continue to connect and see the value of their participation and leadership.
Peace,
Pastor Tony
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