A universal challenge in the church concerns why young people come and go. Ministers and youth leaders both identified attracting and keeping young people as the biggest challenges to congregational youth work:
(See table in section 1)

"We are an endangered species" - Young Person

"Our church will not be here without our young people." - Minister

"Young people of the church are going to be the church of 20 years time: what are we doing to keep them there?" - Young Person

• There was evidence of encouraging attitudes from young people we do have. The survey were committed to church - 80% attend weekly, 90% at least fortnightly. 89% believe "Jesus really rose from the dead" & 80% that "Jesus Christ is God". 91% believed in "one God".


"I think that what has encouraged me is just in spite of all you hear of a secular culture around us, just to see that young people are still not only interested in the message of Christ, but actively respond to it." - Minister


• Despite this, even where we have good numbers of young people in organisations or church, patterns of them moving on to church membership are poor. When asked about the number of new communicants (under 21) in last 5years, ministers revealed that:
• 34% of churches had 5 or less new communicants (that's no more than 1 per year)
• 60% had 10 or less (2 per year)


• Significantly though, 72% of young people said it is "important to be a church member" so why do so few seem to be doing so? Could it be related to the fact that Only 16% of young people said "it is important to be a Presbyterian".


"I don't think that it should matter…all that should matter is that you are worshiping God and I don't think any of the different denominations should matter" - Young Person


• When asked about their peers' views from the outside, young people suggest the church is seen as boring and irrelevant. 39% agreed with the statement "Church is not appealing to young people" and a further 27% were unsure.


"They all say 'I wouldn't go to church'…I said to a girl in school, she had been kind of wanting to become a Christian and she said 'I'll tell you one thing, being in church is boring' and she went to a Presbyterian church before and it totally put her off. I think a lot of people feel like that - it's just so boring - it's got no relevance for them." - Young Person


• Young people themselves recognise the threats of the current cultural climate with different agendas and worldviews:


"They respect where you are coming from but they just don't see it and a lot of them are looking but they look in the wrong places like alcohol abuse and drug abuse" - Young Person

"I think a lot of people just don't think about it. You know they live for today and whatever comes tomorrow they'll worry about that then." - Young Person

Quote:

 

"Everyone of us knows that churches die down like forests when they do not win the next generation to faith in Jesus Christ. The big question is 'what is it that wins youth to faith and helps them catch their stride as growing Christians? It is not playing at church. It is not unfocussed programmes to occupy their time. It is the good news of the person of Jesus Christ. He is the most winsome fact that we have to share with any generation."
- Earl Palmer, Senior Pastor of University Presbyterian Church, Seattle

Who would disagree with Earl Palmer? How though is this challenge to both reach and keep teenagers being successfully met? Some encouraging insights:-

Examples from PCI. We have some very encouraging ministries scattered throughout our denomination. These are found in urban, rural and provincial contexts: in geographically diverse regions and in large and small congregations. These elements characterise these success stories:-

• Finance has been invested to provide staff, facilities and good programmes.
• Young people and their ministry has been given an intentional focus and priority and not merely assumed to be ongoing and happening.
• Young people have a prominent role in the worship service on a regular basis. That is, weekly basis.
• Youth Outreach has been developed and initiated by the young people themselves with the active support of the adult congregation.
• Discipleship of Christian young people has been grounded in the issues that they encounter everyday and biblical truth has been nurtured well past mere knowledge of the text.

 

Useful Insights from Other Ministries

 

Some common characteristics found in good outreach and nurturing programmes are:

• The impact of the culture that teenagers live within and the values promoted by this culture are taken seriously so that ministry with teenagers works hard to address the cultural onslaught from a place of clear biblical insight and practical guidance rooted in the reality of everyday teenage issues.
• A preparedness to take risks with young people allowing them to feel they belong before they actually embrace faith or make a statement of belief. In other words, conversion is not the entry ticket to the church family.
• An adult community who are open to change for the sake of reaching and keeping the next generation.