Forward by the Archbishop of Canterbury
Like many others my late teens and early twenties were crucial in the formation of my Christian faith. It was when I was seventeen that my brother, Bob, first invited me along to our local Church which he had started going to some years before. There I, in my turn, moved from a reverent agnosticism into a living faith. That change is not something I can put a date to, but some time early in 1953 it gradually happened.
The years that followed were equally momentous. My time in the Youth Group gave me the grounding in the Bible Study, Church membership, worship and private prayer which have stood me in good stead ever since. but it was as much what the youth leaders did as what they said that really impressed me. Here were people who were prepared to take time with me - who believed that who I was, and the questions I had, really mattered. The debt I owe to the likes of Ron Rushmer, Eileen Hood, Terry Nottage and other young people, to say nothing of discerning, caring clergy is incalculable.
National Service followed and it was in Iraq that I first began to think that God might be calling me into the Ordained Ministry. Stuck out in the desert, without a chaplain in sight, I, and one or two others, took it in turns to lead services and to speak at them. That first taste of Christian ministry was something that excited me and kept me enthusiastic in the years that followed.
Reading "Youth A Part" has reminded me vividly of those years in my own life. More than that, it underlines time and again the importance to our health as a Church in having a strong work with and among young people. Their life and enthusiasm is something we cannot afford to be without both now and in the future. We therefore owe a great debt to the Bishop of Carlisle, the National Youth Officers and their staff, and to all those who have worked to produce this report, in the hope that it will stimulate further work in this area.
At the risk of repeating points that are emphasised in the main body of the text, let me offer two reflections and identify four key challenges to the Church.
My first reflection is that, despite what some social commentators have said, young people are not unspiritual. It is true that many of them have turned away from institutional forms of Christianity. Ours is a culture where, as many have pointed out, belief is often kept separate from the question of belonging to a Church. Yet the quest for spiritual realities, particularly those rooted in experience is common to many. Such a quest sometimes expresses itself in mysticism or in a fascination with anything supernatural. Sometimes too it focuses on issues to do with justice, human rights or concern for the environment. For others their searching takes them to Taize or Greenbelt. But what all these have in common is that they lead out of, or into, profoundly spiritual questions - and the Church must be ready to respond to them.
My second reflection is that, in the Church of England, we are uniquely placed amongst the Churches of this country to reach out to its young people. Whether in our schools, or amongst choir members and bell-ringers; whether in youth groups or through marriage or baptism preparation, the way we have fashioned our ministry gives us natural contact with hundreds of thousands of young adults every week. Sadly, as this report so graphically shows, along with many other similar groups run by schools and local authorities, the numbers of those involved in our youth groups and uniformed organisations has been going down for some time. But, by concentrating on percentage decline, there is a danger that we end up underestimating the very considerable opportunities still open to us.
I was reminded of these recently when I paid an official visit to the Navy and saw something of the work of its chaplains. In the course of the few days I spent with them I was told that the average age of those on board an aircraft carrier is twenty three - and on a frigate is twenty one. Many of the soldiers I met just before Christmas in Bosnia were in the age range covered by this report. Likewise our chaplains in the prison service have considerable experience working with this age group, and have their own stories to tell about how lives that seemed to promise so little, have blossomed given the right kind of care and encouragement.
From my experiences of visiting churches in different parts of the world I am in no doubt that many of them would be overjoyed to have this much contact with this age group. It is a privilege we must not squander and it has profound challenges to put to us, as this report shows, with regard to worship, resources, training and evangelism.
First, worship. The report is right to point out that the youth scene is characterised by a ferment of experimentation. The development of many different styles of Alternative Worship Services shows just how creative this age group can be - and how unwise it is to believe a caricature that all that these are about are 'Raves in the Nave'. The challenge here is to foster such experimentation with flexibility and accountability whilst at the same time finding ways to help the members of those services remain a part of the Church of England, and so allow their vitality and new insights to benefit us all.
Second, financial resources. Whilst no one can quantify in monetary terms the huge amount of voluntary time and effort that goes into the care of young people, nevertheless the lack of financial investment into this area of the Church's life is a worrying feature of our life at national, diocesan and parochial level. Only with the latter are there some signs of changes for the better. An increasing number of PCCs are finding ways of employing youth workers on a full or part-time basis. Nor are these only confined to 'rich' congregations thanks to organisations like the Church Army and to the generosity of the Church Urban Fund and other grant-making bodies.
In addition, many Churches are spending more on providing materials and training opportunities for their leaders, whether through Spectrum or other courses. These trends are encouraging but, at a time when so many local authorities have been cutting back on their youth provision - and we are so often tempted to follow suit - it is vital, as this report suggests, to look afresh at our budgets to see if they reflect properly our commitment to this age group.
Third, training. Historically much of our youth work has been done by those with little or no specialist training and there is still a temptation in some quarters to believe that 'anything goes'. I would not wish for one moment to belittle the achievements of those who have worked faithfully over the years with no particular training, but the Children Act, along with other legislation, requires us to approach all our youth work with a new degree of professionalism. Too often our youth workers have been under valued and their skills have gone unrecognised and been left underdeveloped. I therefore welcome the stress of this report in enhancing further the status of youth workers, both paid and voluntary, within our Church's life. I also welcome the way in which courses are developing, frequently on an ecumenical basis, to train people in this field.
Finally, evangelism, and I include with this a theology of 'The Church as home'. I began this foreword with the story of the development of my own Christian faith. The late teens and early twenties are still a crucial period for many people in their spiritual pilgrimage and, as in my own case, it is often their peers who help them on that journey. But young people with little or no experience of Church life will only listen to the message of the faith if they are welcomed into our Churches and made to feel that they belong. We must recall that the Church is always 'one generation away from extinction'. If all Church members, young and old alike, do not hand on the incomparable riches of Christ then we shall be failing Our Lord. As the Preface to the Declaration of Assent states - We are called upon, as a Church, to proclaim the faith 'afresh in each generation'. My hope is that this report will stimulate us to do precisely that so that many thousands of young people, in this second half of the Decade of Evangelism, may come to find, as I did over forty years ago, the excitement, challenge and satisfaction of a living relationship with Christ
A Summary of "Youth A Part"
As we approach the end of the 20th Century, many organisations are taking a look at their work and the future. "Youth A Part", the latest report from the Board of Education, looks at the young people both inside and outside the church.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, in his opening foreword, writes of the debt he owes to people who were prepared to give time when he was a young person.... "it was as much what the youth leaders did as what they said that really impressed me. Here were people who were prepared to take time with me - who believed that who I was, and the questions I had, really mattered." This sort of relationship still continues as part of the Church's work and "Youth A Part" gives examples of the importance of young people in the Church's work.
The Chairman of the working party, the Rt Rev Ian Harland, Bishop of Carlisle, speaks in his introduction of how young people can and have influenced society... "the young Joan of Arc became of heroine of France, Mozart composed music of eternal significance and John Keats wrote the poems for which he is best remembered." Using more modern examples, the Bishop cites the Beatles, Ryan Giggs, Steffi Graf, Bill Gates and Shami Ahmed of 'Joe Bloggs' fame as offering unique contributions while under the age of 25.
"Youth A Part" explores how youth cultures relate to Christian cultures and how, in a rapidly changing world, the Church's message has to compete with a multi-media assault on young people's senses. The demands on these young people are considerable and are cited as some of the reasons why the Church, in common with other institutions, has had a decline in young people's membership.
One of the functions of the report is for it to be used in future plans and strategies. The report does not have any easy answers but encourages those in the churches, young and older, to listen to what young people say and to work together to make the churches more accessible. By taking account of the pressures on young people and their problems, which may, for example, come from living in an isolated rural community or in an urban priority area, and by valuing the contribution of young people, the report suggests the 'gap' between the different cultures will decrease.
"Youth A Part" stresses how work with young people in the church is dependent on the theological assumptions which undergird it. By looking in depth at the theology of youth work, connections can be made between the gospels and different youth work practice. This reflection shows how youth work is bound intrinsically in the culture of its time and yet, at the same time, the messages of relationship, love, incarnation, discipleship and mission are as relevant now as they were 100 years ago and can provide building blocks for youth work in the next century.
The Archbishop of Canterbury writes... "despite what some social commentators have said, young people are not unspiritual." In Chapter 3, the spirituality of young people is explored, initially in terms of the development of young people and then by showing many examples of projects, festivals, retreats and worship where young people are enabled to look at spiritual issues for themselves.
"Youth A Part" highlights the enormous amount of contact the church has within education, in schools, further education colleges and in higher education. With the increased numbers of young people entering further and higher education, the church has the opportunity to work alongside those in these institutions to provide opportunities for young people to explore their own religious lives.
The shape of the church of the next century is dependent on those who are young now and the chapter about 'Young people's space' examines the roles young people have in the running of the church and in church worship. The statistics show that young people area already contributing significantly to the worship of the church as bell ringers, choir members, servers and in various more informal roles. Young people are also taking a lead in various alternative worship services where different ways of worshipping are explored. Although there are risks involved in any new movements, these ways of worship, given appropriate structures of accountability, can enrich the more traditional approaches. "Youth A Part" also recommends that young people are consulted more and are supported as they become active participants in church decision-making.
Relationships are shown to be the key element in all work with young people. The role of parents, youth leaders and other young people are seen as crucial. The report cites the role of churches in small, often rural communities who work with a handful of young people but are playing a vital role. Statistics show that almost 70,000 young people a year are married in the Church of England. This relationship continues as some of these young people bring their children to be baptised. These contact with many in the community are very important and the report urges clergy and churches to extend and deepen these relationships.
"Youth A Part" recognises the sometimes unsung role of many thousands of youth workers working in and from their own churches. In Chapter 6, there is considerable information, help and advice to churches who have paid or unpaid youth workers. Chapter 7 explores the relationship that the Church has with other organisations, religious and secular. The report finds the potential for joint working is enormous and seeks to encourage ways of sharing resources and improving communication.
The last chapter consists of 16 visions for the Church, with accompanying recommendations. These are working statements which are to be taken up in the individual's own life and work with young people. As part of the writing of the report, these main issues were taken to 10 consultations throughout England to check out whether the report was relevant. Young people, youth workers and others were asked for specific suggestions which would turn these 'visions' into a reality. These suggestions are at the end of the chapter.
The vision is for a Church which takes young people seriously. It is a Church where young people fully and actively participate at every level. It is a Church which is built on good relationships, where young people particularly are concerned, not only with each other but with those inside and outside the Church. It is a Church where there is a good theological understanding of why and how it goes about its work with young people. It is a Church which recognises that work of this quality needs resources and has the faith and courage to commit significant resources to the young people in the Church.