YOUTH EVANGELISM UPDATE

It seems that somewhere around 72% of Christians made the decision to follow Christ before they turned 20 (Evangelical Alliance). Our younger years are a key time for exploring spirituality, asking questions about how the world works and forming the foundation of beliefs that we will follow for the rest of our lives. Which presents a challenge to us as church…
If young people are going through this process of figuring out their beliefs, how can we be active participants, helping them have the opportunity to encounter Christ? Especially when nearly 50% of C of E churches have fewer than 5 under 16s (From Anecdote to Evidence)?
The National Church has realised we need to do some coordinated thinking about just this question. So, enter Jimmy Dale, the new Church of England National Youth Evangelism Officer. He’s been brought on board to help the C of E grapple with these questions, to hear from the grass roots what’s going on in parishes in this area, and to help the Church, at all levels from national to local, formulate a range of creative responses to the challenge.
On Monday 30th January, Jimmy hopped onto a train and headed to Winchester to meet with a range of youth leaders throughout the Diocese.
Jimmy shared three of his core assumptions he’s working with when it comes to Youth Evangelism: • Evangelism and discipleship are connected – they don’t happen in isolation of each other
• Evangelism is a journey – a much longer, more varied journey than the 30 seconds that someone might stand on a stage and invite people to become Christians, though that often springs to mind when we think of ‘evangelism’.
• Youth Evangelism is about more than 11-18 year olds – it includes working with kids, and the discipleship of adults. This is a whole church conversation, not an issue in isolation.

Here are just a few of the exciting things we got to tell Jimmy about from what’s happening on the ground here in the Diocese: • Churches focussing on discipling the young people they work with to help them be missional in their schools and homes
• The Weston Church Youth Project’s comprehensive engagement with the young people on the Weston estate through their school and their community, linking holistic youth work with faith development
• St Luke’s Hedge End’s brand new Bacon Buttie Breakfast drop in on a Monday and Friday for young people en route to school (they’ve been giving out something like 150 bacon butties in a 20 minute period!)
• Young people with no church background taking the chance to listen to God and pray for each other in Weeke in Winchester
• Conversations about building links between the Council and churches from other denominations to meet the needs of young people in the Andover area

There are so many things to be encouraged by throughout the Diocese. So a question to ponder – what could it look like for your church to be good news to the young people in your parish who don’t yet know Jesus, but might be asking some big questions about the world?

Jimmy will be working towards a host of ways to help parish churches engage in evangelism with young people, whether they’ve currently got 50 young people in their community or couldn’t name a single one. We’ll keep you up to date as things happen!

Intergenerational Toolkit

“It takes a whole village to raise a child” – Ancient African Proverb

There’s been a resurgence in recent years in the church in the understanding that resonates with the proverb above. It takes a whole Church to raise a child, or a teenager. There’s been a new sense that, while age appropriate activities are brilliant and are important for children and young people, they should never be instead of, or to the detriment of, time spent together as a whole church family, with every generation present.

Maybe this is something already rooted in your church culture – maybe it’s mentoring or specific times you gather together as a whole community, we even have at least one church in the Diocese now who has dropped their monthly ‘all age service’ shifting instead to a model with all ages together every week – or maybe it’s something you’ve been thinking about and haven’t known where to start. Or maybe even, you are totally sceptical about the whole idea.

Wherever you’re at, we’ve come across a few great resources for you to get your teeth into:

Intergenerational Resources
Sticky Faith – a host of resources for intergenerational Youth work from the Fuller Youth Institute
Intergenerational Church Toolkit – from the Christian Reformed Church

For an Overview of IG thinking:

• https://refocusministry.org/2015/08/17/why-intergenerational-worship-and-why-now/
• http://www.ucc.org/congregations_weekly_how_intergenerational_are_you
• http://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/nine-tips-for-designing-intergenerational-worship/“It takes a whole village to raise a child” – Ancient African Proverb
• http://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/all-ages-needed-for-intergenerational-worship/

Job Advert – Children and Families Worker, Christchurch Priory

The parish of Christchurch in Dorset is looking for a committed, experienced and motivated person to be our first Children and Families Worker.

 

We are seeking a committed Christian to work in our existing team and liaise with schools and other churches in Christchurch to find new ways of connecting with children and their families in order to bring the Gospel to them, support them socially, and engage them in either the existing children’s ministry at the Priory Church (which has scope for development) or by pioneering new provision at St George’s.

 

We are looking for: someone with previous experience of working with children and families; a team leader who is also a team player; a ‘self-starter’ with a flexible outlook and plenty of initiative; who is able to engage with others with sincerity, humility and humour; and who has a heart for evangelism in working with children and their families. S/he has good communication and organisational skills, can rise to the challenge of a diverse workload, and can work well under pressure.

 

Hours:        Full-time, i.e. 37 hours per week

Salary:        £22,000 – £28,000 (depending on experience)

Interviews:  27 March 2017

Start date:  1 September 2017

 

There is a genuine occupational requirement that post holders are practicing Christians. An enhanced DBS check will be required. Housing may be available.

 

We hope you sense our excitement at this new post and what we believe God is calling us to do together. For further details, including Role Description, Terms and Conditions etc., please contact: prioryhouse@christchurchpriory.org  For a conversation about the post, please call Canon Charles Stewart on 01202 800888.