Tag: messy church

If shops are open, but churches aren’t… what about setting up ‘shop-church’?

On By JamesIn Context, Discipleship, MissionLeave a comment

With the news that churches are likely to stay closed for a while

and yet today 3 story shops like Primark are open.

After, messy, youth, dementia, forest, slow and any other prefix church, maybe its time for…

‘Shop – church’

Yes, that’s right.

Why not comply fully with government tax restrictions, physical distancing and start a new for autumn 2020- were going to call it:

‘Shop-church’.

Heres a few pointers, to help with this new intentional missional relational material approach.

There were plenty of empty shop fronts in shopping centres across the country,  high streets were empty. Choose wisely, next to Primark, or the type of shop that will be hidden behind a large physical distance queue, and where there’s willing and maybe even unaware punters, sorry worshippers.

  1. In the shop front, make it look like any ordinary clothes shop, DIY shop, aromatherapy shop or betting shop, depending on the style you’re going for , comforting faith, blind faith, or a practical faith.
  2. Subvertively arrange the queue from the next door ‘Primark’ so that people have to physically walk through your church-shop before they get to Primark. The vibe you’re going for is Alton towers ghost train. But a human impatient shuffle. that processes along guided markings on the floor. After 3 months were barely able to not walk on brightly plastic covered stepping stones, so just divert the Primark queue around shop church, best guess is that no one will actually notice.
  3. By now you have realised that persons will move around shop church in intervals of how quickly Primark empties, this gives them opportunities to be guided around shop-church in a rhythmic and appealing way and experience shop-church in an authentic real way.
  4. To comply with physical distancing contactless payment automatically charge £5 per person as they pass through the door. This is obviously voluntary, well, its voluntary if you give it back to them, faith isnt cheap after all. Do remind people with large signs that explain that they will remain at least 200 metres away from that £5 at all times and is its a form of materialistic spiritual distancing.
  5. Once the people have snaked their way past the reception, where they have been screened for covid through a fingerprint test, which also logs their details and enables you to obtain all their details so to be Abe to invite them to home-group-shop-church on Wednesday nights.
  6. After which they are welcome, each person is given a pair of headphones, clinically clean naturally, and not unlike the machines that used to be in HMV stores around the UK, can select from 10 options:
    1. Classic Anglican
    2. Liberal evangelical Anglican (no I’m not sure either)
    3. Moderate Catholic
    4. Trying to be middle of the road evangelical
    5. Methodist
    6. Contemplative
    7. High Anglican
    8. Emergent church
    9. Messy Church
    10. Custom

Those who select 10 (Custom) are then given the opportunity to blend together the preceding 9 numbers and create the service in their headphones that’s perfect for them. Its an important decision, as then once the participants have walked around to the 4th area, the chemically clean stewards will be able to have the appropriate items for communion ready, or none.

7. Music will also be largely piped through the headphones, although, again, those who selected ‘Custom’ previously, can also choose either their own worship songs using their current iPod tunes, or a selection of additional CDS are abvaiable to choose from, these can be inserted into the Appropriate Reality Service Experience which hasn’t been named for its acronym. Please do have a range of CDs available, from Amy Grant to Celtic Worship, the best of Spring harvest to ‘praise him on the tubular bells’ , these will add to the experience.

8. Once kitted with headphones, and full selected, the participants will be ushered , physically distanced in to the first room, in the ongoing queuing system. Here they are encouarged to listen to the first 3 minutes on the headphones, in which they will join into the piped service as they walk, they should pay special attention to no one else ahead or behind them, for others are on a separate path and ARSE journey. As the walk, using the 2 meter cross symbols laid on the floor indicate, a continual blissful noise is made as   participants sing along to the songs in the headphones and have no realisation that they are substantially out for tune. You do have to provide stewards with laughter distancing training for these can be delicate times.

9. The second room that the participants encounter is a delicate one, no its not the communion one, its the personal interaction one. For, though each service is different, they are timed so that it is in this space that something practical and interactive happens. The Messy church group head to a craft table, the Anglicans do an awkward look at each other, wave from distance and say ‘peace be with you’, those who selected evangelical, well, they do a bit more standing up and down without much sideways moving. Catholic and Contempltaives may have candles to light or stones to fondle. (all ceremonially washed and clinically cleansed, naturally) . There are additional pauses in the service to accommodate this practical movement, before..

10. The third and final room. Its communion. And given all the sensitivity, recently, all ill say is that depending on the selection, it arrives in the most popular form according to the choice. Though its messier for messy church.

After the Communion, a second and final song is played through the headphones. The final prayer, which as soon as the Amen is muttered, then participants are ushered through the final curtain..(and just like the many ghost rides..). into the gift shop.. where they give back the headphones and have an opportunity to maintain that once in a primark queue shop-church experience with a gift, a souvenir for others, or a postcard.

Where, after the experience, there are a number of economic growth tax paying products to purchase, from badges, bibles and CDs, Tea towels and the most ornate display of wooden crosses you could find. For, no visit to Shop-church, can be without the actual shop-church-shop experience. Our extensive research has shown that the ‘Praise him in the Primark queue’ is a popular slogan for the T shirts.

After making at least one purchase, participants will follow along the path of physical distancing, via the hand sanitiser out of the front door and back along the queue towards Primark. With, I would think the joy of the Lord in their shopping bag (other mugs are also available), knowing that their shopping went spiritual. When I say pointers, this is a franchise and ill sell it to you for £1200, which you can pay back easily after 300 service participants, and a business team will be on hand to offer you advise in receiving exponential growth, mostly through being always open when Primark is.

Its time to get truly innovative for the physical distance shopping generation, get relevant church, its time for Shop-church.

 

 

‘Where have the young people gone?’ 5 ways to get the long lost young people back into church

On By JamesIn Context, Detached youthwork, Discipleship, Mission, Youth ministry, Youthwork, Youthwork MethodsLeave a comment

One minute you have them, all neat and tidy in rows upon rows, in small groups of small groups doing sunday school – the next minute theyre all gone! 

And, theyve stayed gone.

Remembering that this situation isnt new (the drop off from the 2 million young people who attended sunday schools at aged 8 verses aged 12 was large, and that was pre 1900)   Image result for sunday school rally day 1900

So you are going to need a very long memory to remember those days.

But maybe you can remember when you were part of a thriving youth ministry scene in the 1960’s?

That thriving youth ministry scene – was also the same time in which according to church statistics, young people were leaving the church at a rate of 300 per week between 1970-1980.

Image result for sunday school rally day 1900

So, its not an ‘all of a sudden thing’ that there are no young people in the church you are sitting in. Theres an element of rugged determination probably on your part that you’re still there. The survivior, the last warrior emblazoned with the leadership and pcc or retired elder badge for long service. Well done good and faithful servant, and I do mean this.

But if we’re only asking now – where are all the young people – we also have to ask – what happened to them in the 70’s and 80’s and to some extent the 1990’s – for as ive said before, even I represent one of only 3 people from a youth group/club in a church of 30 who are still involved in church – and sometimes that is clinging on by the fingernails.

The questions we have to ask about young people and the church have got to have different answers to them that was being given in the 70’s and 80’s and 90’s. And I think that might be a different piece. For – though we have to find young people – we also do have to have some idea of what it is we expect, or want them to do, or how they are to experience faith once indeed we might have found them.

How might churches find their long lost young people? especially when theres none at all to start with?

The first things is to begin with reality not assumptions. But churches are full of them. So here is a picture of a warning sign.     Image result for assumptions

‘there are always young people on the streets being a nuisance‘  Find out the facts, how many, is it the same young people, are they from the area, how old are they, are they in the same group, what do you they like doing, what are they interested in, what schools do they go to. Also is it always? or just on a friday night, or just through the summer holidays?

‘young people are so busy, being taken to after school clubs, having to ride buses, they’re too busy for church’  Is that ‘all’ the young people who are in your community – or just the ones that you have connections with – and might they be too busy with other things, because these other things are seen to be more important & meaningful (maybe thats a challenge, to make the local church a space of meaning and significance) – but legitimately, even in areas where there are high attendance of mostly children going to swim clubs or brownies, there will be many who cannot afford these things, or have transport or parents at home to take them. When we start from a place of 0 young people, creating a place for these few who dont have opportunities – seems not only a good idea, but a godly one too – doesnt it?

‘young people find the building a barrier’ this is an assumption we make – then we need to make the space safer, but then not spend decades improving a building only for there to be now no connection with local people who then have disregarded a building as irrelevant however much of a conference centre it now looks like.

‘but we have nothing to offer – we’re an ageing congregation, young people are more likely to go to the (insert name of contemporary church) church down the road’ no, only the kids from christian parents who value style and entertainment in worship practices will go there. The young people in your local area who find meaning and connection in the space you offer, will continue to do so. And the person, usually a trendy youth pastor from that trendy contemporary church or youth ministry who suggests the existing church is boring should be shot.

These are all assumptions that at some point of another someone in a local church has made about the reasons why young people are not involved in the faith community, or the advent of sunday trading, sunday football or some other cultural entertainment reason.

So how do churches find the young people – where are they hiding?

  1. Discover the reality of life for young people, spend time in the local areas, communities and be present in the spaces. So, walk the dog around estates, grab a pint of milk at the corner shop, take up running – all with the additional purpose of being around in the public spaces of a local community at times. So, when school buses come back, or after tea, or at the weekends, do young people walk home from school buses, do any of them play football in the park from 7 (and is it the same ones every night) . Just any real picture is helpful.
  2. Schools. Schools are tricky, as they are becoming an even more compressed space of formal learning, and almost sadly just exam factories. School staff also have had good and negative experiences of faith groups either personally or professionally, so all the stuff about building trust slowly applies, or trying to connect in a way that helps the schools out, such as offering lessons on challenging topics like relationships, drugs and alcohol – or help in some way like mentoring some of the young people who are struggling. Or chapliancy for the whole school (especially in the peak stressful times in a school, ie between the inservice day in september and the end of term in july 😉 ) The days of ‘just doing assemblies’ because this topped up what the kids were learning in sunday schools or was a way of attracting them to the church’s activities are over. As i said here, To disciple young people, we need to quit assemblies.  though it might still be a start – there are other ways of being meaningful and connecting. But the school is just the school, its a place socially constructed in a way, and where young people perform in a way to thrive or survive, and/or be popular or to be invisible. And thats not rocket science, just one reality of the context of trying to be present in, its an already established culture and community in which you might be trying to find some kind of acceptance and respect in.
  3. The public spaces of the town and village centre. This wont be all the young people – no where has ‘all the young people anyway’ – but are there places and times when young people do congregate – is it the town centre on a saturday, the bus shelter on a friday, the village green on a tuesday  – if these are places young people choose to be in (as opposed to school where they dont choose) – then this, with the right approach and training, can be a way of making connections in places where young people have already considered safe.  Or it might be that this is the time to have the church open for hot chocolate, or take some out with you to the bus stop and spend time just chatting with young people there. If you’ve got a dog collar on, honestly its far easier to do this that try and be some kind of youthworker doing it. Not easy, takes bravery and vulnerability – but much of that is because weve made too many assumptions about young people that make us feel scared of them. Oh and by the way, any abuse from a distance when they see you coming, take that as the ‘mating call of the needy young person’ …. 😉
  4. What if young people are in their homes, doing their homework, playing on computer games, on social media? And for many this is the new normal, the new reality and the new majority. Maybe for this family, it is not about trying to connect with the young people at all, it is about trying to connect and become meaningful with the whole family. Also the young person is not in their room all day every day. But – What might mission to middle class families look like? And that is not my specialist subject…  – churches should be able to offer an alternative to the depression of eastenders or the business of commuter life – a place of hope, quietness, community?
  5. Attracting families to church with children has been easy, from sunday schools, messy church and every thing else inbetween, and at the moment summer holiday clubs are on, but they are plummeting in terms of numbers, and delivery. But that doesnt mean that in your local area, in your local space an after school group, messy church, themed club (movie/craft/sports) might be just the thing for families to be involved in that you as a local church can do. Forget any national picture or statistic – yes i mean forget it – if a small group of families want to set up a kids club (that you though was old fashioned at what you were doing in the 80’s) then let them. If its what is most meaningful and causes the church to be a space of community and conversation then make it happen. Family work with children isnt necessarily going to bring the young people back. But it at least could cause the church to be looked on favourably locally.  At least with 8 year olds coming to a craft afternoon, there is at least the possibility of some group work with them, and having conversations with them and creating a longer term space for their community and conversation to continue.  We may need to invest in the potential group work of the 8 year olds and believe in it as a long term process. Telling them theres ‘nothing’ after messy church when they get to 10, is only because we have wasted 2 years in not talking to them about what they might like to do next or continue to participate in.

These all feel like whats been tried for the last 30 years. And yes, thats probably true.

I kind of wish that there was some magic answer. Some new answer. And in my last post I did put forward a few new ideas (see previous post)

The reality is that though it is easier to say why churches should involve themselves in working with young people for social and definitely spiritual reasons, actually doing it is going to be quite hard work, and a mixture of looking for opportunities, and also making the most of opportunities that may already be happening, or being in a place where opportunities may emerge (such as the bus stop over a mug of hot chocolate) . Its going to take vulnerability and spirit of collective pioneering and action, and thats not easy. The responses to the question of how to get the young people back into church doesnt need some kind of magic dynamic answer, and not from me anyway, the answer to that question will only be found in your local area, through making spaces to connect, through being present, and through listening to whats already happening, and trying to find a way of being meaningful to all, especially those for whom the normal way of life is leaving them behind, making them stressful, pressured and pained.  Churches that want young people for their own survival, might be better placed to think about how other people are trying to do survival and get alongside them. I dunno, seems like Jesus met people in the margins, in the borders and healed those who needed to be lifted up – guess that could be the heart of the gospel, and the heart of Gods mission for young people and their families, its just a hunch. There isnt a new answer to that question, its the same old answer, the story of faith that we’re participating in in our local contexts, and asking how might we present Jesus with young people and in our communities?

Maybe like God himself, we interrupt the norm, with a conversation of love that brings meaning and hope. Bringing young people back to church? a challenging task, especially if we cant find them or have lost them over the years.

God hasnt lost them. God doesnt need to find them either, he knows where they are.

And on many occasions she already hears their cries of help, anguish and pain. They might be closer to God than we already think. We as churches might be closer to being able to offer something, a God to believe in, than we think. Hiding faith behind the package has been one of the approaches, because God has been deemed boring, irrelevant or old fashioned. The mysterious thing is is that God might already be meeting young people where theyre at, the Spirit might be already moving in our towns and villages. And if young people need a story to believe in and participate in when the story of materialism, consumerism or achievement isnt giving hope, connection, autonomy or wholeness, then the story of Gods redemption for the world that we present offers a genuine alternative. Young people rebelling against consumerism by going to church and taking up a simple life… will it happen? If it did would churches know that this might be the authentic narrow way of the gospel that was possibly what was intended..?

Try all the magic methods in the world. Its be difficult to keep young people if theyre done without the mystery of faith and presenting a way of the gospel that is rude, provocative and dangerous, and discipleship as an ongoing active working relationship with Jesus to be experienced.

Are we on Red, Amber or Yellow warnings for the end of Youth Ministry in the UK?

On By JamesIn Discipleship, Mission, Youth ministry, Youthwork MethodsLeave a comment

If we’re involved in the business of youth ministry we need to ask ourselves this very difficult question. Are we the last generation of youth ministers, and are the current young people involved in youth ministry the last generation of young people who are?

This might seem a world away to you.

You might be reading this in a large city or mega church with 100 young people – so it cant be an issue here

You might be reading this in a movement of youth ministry that attracts 10,000 young people to a summer festival – so it cant be a relevant question

You might be reading this question as a leader of a large youth ministry organisation – that connects with 100’s of young people a week – so why ask this kind of question to prick an otherwise flying bubble? 

It is a question that needs asking, because it is a question that might be true. Of course, we dont know if its going to be true, we dont in youth ministry know what is going to happen in a year, (even if we have signed up to the national youth ministry weekend!) , so – most of the time we dont spend any time thinking about 3 years ahead, let alone whether 15 or 20 years ahead what the state of UK youth ministry might be like.

For a moment, lets look at some evidence.

The Peter Brierley Consultancy – ‘Have Youthworkers worked’ said this :

“If one assumed that the overall trend of losses experienced in the 1980s had continued in the 1990s, then the actual count shows that many more children left than expected and also adults aged 30 to 44 and 45 to 64, many of whom were probably the parents of the children who left.
The number of teenagers who left was less than half what might have been expected, and the number in their 20s leaving was also less (some of whom would have been in their teens in 1989).Youth workers by definition work with “youth”, not always interpreted identically, but usually meaning those 15 and over in many churches. The number of youth who left the church in the 1990s was far fewer than would have been expected from the 1980s data, suggesting that youth workers,who largely began working in churches in the 1990s, were making a real impact in their churches and enabling more young people to stay on in church life than might have been the case.
If the constraining mechanism used in Table 14.5.3 is ignored, and one just looks at the actual full results given in , it may be seen that the actual number of teenagers who left in the 1990s was still much less than would have been
anticipated from, the 1980s data.Youth Workers work!
The conclusion is that the employment of youth workers was successful, if “success” means young people staying on in a church fellowship. That this was also the result on the ground is evidenced by the fact that many churches seeing this success, but also observing in experience the appalling loss of children under 15 in the 1990s started to appoint Children’s Workers as well as Youth Workers in the hope that they too would see similar success. Some churches have gone further and appointed Family Workers to take account of the loss of parents as well as children.”

You can read the full report here: ‘Have youthworkers worked’  at http://www.brierleyconsultancy.com/where-is-the-church-going

The conclusion that Peter Brierley arrives at is that Youth workers work!  The same conclusion is reached in the Fresh Expressions, church growth data, or at least, what it suggested was that a Youth worker based in a church is likely, or a cause, of a church being able to grow numerically.

However, Peter Brierely is quick to say that no attempt was made in 1989 to forecast the numbers of young people attending church into the future – ie the then next 10 years. Since 2005 ( the last set of figures)-then- what are the current projections for 2015, 2025 or 2035?

The university of Wales suggested that, using similar data, that each generation of young people 1/3 is lost, many young people leave the church, and never to return. For some, the best that can be hoped is that when they have their own children they will want to bring them back. And there is a little evidence to suggest this happens. But what if even this reduces by 1/3 each generation.

The other issue to contend with here, is the decline in FT or Paid youthworkers in churches. And at the same time, the decline in church based youth groups, ministries and house groups across the UK. With less resources, and less investment in young people (because less are visible on sundays) then whole swaithes of opportunities to develop working with ‘unknown’ young people is lost. If its likely that when FT youthworkers are in churches, the church and its youth ministry is likely to grow – what happens when there isnt a FT youth worker? its children ministry with volunteers, and then ‘the kids all leave by 11’- the common complaint…

Without an investment in training for youth ministry from central sources, there might be no qualified theological youth ministers in the UK within 20 years. The rate of closure of courses, colleges, the shrinking of year groups, and value placed on youth ministry as a vocational career is tangible. For those who qualified in the last 15 years, it can feel as though we (and i mean we) were sold a promise, and ended up with a dud. There are less courses, less opportunities and less investment in working with young people, and ultimately then less youthworkers, and if youthworkers did work on a national basis – then will youth ministry in one generation die out?

From where I sit right now, there are almost 0, Full time youth ministers based in churches north of York. It is not quite 0, but as a % it would be less than 0.5% of all the churches in the North have a full time youth minister just for their church. I dread to think how many youth clubs, groups, and ministries have closed in the last 5 years in the North east. And, Im not saying a FT worker is the answer to everything, but without time for young people outside of ‘the youth group’ it becomes difficult to do anything other than ‘invite your friends’ type events, without being present in schools, on the streets or developing vision, and investing in young people sun-sat.

So, what if the reality, is that the North East will be first to predict that on current estimates, due to resources, investment in young people, that any young people currently involved in the traditional youth groups type ministry, will be the last – what plan, strategy, process and approaches (not to mention theology) might be needed for the future? Not to plug the gap – but to start again. Sadly the plague of absent young people & youthworkers in 15 years time, might catch on elsewhere. What could be ascertained in the demise of Sunday schools was the rate of closure as there was recorded data. Without any mechanisms, we have no idea the rate of closure of groups, clubs and ministries with young people in churches across the UK. There may be headline figures, like less young people attending festivals, or less young people in churches on sundays – but theres nothing on youth ministry itself. Yet, other signs of closure are occuring, such as YFC centres (that start to receive less an less ‘church’ funding).

So, might in youth ministry is it the right time to ask the difficult question – has youth ministry only got one generation left?  I dont think im going early on this. There will not always be young people in churches. There may always be young people and their families living in the vicinity of churches, but young people in churches at all? What if there are no youthworkers based in churches in 10 or 15 years time either?

Maybe in the North- we’re ahead of the game, this question is a current reality and there;s something new to be developed- and it isnt whats happening in the south (we dont have the resources).

In the South- some areas of it- and university cities and city churches – be blessed by a continual incoming group of young people via education, and do what you can with them, because more and more of them will have had less and less connections with churches, outside of an assembly or attendance at a messy church up until the age of 9. In the South it might not be time to ask the difficult question. But if nothing else, someone involved in youth ministry needs to be thinking 15 years ahead. If this was about to be true – what difference would it make? Would there be more investment in working with young people?  Would there be a national conversation within church affiliations about training for youth ministry? a joined up approach perhaps? or something else…

Youth Ministry in our time, might be the Sunday School in our parents time. Theres Red, Amber and Yellow warnings around the country, the question is, is it like for like replacement, or is something more pioneering required to as a replacement, where youth ministry has failed and about to be extinct… There might be a chance to do something about it before things get to that stage….

The one question in churches that, since Sunday Schools, hasnt gone away.

On By JamesIn Book Reviews, Discipleship, Youth ministry3 Comments

What does the church do ‘next’ with the children in ………Messy church, or Youth Club, or Sunday School, ? 

How can we keep young people in churches? 

For anyone who works with children and young people in a church setting. Naomi Thompsons book contains a stark warning. A warning that it as current now as it was not heeded during a time when the most numerically successful ministry amongst children in the UK was at its peak and subsequently virtually disappeared without a trace. Today in children and youth ministry which is important that lessons are learned from the demise of Sunday Schools.

Records indicate that in the late 1800’s over 2 million children in the UK attended Sunday schools. As Thompson research indicates, this had dropped to just over 500,000 by the mid 1950’s and 60’s. (there is no data for 1970’s onwards) It was a movement that was responding to a crisis of uptake (less children are attending), and a crisis of progression (less children are staying).  Both of which continue to be questions for children and youth workers today.

The key responses to these crisis, within Sunday School Unions, as Thompson indicates, was to blame Sunday school leaders for lack of training, produce even more materials, or to set up follow on groups, such as early youth fellowship provision. In effect the crisis of progression in Sunday Schools was a contributory factor to the dawning of modern day youth ministry. What also is apparent from Thompsons research is that although regional or national strategies for Sunday Schools could be stated, and recommended, these depended on the local church for their implementation, and often this did not occur. A local decision (adopted from a national plea) to increase longevity, and focus on ‘church linked’ children , a strategy that local churches did adopt, may have increased the long term participation of pupils within the church (from 2% to 4%) but this coincided with the same dramatic reduction in overall attendance.

So, what about now? These two questions still remain for children and youth ministers across the UK. How to address the crisis of uptake , especially as Scripture Union suggest, churches only work with 5% of the UK population of young people, and the crisis of progression, once children and young people start attending – how does a church keep them – what happens next?

The amount of churches I go to when travelling around the country who say, ‘well we have children – but we lose them at 11’.. or ‘once theyre 9 they don’t keep coming to our messy church’. Looking around the country, it feels as though there are more opportunities that churches are creating places for initial interest and connection, from the explosion in churches developing ‘Messy Church’ , or after school provision led by volunteers, or youthworkers. Churches may not have regained the 2 million who used to attend Sunday schools – but the desire to provide spaces and connections with children and families again has become recently more popular, and  children and youth provisions has become part of diocesan and affiliation strategies.

So, if churches have cracked the ‘uptake’ question (relatively) – then what about the progression one?

The answer to the Sunday School progression question, (when children started to leave) was, to develop similar older groups, that still had the same feel and style to the ‘junior’ ones, writes Thompson. For a short time, a few young people retained interest, but they were generally a failure, for they didn’t change as young people themselves changed. A question stemming from this one is – When as an activity is planning for the future needed?

There is no rocket science as to when children or young people ‘start to get bored’ with the provision on offer. For some young people they are bored with it after just a few weeks, for some depending on the age they start it could be 2 or 3 years. It then does not matter how old a child is, it is their longevity in the activity that can determine how they feel about it. So – there is little point waiting until a child is 11 for the ‘next group for them to happen’ is , if a church follows a schooling year– as that be 2 years away.  It is funny how quickly the question of uptake is often usurped by the questions of progression.  We might celebrate 25 families coming to messy church – but theres an air of disappointment that ‘only one’ maintained an interest in the wider church community – or ‘started coming on Sunday Mornings’ . Uptake is often measured through a lens of progression, and can weigh heavily, distracting from the genuine good that is occurring in the moment of every interaction, activity and session.

For something like Messy church, or equivalent afterschool children/family orientated provision, there is significant learning from Sunday Schools that can be accessed. One of the key recommendations from the Sunday School Unions – that was never implemented locally- was to encourage person centred education methods within the Sunday schools. This was an approach back then ahead of its time, but because Sunday school leaders and teachers relied on materials and ‘school’ culture and curriculum had been established, this change was a difficult one to make in local churches. Often when children and young people are bored, they are choosing to reject the curriculum and culture and so adopting person centered approaches before this boredom occurs might delay this – and give children developed responsibility and ownership of their learning a critical aspect of long term discipleship. However, the question of progression never goes away. Not every child in messy church will want to ‘be a leader’ or have responsibility – some have a desire for learning about faith that might not be matched by the programme, for others they just want to be away from the ‘younger ones’. There are no simple solutions, because each young person has a uniqueness, gifting and possibility that our interactions with them needs to acknowledge, harness, and help them thrive within, so it might be persons rather than programmes that need to be makers of any future provision.

Thompsons insight into Sunday Schools is thorough, well research and provides ample questions for youth and childrens workers today, however it is most notable for its price, and a paperback copy should definitely be made available. In a way Thompsons book reassures that the same questions haven’t gone away, though at the same time is a realisation that cultural shifts in the way children and young people are formed through learning within churches are hard to make, as formal approaches – even more interactive ones, remain popular. It is noted that children in primary schools are given the responsibility to spend portions of school budgets through small committees, yet in churches they choices they often have in similar decision making might be the flavour of juice to choose at snack time. If their decision making and autonomy is awakened in one context, then as churches who have children attending groups, might we begin to reflect the potential of them to be deciders and decision makers of their own discipleship within the faith community?  Progressing children from one group to another is not really the question we need to ask, it is how might we help children use the full gifting, character and abilities they have in how they discover a long term life of faith?  And if this is the question – how might we plan for this through all the wonderful, creative spaces that churches current create that engage children and young people in Messy churches, youth clubs alike.

Thompsons book: Young People and the church since 1900, can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Young-People-Church-Since-1900/dp/1472489780/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1508666712&sr=8-9&keywords=Thompson+young+people

Christian Today also published the above piece, a link to that article is here: ‘How can churches retain children and young people’?

Is Sunday church attendance still the great expectation of youth ministry?

On By JamesIn Discipleship, Mission, Youth ministry, Youthwork Methods1 Comment

Youth Ministers and youth workers are some of the most creative, determined and passionate people i know, especially when it comes to doing all they can to help young people to think about faith. but doesnt any of it matter, if the young people dont go to their local church on a Sunday morning? 

 Over the last few months, may be a bit longer, I have begun to realise the extraordinary amount of work and time that goes into holding sunday morning services in churches up and down the land; from heating, flowers, coffee, preaching, PA, lighting, readings, themes, wardens, communion, song choices, keys, welcome team. And then there is the effort financially, so heating, equipment, musical repairs (organs!). The sheer amount of effort that goes into sunday morning church, that everyone from the PCC. clergy, and countless volunteers across the country put effort into. Its no wonder then, with this level of investment, this level of personal identity and commitment to it, why the congregation might be at first affronted if young people dont turn up, or maybe more the the point, have an expectations that due to making one or two significant changes ( a kids song, or ‘getting a trendy pastor’ ) that young people will suddenly become part of it and attend. It is understandable with such investment why congregations value sunday mornings, and why, despite everything else at times, young people attending can be the implicit or explicit expectation.

None of this is particularly new, but neither has it really gone away.

So, for the youthworker, it doesnt matter if all the young people in a village use the church in a youthgroup on a friday evening and have moments of ‘faith’ – if none of them turn up on Sundays

Or if there are young people who are met on the streets and use a candle to pray for their family situation – if none of them end up going to a church

when the young people and youthworkers create the best late night Saturday church in the town, and many young people turn up and experience faith – because if it means something, theyll turn up on a Sunday

Or if the young people have started to form their own church, doing discipleship and Mission, sharing gifts and spending time in worship – if they can do this on sunday afternoon – why not sunday morning? 

Or if once a month they all leave the church to do a church service elsewhere – if its real faith, they can show it by being here on a sunday. 

Its not just current youth ministry – and there are countless creative youth workers providing a huge range of spaces and alternative churches, faith conversations for struggling or excluded young people- most well outside the church, but there are so many examples where mid week, special, welcoming open spaces that churches and their youthworkers and volunteers already provide, and these occur often in the local church. But viewed through the prism of ‘but people arent coming on sunday’ they can feel a disappointment. From toddler groups, to lunch clubs, alpha (yes even alpha) to Rock Solid clubs, Food banks to Street Pastors (though i think both of these have survived the expectations to an extent), open youth clubs, to messy church. Churches are more and more offering spaces of contact, engagement and activity, even at times on a Thursday evening or Tuesday morning where people feel a sense of community, of conversation and acceptance. Yet at times at the moment, it can feel as if the only thing that might matter after 52 weeks of toddlers, or 12 months of a mens group, is whether anyone from them ‘came to church on a sunday’ 

What if instead we suggested that people could be discipled without going to church on a sunday? (not a new suggestion)  – So what might discipleship at toddlers, or messy church or after school clubs look like if sunday was put to one side- at least until the person even suggested it? And moving further, discipleship at the youth club, the foodbank, or on the streets… And what if this was also communicated to the Sunday congregation… We know the Sunday service is important, for, and far more than just the practical and emotional reasons I suggested above. But without a different way of discipleship – one ‘through’, during and developed from the activities and welcome spaces – then the well intentioned activities carry too much hope and expectation, and ultimately it is a strategy deemed to failure. Reasons being – its not worked for 50 years.

Yet it can also be that a huge amount of effort, creativity and energy is belittled by this one phrase, ‘did any of them come to church?’ or ‘how can we get some of them to….’  The youthworker can be in a tension point, they might know and care deeply about the faith of the young people and also have to care about the local church (often it is the local church who finances the youthworker) – yet they might also know that the young people cant stand church on a sunday- or that their emerging, new faith might struggle with it- though fundamentally, it can be a struggle – because it highlights that churches dont value the effort on friday night, tuesday in school or monday doing admin – if it doesnt translate to sunday mornings. 

At the moment it can feel like nothing is important except Sunday mornings. And as the church shrinks in some areas this can be heightened. Actually nothing matters except that young people, all people have an encounter with and respond to a call of God on their lives.  Of course – how might we tell people that they need to let go of sundays – when its been their social and emotional life for 20+ years? – that’d be difficult. Or might there be freedom in re educating congregations to ‘let go’ of it as ritual/duty and it being the focus of the church activity week- and see it as a rehearsal for the churches real performances on Sunday night to the following Saturday. It is Mondays toddler group, and Fridays after school club that deserve more attention. A Healthy church, might have a healthier view of God being present and active in all of its activities, like creation, God might actually be resting on a sunday….We might love Sunday Church, but causing it to be the implicit destination of the churchs social groups and clubs misunderstands discipleship, mission and the opportunities of faith within the welcoming spaces outside of it.

Does the future of the Church rely on what happens when/if people leave Messy church?

On By JamesIn Mission3 Comments

For all the hundreds of initiatives, activities, clubs and groups. Messy Church has captured the imagination and become hugely popular and common across England. Its being run in established churches, in schools, in places where there hasn’t been an active church presence for over 20 years (such as Ludworth in County Durham). I dont know the numbers exactly, of attenders, of exact geographic spread, given that some messy church groups havent registered on the official website. That to one degree is beside the point.

Given that the statistics arent hugely favourable (see the Brierley consultancy stats

Click to access CS5.pdf

in regard to the previous formula of children growing up through Sunday School to youth groups and youth ministry.

Does Messy Church represent an opportunity to re think working with young adults from 10-11 onwards, who have been used to sharing space in church with their family ( unlike Sunday school which ‘separated’them), they are used to hopefully a variety of learning styles, being in community, and possibly being given responsibility especially if they’ve been given it, as older ones in the groups.

There’s no pressure, but its only in messy church where the activities of the church, by volunteers is being frequented by children and families from mostly outside the church families. So, its as missional as the original historic Sunday Schools, as popular, and even if it acts as ‘free after school activity’ its as needed.

So, the question is, if lots of families and children are enjoying being part of church in this form, does this form continue so it keeps them, or more depressingly, how are messy church congregants educated so that they can cope back in the institution of the predetermined ‘sunday church’ (and i feel wretched asking this- but is this what is expected?)

Post Messy church what happens – when young people start to show signs of being ‘bored’ – and possibly start being disruptive in the space – How might messy church grow up with them? – What is going on with the 12-14 year olds whov’e already grown out if it? thats assuming that they have. But given the longevity of Messy church, there will be young adults around who may at least have had a positive experience of church as messy church as a child ( which is different to how they would have potentially not engaged with an equivalent Sunday School?)

How might the same messy church leaders maintain relationships with the same young people? – forget being ‘just a messy church’ leader, be a leader of people and sustain long term relationships with young people as they grow up through and beyond it..

Does Messy Church provide a better foundation for young adults and an opportunity for continuing community and youth work methods and principles as the young people grow up in the ‘margins’ of the church, but those margins will become the core, almost become the mainstream, given the ageing of the mainstream congregations, or their absence (see the example above).

Will it be easier or more difficult to enable continued exploration of the faith in families subsequent to their participation of messy church?

As you can tell, more questions than answers. And whilst the Messy model might be easier to be universal, practices of ongoing eduaction, formation, discipleship and ministry with young people might involve local improvisation, rather than a one size fits all. Your young people are different to someone elses. They have transitioned through messy church at a specific age, time, church and setting.

Id hope so as id say that the future of the church depends on how this happens. This is the group of people the church has to do everything to keep. And keep for a very long time.

What do i suggest? We need to think about it, and then not impose one solution for every messy church congregation, but think within each context, communicate within each one, and encourage continued active participation, empowerment and responsibility.

Messy church does not work everywhere, but that doesn’t matter, what matters is that the ‘core church’ learns practice from the ‘fringe church’ and gradually adopts the education styles, the format and the community aspect of it. Whilst im not in favour of even the terms fringe & core, learning from what church is looking like where it is growing with people who aren’t normally in church as-it-was, is the challenge.

The challenge with all of the things of ministry, whether youth ministry, community work, it enabling not the functionality of the ministry to continue, but that discipleship occurs from within, with families. Its not about keeping, but creating ongoing participation.

Beyond messy church – is still a vague challenge for many, but even to start messy church is to think about what happens with young people and their families beyond it. Start building up the tool kit, start looking for opportunities, start having future orientated conversations. (Theres plenty on this site on developing conversations with young people)

Fostering belonging

On By JamesIn Mission, Theodrama, Youth ministry, Youthwork, Youthwork MethodsLeave a comment

During my year spent on Oasis Frontline teams back in 96-97 in Hartlepool, i was awakened to the notion of ‘Belong/believing/behaving’ its probably one of the uncritically accepted and readily spouted phrases in youth ministry/work often as an indictment of the sense that to think of young people behaving in church before they belonged and believed, when often churches, in those days, seemed to expect behaviour first. The phrase, belong/believe/behave does still get banded around now and then, with almost the end game to be behaviour – as opposed to belief or even belonging.

The reason this has come back to my thinking recently is on the basis that often my work gives me the opportunity to speak to other youthworkers across county Durham, the odd Vicars or Ministers or groups of volunteer youthworkers at conferences, and during many of these conversations as a reflection, one thing that is recurring, that all of them, in one way or another create good welcoming spaces for young people to feel at home, they create a group dynamic that allows young people to essentially belong to the group, and a space where they often feel safe, and at ease to talk with them about the focus of that group, sometimes this may be a single issue group, a confirmation class, a drop in club, messy church – many many of these such spaces are being developed and created that seem on the face of it to give children, and young people a space to belong.

The problem is – what happens when the young person gets too old to be allowed to be in that space? or what happens when the ‘designated’  group time is over, or the ‘confirmation’ ceremony has occured?  what might it be like for the young person that once theyve got to a certain age, without their choice, the space they like is no longer the space of belonging anymore?

Usually we send them to a different group. at a different time, in a different space, with people who might be their age, or older than them – a place that’s better for them, but its not necessarily a place they belong, and if they dont ever fit or belong will they keep persevering if there’s other alternatives on offer?

This is often the case, its often the case when we start creating positive relationships with young people, but is there an alternative?  What if the relationships are formed between young people and adults and this was the same throughout ages say 7-17? and young people weren’t passed on to group by group?  yes there’s a 10 year commitment to one group – but think of how well connected, well established that group would be? Yet that’s not how it works is it, often its not how churches work ( aside from the housegroups that have done more that 3-4 years- but essentially its the same thing)

Think of the faith conversations and the sense of community that that kind of group based youth work could have- and the sense of discipleship and friendship and essentially belonging that would cultivate?

And in a youth club, or mentoring relationship – what if that group or relationship was cultivated over 5 years – not 5 weeks or months?

How many groups of young people across England have spent 10 hours in a group with a vicar during confirmation classes in 2014?  what kind of group dynamics, or the beginnings of belonging has been fostered in this occasions? – and what happens next to the young people?

What happens to the young people at the ‘top’ of Messy church? (for example)

What shape might ‘youthwork’ take with a generation of messy church graduates? (whove essentially been exposed to family/youth ministry already)- yet how might they belong to your youth ministry as the youngest – when theyve had potentially leadership as the eldest… (no different to primary/secondary school shift)

Fostering initial events, access points is what i think the church has got its head around – in theodrammatic terms, id say this was akin to the creativity and the belonging that was in Act 1 of the 5 acts of the Biblical Drama see here( Creation) – its almost as if we ply all our creative juices into attracting young people and their families to the club/activity/space.

The second act of the Theodrama is the covenant – that between Abraham and God – from that point on Israel the nation was hooked into the special relationship of belonging. It didnt happen by choice in terms of Gods Call on Abraham, and the same sense of belonging is not necessarily the choice of the young person, it kind of just happens – they start to fit, start to feel at home, start to live in the space, confident in the relationships that they have around them.  Is there a covenant moment for the young person- well there might be, but should we enable them to belong regardless? If they belong do they have to covenant?

The third act in the sending of Jesus, incarnate, to redeem Israel initially and the rest of the world, its almost the sense in a overall way that Jesus could only be identified and accepted in and amongst the embers of the covenant relationship of belonging that existed between God and Isreal. And, moving further forward the emerging of the church is the action of empowering a newly covenanted group of disciples to become other covenanted groups of belonging faith communities. And from those groups came more groups.

Yet what do we expect young people to do? because of a reliance on age bandings ( aligned to schools) or  time banded groups ( aligned to materials) – we create groups for them to begin being together, and in some cases they do belong – yet how might we allow faith to occur within these groups where they belong? and how might we keep good groups together once they have been formed. I mean if every year you have 10 10 year olds doing confirmation groups for 10 weeks, and during that time 7-8 of them really connect – what do you as a vicar do with those 7 or 8? what if this was repeated every year? – and after 5 years you had 5 groups, 7 in each, from 10yr olds, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15? – not passed on to an different group/club – but in this case who enjoyed the space with each other and that you created with and for them? – would that not look like long term discipleship?  maybe i’m doing away with ‘youth ministry’ in the anglican church – maybe thats not a bad thing if by 8 years that group of 18 year olds still like the small housegroup/discussion format and the space theyd shaped it with you to be.

is there such a thing as the ‘youth ministry’ dream or path that young people are expected to follow, yet for belonging that heralds small groups and discipleship within relationship – might already be going on…

So – maybe its not a matter of belonging, believing and behaving at all, but its to foster belonging so that young people can belong deeply, and that within this space they are transformed and the church – or for that matter the youth club, acts in a different way to the school. If young people belong – and thus they enjoy the space – why not develop and maintain this? – in the context of the dramatic reduction in young people in the church – shouldn’t we think of every way to keep them – especially if they like something?

On the same theodramatic basis, much of the youthwork i or Durham YFC does, uses creative approaches to provide a space where young people can form relationships and belong in the space. Whether that’s arts, drama, or the creative improvised acts of detached work, where young people already have a deep sense of belonging to the outside space. One young person asked us yesterday – “will there be a day when im too old for this group, when you’ll say im too old to be here” – to which we replied that it would only be when they felt they didnt want to be here any more, or where they were acting in a way that meant that others couldnt participate. Whilst they chose to belong, they can participate, and as we have discovered, in the space they have found belonging they are beginning to flourish. If they want to keep coming along to a space to paint wooden animals, or make craft at the age of 15, or 18 because thats where they find belonging then so be it. If in that space we are afforded the time to have conversation with them, once a week for another 5 years, then why not?