Andrew Johnson

I have often wondered, “What’s so good about youth?”  It would seem from everything the church does that they think young people are very important and very special, or at least that being a ‘youth’ is a very desirable thing.

 You may think this is a very strange thing to say, particularly from someone who works for the Uniting Church, which has the oldest demographic.  So let me make my case…

Unpack the issues...

• Discussion points
• Further reading

First, the age definition of ‘young’ keeps being extended in the church.  I thought once I reached twenty-six I was finally going to count as a ‘real adult.’   Apparently not, from the latest material I’ve seen we have revised the definition of young adult to thirty-five.  Second, many Sunday schools have increased the accepted age of participants to year ten or sometimes year twelve.  Third, goals abound about ‘young people’ in strategic plans, mission documents or vision statements.

So are we just succumbing to the youth-obsessed culture of the day, or do we all just want to be considered young or is there something more going on? I believe there is something very painful going on in our churches.  Conversations about the youth of the church bring a lot of baggage with them.  We remember the days of large youth groups and Sunday schools.  We grieve for our children and grandchildren who no longer come near our churches.  We become depressed at every planning day when we look around the room at a greying demographic.  We become cynical and frustrated about people who bring their children for baptism and make promises we know they’ll never keep. 

The great cry I hear is, “The youth is the future of the church.”  I actually reject that cry.  The youth are not the future of the church, they are the church today.  Jesus makes it quite clear that all are welcome and all are valuable, no matter their age.

So how do we go about understanding ‘the youth?’  First, we could stop listening to baby boomer experts about youth and start listening to young people.  Second, we could stop stereotyping young people.  It seems to me we have labelled and stereotyped young people without ever listening to them.  Much of the analysis is pejorative and demeaning.  This doesn’t help in understanding or growing but merely reinforces prejudices.  Third, if we believe what we proclaim at baptism, we could actually start treating young people as unique, special, children of God.  Fourth, we could get over categories.  In seeking to extend the Sunday school age we don’t allow children to grow beyond Sunday school faith.  In seeking to extend the age of young adults, we never allow young adults to grow into full maturity in their faith. 

In the secular world, people the church would consider too young to be ‘real adults’ are involved in running our world.  My friends work in parliament house, they work for judges, they work for corporations and law firms.  They make multi-million dollar deals every day, they make significant decisions, they deal with complex, challenging and difficult situations.  How do we treat them on Sunday at church?  How do we form them in real, adult faith?  My concern is not for the future of our church but the future of our world.  In a world that continues to experience injustice and pain.  In a world that continues to worship the God of the market, surely we need young men and women of mature faith who will make decisions which are just and fair, who protect the vulnerable and the weak and who are a witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Andrew Johnson is a Justice and International Mission Advocate with the Queensland Synod.

Unpack the issues...

Discussion Points

• How do you engage with the church as a young person?
• How is this different from how you engage with the rest of society?

Further reading

• Research article- 'Age profile of church attenders'
• Article on decreasing number of youth in church- 'Church seeks spirituality of youth...and doesn't like what it finds'

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