youth ministry
Should we give our youth a seat at the table?
Robin Barfield
How do you decide on your youth group programmes? Perhaps it is a sense of, ‘I would like to teach this part of the Bible next.’ I know that I have done that through the years. And that is okay; if I am enthused and being changed by Jesus from the text, then that will be infectious.
Perhaps it is a sense of, ‘I think the young people need…’ This is also okay, as it considers the young person, and it is seeking to address a perceived need or issue. Do we include the young people in shaping the programme?
Is purity back in fashion?
Each summer, I have the opportunity to serve the next generation of leaders, missionaries and committed church members at youth camps in Wales and Romania. What I have observed recently is a growth in an almost puritanical movement within our youth.
As I teach the Bible and engage with Gen Z and Gen Alpha*, I am encouraged by their deep commitment to Jesus and their desire to live authentic holy lives. They have all grown up in a post-Christian secular society, saturated with sexual ideology and they are seeking refuge. I see a counter-culture that is being refined by secularism, calling a new generation back to holy living.