A few years ago, the Evangelical Alliance did some research into how people came to faith. They discovered that six per cent of those ask came to faith through Alpha, Christianity Explored or similar; 54 per cent cited growing up in a Christian family or church environment. So simply being the Church is more a more effective way of reaching people than running courses.
The Church, the ecclesia, is literally ‘the community of the called out ones’. It is vital for us to grasp this as we consider youth evangelism. In community we act, we go and we seek to reach young people (and those of any age) as a community of faith. We go, together, in his name to make disciples, to draw others to Christ through worship and witness. We might have different roles and areas of service we are passionate about but we all need to be involved if we are to make a difference. Evangelism in a vacuum, carried out by a few, makes a small difference - faith is largely nurtured, grown and developed in community. So, here are a few simple things we can all do as the Church that don’t cost money and don’t require ‘professionals’.
Prayer
This might sound obvious but is so often overlooked. This is not just about prayer meetings but modelling an attitude and the habit of praying. When you meet with people to catch up over a coffee or chat about ministry stuff in the church – pray together. Email prayer bulletins and requests and seek the Lord together for what he wants for your local church, youth group, community.
What could happen if your personal prayer life and the prayer life of your church and / or youth group was transformed? What might be possible if your young people encountered Jesus for themselves through spending time in prayer? How will you model this and be an example? Something special happens when the generations pray for each other: the whole people of God bringing each other before the Lord in prayer.
Profile
What is the profile of your church or youth group? Does anyone know what happens behind the doors of the church or in the hall the youth club meets in? How do people know what is going on? I was recently at a church and their notices and signs outside simply had the name of the Church – unless you were going to that precise building – you wouldn’t know it was there.
Profile is not about saying, ‘look how fantastic we are’, nor is it about, ‘please, notice us – we need you’, but about thinking, ‘how might we raise the profile of the church and / or youth group by being a blessing to the community we are in?’ What could you do that is not about getting people to come to the church, but about mobilising your congregation or young people to go and meet others, engage with others and be a blessing? What is your church known for in your community? It might be the youth work or you might be known for your choral music: what is precious about your church community might become precious to others.
Presence
Sometimes the thing we can best do in some situations is just being there. Presence is about meeting people where they are at – not simply expecting them to come to where we are. So much going on across our society is transient or temporary; the church can be a brilliant counter-example to that. The Church is present. When other things come and go – we are still here. How can we provide consistency and continuity to our communities in a shifting world? This is not always about doing things – sometimes it is simply about being available or being at village fetes, craft fairs or the town meeting – engaging with the things that matter in the community you are in.
Process
In my 30 years of being involved in youth and children’s ministry (much of that as a ‘professional’) I have discovered four things young people need from the church community: acceptance, love, guidance and significance. They don’t need these things from employed professionals, they need these things from you - their church family.
Mark Yaconelli, in his excellent book Contemplative youth ministry says: ‘Anxiety seeks professionals: who is the expert that can solve the youth problem? Love seeks process: what can we do together to uncover Jesus’ way of life?’
We’re in a process, on a journey; we’re not there yet. Let’s call young people to join us on the adventure of following Jesus. Our young people do not need more gurus, they need you and me to be guides as we share the life of God together - maybe at times they will guide us too, into a fuller and more complete picture of the community of the called out ones.
