In my article last month, we started looking at whether there was a place for a Youth and Children's worker in today's church.
We began to do so by establishing that while the family has a role in bringing up children to follow Jesus, the church also has a key role to play.
This month, I want to argue that there is a place for a Youth and Children's worker to take a lead in what the church does in its ministry to young people.
To begin with, it's worth asking if there is any way we can discern differences between the roles of the parents and the role of the church in the spiritual formation of children. Ultimately it is very hard to do so, but I wonder whether we could very loosely suggest that the role of parents given in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is one of reinforcing, reminding and living out the truths of the gospel.
However, the church's role, as seen in Titus, has more of an emphasis on teaching and that can be seen in the commendations for the older men and women to teach the younger men and women. This isn't to say parents aren't to teach their children, but that maybe the pattern is for churches to take a lead in teaching the gospel and for parents to be reinforcing that teaching and living it out at home.
Churches... take the lead!
What might it look like for churches to take that lead in teaching the Bible? Well using Jesus's instructions to "let the children come to me and not hinder them" (Mark 10:14) this sets a high bar for our teaching to youth and children.
Some use this verse to argue that we shouldn’t ever separate children from the main gathering as this is somehow not letting the children come to Jesus. However, I would argue that it means we want to ensure that our teaching to children is of a really high standard and easily accessible for all youth and children - such that we have done nothing to hinder them from coming to Jesus!
So that means we want the teaching to be age-appropriate for each different age group, and really engaging, so they are captured by the beauty of the gospel. It is worth saying that this is in no way the same as watering these truths down, just making them as easy as possible to understand.
What this does mean is that this is a big and demanding job! This is mainly because it is challenging to teach the Bible well to lots of different ages to this high a standard. But it is what Jesus asks of us.
In addition to this teaching, this role would include lots of other important but challenging areas. For example, they need to be able to work well with and train up leaders (as they can't do all this teaching themselves). They also need to be able to partner well with parents, as we have already established that this is all a partnership. And alongside this there is a huge amount of admin involved with running groups (as well as other events and residentials) and ensuring they are done so in a safe and legal way.
So in conclusion, the church has a big role to play in teaching young people the gospel and it is a unique and challenging role - it is the role of a Youth and Children's worker! While there is lots more to say about this role and what a church can be doing to support them, the main thing to say this week is, if you can - employ one!
