A favourite word among the young and youth leaders quite like it too. There has always been a radical feel about youth work — a desire to challenge the status quo and go for more radical ways of doing things.
At training events, you often hear people say that their church needs a radical shake up because of their attitudes to the young. Many would argue this is the reason for the ‘youth church’ phenomena — people get so fed up with battling with traditions they go their own way and set up radical congregations designed for the young people who are so frustrated.
As I write this I am on a youth leaders conference and have talked with a couple of leaders who want to take radical steps to awaken their congregations to the needs of their young people. They have a real passion to see their young people move on with God, but cannot see ways of integrating what they are doing with the life and ministry of their local church. This is an often heard cry from youth leaders who want to see their young people being really committed to the gospel but have often run out of steam and are discouraged.
