Sunday worship
10:30 am
Sunday School
9:30 am

Youth Ministry: A Family Matter

--Pastor James

One of the many blessings that I have already received at Peddie Church is the presence of the youth and young adults. I love their participation in worship, their vibrant music and dance, their single-minded devotion to Christ, and their infectious laughter. I hope to get to know all of them by name and develop meaningful relationships with them. Truly, young people are God's gracious gift for the church. They are not only future leaders of the church, but also vital indicators of the church's future. Without their participation in church life today, one thing is certain about the future: the church will die out, and only its husk - the empty building - will remain. Unfortunately, this bleak vision of the future has become a present reality for many congregations in America, where young people have exited from the church silently, without protest, without voicing their reason for leaving.

At Peddie Church, we have a precious opportunity to embrace the young people as indispensable part of our family and allow them space to flourish as God's children. I am encouraged to see many parents and adults who are actively involved in the life of the youth and wholeheartedly supporting our youth ministry. The involvement of parents, I believe, is the most crucial factor in cultivating a faith that would endure through the peaks and valleys of life. This is affirmed by numerous recent studies that have brought a major shift in our perspective on youth ministry. Back in the seventies and eighties, most of the youth ministries focused on providing relevant and entertaining programs for youth, trying to keep them coming to church and getting them to stay out of trouble. However, researchers are now discovering that many of the youth who were active in youth groups no longer find the Christian faith compelling and have dropped out of church life. These youth programs succeeded in keeping the youth in church for a little while but failed in sowing a mature, fruit-bearing, and enduring faith. Surely, programs, relevance, and fun are necessary components of youth ministry, but they were done in isolation from the most influential environment - family - and they became an easy substitute for the lack of adult-youth relationships.

Researchers are now saying that the most effective youth pastors are parents - fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, and adult guardians and mentors. The effect of their relationship with the youth far outweighs that of youth programs. In a world of fragmented and transient experiences, only they can provide sustained relationships with the youth; only they can be with the youth through the crucible of suffering and through the high peaks and deep valleys of life. Young people need a few adults who would believe in them no matter what, be with them in times of trouble, listen attentively to their longings and aspirations, and speak the truth in love. In an unexpected way, the truth of the African proverb, "it takes a village to raise a child," has been reaffirmed by the recent research in youth ministry. It takes the whole church, the young and the old, to carry out youth ministry. Youth ministry is indeed a family matter.

I give thanks to God for all the fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, guardians, and mentors who are intimately involved in the life of the youth in our church. I also give thanks to God for all the youth in our church, for adults need the youth as much as the youth need adults. It is my prayer that the young and the old in Peddie Church would walk together hand in hand to share the joys and burdens of discipleship and to pass on the good news to generations to come.