9
Importance of Youths in the Church
Good Shepherd Baptist Church, 1127 N 28th St, Richmond, VA 23223
Benjamin Yeanay
A Proposal Submitted to
Regent University
Faculty of the School of Divinity
12th Feb 2022
Literature Review
The trend of Christian Youths in Church
The projection shows that many youths would dis
engage from their role in the church unless measures are taken to change the situation.
The trend of disengagement and leaving the church is influenced by cultural, societal, and economic factors. For instance, the Asian- American Christian youth
s have a unique experience of ethnic identity, which, when not well addressed, makes them leave the church.
In
England,
youths were actively engaged in church responsibilities; however, there is a gradual shift where youths are not as active as before. A study conducted in America titled National Study of Youth and Religion between 2003 and 2005 revealed that whereas youths are theoretically fine with the Christian faith, they are less concerned with it; hence, they cannot survive long after high school.
T
he relaxation in engagement arises from the conflict between the community and the youths in church.
Youths were more active in church matters in the early 20th century compared to the 21stcentury because of the changes in the social environment. The social environment affects the interest of youths in church activities. In addition, the developments in education, technology, social and economic principles influence the interaction of the church and the youths. Youths in the 21st century prefer interacting with the church and engaging with their faith under their terms, which is not tolerated in mainstream churches.
Furthermore, millennials
are increasingly reducing in the church because of a lack of opportunities to actively engage in evangelizing, teaching, changing perceptions, and showing the direction. Part of
the reason for the lack of opportunity is the conservativeness of the church in the exercise of faith; conservative churches bar youths from engaging in some dance styles and dressing in some manner, which disorients the youths, hence repelling them from the church and its activities.
The religious behavior of youths embraces feel-good, do-good spirituality, which is not focused on the Triune of God in line
with the Christian tradition. Furthermore, the behavior has nothing to do with loving Jesus Christ.
Christian Youth Behavior
Youths have the energy and the commitment to engage in anything of interest to them. They have different perceptions and ideas from the old generation. Consequently, they can influence the community based on positive ideas.
The youths actively engage in transformative functions at the church level, such as composing new songs playing instruments using new rhythms that make the church service lively.
The different functions of the youths in the church are manifestations of their behavior. Among them include being creative in serving God; they compose songs and play instruments in service totheir God. Importantly, they are willing to learn; as such, they are committed to studying the Bible to gain the wisdom of God. The knowledge gained is transferred to peers and the aged by teaching. Furthermore, the knowledge gained helps shape their perception of things, which enables them to guide others towards the way of God. Christian youths are also willing to be mentored to be servants of God; they love other Christians in accordance with Christian teachings. Whereas Christian
youths have admirable attributes that should be nurtured in service to their God, they lack elderly mentors who think about God. Existing elders discount youths as unable to carry out God’s work because of the differences in perceptions.
Christian youths should be facilitated to carry out their ministry in their ways as long as the focus is on Jesus Christ.
Roles of Youths in Church
The role of youths in the church is defined by the youth ministry, which is the practice in which volunteers and professionals inspired by the Christian faith work with youths to learn, discover and practice the gospe
l. In this case, the role of youths is geared towards discovering, learning, and practicing the gospel through various activities such as evangelizing, singing, visiting the sick, helping the orphans, visiting prisoners, among others.
Engaging in these roles enhance the youths’ spiritual life. In addition, part of youth ministry is fo
stering personal and spiritual growth for other youths and teaching parents about discipline and love.
The youth ministry started during the 15th century when youths were actively involved in discipleship, bible study, and evangelism to other youths.
In this case, there was formal involvement of the youths in the various church activities to address their needs. However, as time went by, the inability of the church leadership to meet the spiritual needs led to disinterest in church affairs. The assigned roles were abandoned. Regardless of the failures of youth ministry, the church’s survival is based on the nature of the young generation that would take over.
Evaluation of Youth Behavior
Youths in the church are expected to demonstrate a Godly behavior characterized by being charismatic, loving, trustworthy, honest, faithful to their words, andknowing God. Importantly, they should be committed to the works of God. The expected behaviors of youths in church help them carry on with God’s works, which is centered on the faith in the triune of God that is manifested in bible study, worship, service, fellowship, and prayer.
Importantly, as guiders in the works of God, youths also influence the faith of adults based on the foundation led and the lived experiences. They have a role in influencing positive behavior among their peers in church, resulting in enhanced role performance. The church’s role in cultivating and nurturing the expected behavior for the future ministry. However, there should be a way of evaluating the development of the expected behavior. The evaluation of youths in the church is dependent on the community. Whereas Christianity is a uniform doctrine regardless of the culture and societal values, some values are localized and emphasized by communities, particularly the Asian community. For example, among the ways of assessing the effectiveness of youths in their roles is assessing their biblical knowledge not by giving examinations but by observing their conduct in line with the biblical lessons. Among the observations is the
connection between the youths, which is one of the valued attributes in the Korean community.
Importantly, the evaluation of youth behavior should also be contextualized generationally. Studies show that the practice of faith among generations born in the 1950s is different from those born in the 1970s, which is also different from those born in the 1990s.
Challenges affecting the Participation of Youths in Church
The crisis affecting youth ministry in the church is caused by the isolation of the youth from the adult
affairs and the word in the church. Churches struggle to attract and maintain youths; among the reasons for the decline is the lack of leadership from the aged, who should show direction and guidance on Godly conduct.
The youths in the church are taught to believe in the triune of God, behave as Christians by offering service to others, reading the Bible, engaging in prayer and worship. They are also encouraged to belong to Christian congregations. The challenge is a majority of youths no longer believe in God; they do not behave like Christians, nor do they belong to Christian congregations. Youths are sometimes not engaged in the church issues because of shallow, repressive, boring services. Dwindling youth engagement in church activities affects church functions. Whereas youths lay a foundation for their future service to the church, most of them fall out of the way due to life’s experiences, lack of support and mentorship, and changes in environmental influences. The millennial youths leave the church service because of the perceptions of postmodernism, which seem to challenge the traditional way of worship.
The church’s future leaders are not prepared, hence predicting a void in church leadership.
Other challenges include environmental factors such as technological shifts that result in lifestyle changes, lack of parental commitment to their children’s lifestyle, secularism, and the inability of the church to change with the times.
Suggested way forward
The youth should be encouraged to serve God in their various capacities. Importantly, they should be educated on the effects of environmental factors, drug abuse, and negative behavior on their lives. Importantly, parents have a bigger role in teaching responsible behavior in their children to nurture responsibility in them. That means that before children are handed over to the church, parents should prepare them at home.
Furthermore, to maintain youths in the church, the church should change its ways of sharing and teaching the gospel to suit the 21st-century perceptions. Among the suggested ways include focusing on consequential faith.
Consequential faith
develops by belonging to a community, confessing a creed, and pursuing God’s purpose. In this case, the church should keep pace with the changing culture and technology.
Bibliography
Baron, Eugene.The role of church youth in the transformation agenda of South African cities
(HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological
Studies. 73(1), 2017).
Chap Chan, Adoptive youth ministry: Integrating emerging generations into the faith family
(GrandRapids: Baker Academic, 2016).
Chuang, D. J (ed). Asian American youth ministry (New York: Sage Publishers, 2009).
Franklin, J and Allen, R. Jackson. Youth Ministry: A view from the ground (Journal for Baptist
Theology & Ministry, 13(1), 2016).
Haffernana, N. Why is there a decline of young people in the main church services?
(Dissertations 2018-2019).
Hanna, J. Dynamics of youth engagement in the local church (A thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Worship Studies 2020).
Jos de Kock, and Bård E. HallesbyNorheim, Youth ministry research and the empirical.
(International Journal of Practical Theology, 22(1), 2018).
Kagwira, M Catherine. Factors that influence participation of youth in church growth and development: A case study of Runogone Circuit, Kaaga. (Thesis for Masters in
Counseling at Kenya Methodist University, 2012).
McFarland, A and Jason, J. Abandoned faith: Why millennials are walking away and how can we lead them home (New York: Tyndale House Publishers. 2017).
Paul, K. Kelly. A theology of youth (Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry, 13(1), 2016).
Taylor, A. Andrew. Looking back to move forward: Youth Ministry and its effect on the faith and Christian practices of today’s adults (Doctor of Ministry These, 2017).
Thompson, N. 2017.Young people and church since 1900: Engagement and exclusion. (London:
Taylor and Francis, 2017).
Whang, J. Taste the youth ministry: Cultivating organic faith in Korean American youth ministry
(New Jersey: Praise Presbyterian Church, 2014).
�Chap Chan, Adoptive youth ministry: Integrating emerging generations into the family of faith (GrandRapids: Baker Academic, 2016), 15
�Chuang, D. J (ed). Asian American youth ministry (New York: Sage Publishers, 2009), 20
� Taylor, A. Andrew. Looking back to move forward: Youth Ministry and its effect on the faith and Christian practices of today’s adults (Doctor of Ministry These, 2017), 56
� Thompson, N. 2017.Young people and church since 1900: Engagement and exclusion. (London: Taylor and Francis, 2017), 82
� Ibid, 95
� McFarland, A and Jason, J. Abandoned faith: Why millennials are walking away and how can we lead them home (New York: Tyndale House Publishers. 2017), 100
�Baron, Eugene.The role of church youth in the transformation agenda of South African cities(HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies. 73(1), 2017) 1-15.
�Franklin, J, and Allen, R. Jackson. Youth Ministry: A view from the ground (Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry, 13(1), 2016), 49.
�Jos de Kock, and Bård E. HallesbyNorheim, Youth ministry research and the empirical. (International Journal of Practical Theology, 22(1), 2018), 69.
� Ibid, 72
�Paul, K Kelly.A theology of youth (Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry, 13(1), 2016), 3.
� Taylor, A. Andrew. Looking back to move forward: Youth Ministry and its effect on today’s adults’ faith and Christian practices (Doctor of Ministry Theses, 2017).
�Whang, J. Taste the youth ministry: Cultivating organic faith in Korean American youth ministry (New Jersey: Praise Presbyterian Church, 2014), 65.
�Taylor, A. Andrew. Looking back to move forward: Youth Ministry and its effect on the faith and Christian practices of today’s adults, (Doctor of Ministry Theses, 2017), 47.
�Heffernan, N. Why is there a decline of young people in the main church services? (Dissertations 2018-2019), 15-20
� Taylor, A. Andrew. Looking back to move forward: Youth Ministry and its effect on the faith and Christian practices of today’s adults (Doctor of Ministry Theses, 2017), 15
�Hanna, J. Dynamics of youth engagement in the local church (A thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Worship Studies 2020), 22
�Kagwira, M Catherine. Factors that influence youth participation in church growth and development: A case study of Runogone Circuit, Kaaga. (Thesis for Masters in Counseling at Kenya Methodist University, 2012), 85
�Kagwira, M Catherine. Factors that influence youth participation in church growth and development: A case study of Runogone Circuit, Kaaga. (Thesis for Masters in Counseling at Kenya Methodist University, 2012), 25
� Taylor, A. Andrew, 50
�What is your research question? It needs to be included at the beginning of your review.
�Perhaps define the precise age group you referring to.
�Watch spacing
�England or New England? I would center on studies that relate directly to American culture.
�Make sure you space properly. Also, you footnotes need attention (i.e. final periods and spacing).
�What about Generation Z?
�Consider setting this up by saying, “The research shows….”
�or in line?
�Check Turabian for proper heading format
�Can you cite some research here to substantiate your claim? Make sure you do that throughout you review.
�Does this source relate to your geographical and cultural demographics? (i.e. South African Cities)
�Show how the research supports this
�Gospel
�Some good points here. Talk to me about the authors who address these issues. What do they say? What insights do they share. What do they miss?
�Check footnote formatting
�I agree. Discuss what the literature says
�It is ok to put a footnote in reference to this thought, but also consider telling the reader who said it. For example, you could say
“Heffernan’s research demonstrates….”
�Make sure you include a summary and conclusion that does the following:
Elements: review of the sources and discussions summary of the literature should lead the reader toward several key elements distilled from those sources that have the potential to inform the dissertation’s project design.
Summary: the Survey of the Literature section should end with a concise summary of what has been gleaned from the literature, highlighting key threads that emerge from the review the literature, and key elements that have the potential to be integrated into the dissertations project design.
�You have some good sources here. Make sure you format this according to Turabian style
�Sources used for the survey the literature should also include fields peripheral to the focus of the dissertation.