When I was, myself, a young person, I spent a lot of time fretting about how to 'Engage' with young people. How to make the gospel 'Relevant' and 'Accessible' and appeal to a 'Secular' generation. I expended a not inconsiderable amount of time developing youth services and youth clubs and youth bible studies. It often felt like heaving a snowball at a warm, teflon-covered piece of wall.
I now work in a school, where we occasionally try to develop events and activities for young people - not in a Christian way, just in a kind of social responsibility way. But the buzzwords are still 'inclusion' and 'outreach' and 'relevance'. And we still often meet with only a limited amount of success. Last year, we provided a free DJ workshop, and encouraged 14/15/16 year old boys to come and have a go at mixing and scratching under the experienced eye of a professional DJ. Three Students turned up. I concluded that sometimes, the snow just won't stick.
So, I was uncertain of what the reaction would be when my colleague decided to host a semi-religious candle-lighting ceremony during the lunch break of a busy last day before half term. She had spotted that a number of students had recently had bereavements, and wanted to do something to acknowledge them. I was dubious of how much interest there would be, but went along to 'show my support'...
I needn't have worried. Students crammed into the mobile classroom to have an opportunity to light a candle in memory of someone, and listen to a short poem and Bible verse. There were tears, and a genuine sense of community and spirituality. It was deeply moving, and clearly quite valuable for most of those involved. I found myself standing there, not just 'showing my support', but taking part in, and benefiting from the short ceremony.
'Secular Generation'? Young people are deeply aware of things of the spirit. Often deeply in need of greater engagement with things of God. We should not be trying to drag them in. We should be meeting their needs. That's how we show our support.
