Why I won’t be showing my youth group ‘The Passion of The Christ’ this Easter

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This morning I accidently flicked toothpaste into my eye. It was stupidly painful and more than a little humiliating. That, however, was not the reason for the toothbrush or the toothpaste – I wanted to clean my teeth! The 2004 Mel Gibson film, The Passion of The Christ – in some odd way – is much like my unfortunate brush with the toothpaste. A significant emphasis on pain and humiliation that largely loses the reason behind the story.

I first watched The Passion of The Christ alone in my brother’s room when I was seventeen. I had a pretty mature Christian faith, and I was plugged into a good youth group. The initial post-movie shock lasted me about three hours. I remember guilt, fear, gratitude, and floods of tears. After that it took over my mental processing for weeks. There were just aspects of it that I couldn’t work out or square away.

On the whole, I believed it was generally a more helpful than unhelpful experience at the time. And that’s the thing – I wouldn’t say that The Passion of The Christ is a bad film, or even – on the whole – unhelpful for a lot of Christians. There are some very precious parts of the film that were handled with real grace and care. The question today, however, is whether we should show it at our youth clubs to groups of 11–18-year-olds? And linked to that question – does it honestly display what really happened to Jesus in those last days of His life?

A youth club staple?

I’m part of an online forum of youth workers who addressed this very question just last week: Should you show The Passion of The Christ at youth clubs? The debate drew very strong opinions from both sides. One person said the film was ‘manipulative and traumatizing’, to which someone else responded ‘you should try the source material sometime.’ Ouch! A parent raised concerns too, saying ‘absolutely not… I have a daughter that would be traumatized.’

Although this was just last week, it is an old debate. The argument usually goes back and forth between, yes show it, it’s important to see with accuracy the pain that Jesus went through; and no, don’t show it, it’s too violent, and it’s inappropriate for young people.

I have sympathy for both of these views. I think it is important to know how much tragic pain, violence, and humiliation the cross inflicted on Jesus, and for young people to be able fit that into their faith language. However, that should be done with 1) accuracy, 2) necessity, and 3) sensitivity as measures. Unfortunately, I think these are all found wanting in The Passion of The Christ.

Accuracy

The Passion of The Christ promotes a myth of accuracy though claiming loyalty to the Bible as its source material and historical meticulousness. There are, however, plenty of accuracy issues in The Passion of The Christ, from the clothes and beards to the languages and customs, to the off-kilter presentation of both the Jews and the Romans, to the reoccurring (and frankly creepy) anthropomorphised images of the devil. Sorry, I’ve got a soft spot for Christian mysticism, but 40 year old baby-Satan was just weird!

There are just far too many details that are inaccurate to take the film as solid history. However, it’s not just a case of ‘if you can’t get the small things right…’ There are also a few much more significant problems. For this post, I’ll focus on just one – and it’s a big one!

The film’s particular and extended image of ‘scourging’ – repeated lashes with something akin to a cat-o-nine tails embedded with pieces of bone or metal – does not come from either the Bible or historical authorities. As archaeologists Berlin and Magness comment ‘there are neither descriptions, pictorial representations, nor physical evidence for the brutal implement that is used at length and to such horrific effect in The Passion’s “scourging” scenes.’[1] In fact, the only implement the Gospels’ mention is a ‘reed’ (Matt. 27:30; Mk. 15:19), and the only example of a weapon anything like what’s displayed in the film is ‘the whip’ used by Jesus to drive people out of the temple (a ‘φραγέλλιον’ in Jn. 2:13 ). This, however, was a collection of leather chords, not a metal-encrusted torture device.

Although the image of a torture weapon with multiple chords and chains and with bone or metal hooks is widely shared in Bible studies and on the internet, in reality there is very little evidence of the Romans using anything like this in the time of Jesus. The closest thing we have from archaeology is a ceremonial instrument carried by pagan priests (which wasn’t used for torture) or a 4th Century ‘plumbate’ whip, which wasn’t around in 1st Century Palestine. It wasn’t really until the 15th or 16th Century that the Church began to speculate on this kind of torture weapon. Our understanding of the ‘cat-o-nine-tails’ scourge is, in reality, an invention of medieval art, not Roman antiquity.

In the film, however, Jesus is lashed, flogged, and scourged across several positions, with several embellished tools, around one-hundred times. If the film is correct, and Jesus was tortured in such an unprecedented and remarkable way – and one that diverges so much from Roman custom – you would have thought that one of the Gospels would have mentioned it?

Going back to the youth workers’ forum I mentioned earlier, one person said, ‘If anything [the film] doesn’t show half of what suffering our savior went through!’ and another, ‘[The] Passion of the Christ doesn’t hold a candle to what actually happened but is the closest thing to it.’ Sorry guys, I appreciate your passion, but if you’re using either the Bible or historical record, then the scourging scene was overdone, exaggerated, and largely fabricated.

This isn’t to make light of Jesus’ flogging. By no means! But it is a matter of focus. Whereas the Gospels focus on the teaching and person of Christ without overly concentrating on his physical pain, The Passion of The Christ completely reverses this emphasis. It dials up the torture to a degree that is indefensible from either historical or biblical evidence – and loses the purpose or person of Jesus behind it. There is accuracy in some of the drama presented, but much of it is heavily embellished.

Necessity

My second issue is contextual balance. Theologically, the film places so much emphasis on the physical, human-flesh suffering, that it loses the eternal battle for souls almost entirely. It’s mostly important that we know that Jesus died for us, and then it’s definitely meaningful to remember that that was an intense and unfair death. But the pain experienced is not the point! When we super-over-hyper focus on any single aspect of the gospel to this extent, we throw the perfect balance of the story out of whack, and we lose the narrative power of the whole.

If you put rocket fuel in Ford Mondeo, you’re not left with a faster, cooler car. What you actually have is a very messy explosion! Even if The Passion of The Christ was mostly an accurate depiction, the severe overemphasis on Jesus’ torture and death without any explanation or context loses the wider story of His incarnation, crucifixion, atonement, resurrection and ascension.

The most glaring issue throughout the two-hour violent depiction of Jesus’ torture and death then, is that at no point does the film address the question why? For what reason did Jesus die? If you’re going to use The Passion of The Christ as an evangelistic tool, then that’s a really significant hole. And considering the intensive emotional state that your young people are going to be in after watching it, are you going to be able to then explain what’s missing? You might get a positive-looking immediate result (“they were speechless!”), but you also might be unpicking it for years to come.

Put another way, if you’re going to justify over-emphasising  gratuitous violence for theological reasons, you’d better make sure your theology is on point. This is especially true if you’re working with vulnerable young people.

Sensitivity

Entertainment Weekly ranked The Passion of The Christ as ‘the most controversial film of all time.’ I’ve heard Christians say this is because the gospel is offensive and divisive, but that’s not the reason the magazine gave. It was ranked this highly because of its extreme depictions of torture and violence. For context, they ranked this ahead of Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, a film for which the phrase ‘ultra-violent’ was invented.

The question that comes to focus here then is why do you want to show it to your young people in the first place? Because of the extreme violence and gore, it’s an 18-Rated (R in America) film that has been deemed unsuitable for younger audiences. This means you would need a very good reason to show it to them. If that reason isn’t accuracy or necessity, then what do you have left? My fear is that it stylises Jesus in such a way that invokes a response – and if we were really honest, that’s why we show it.

Even in a teenage world of ‘Call of Duty’, ‘The Hunger Games’, and ‘Game of Thrones’ our responsibility to safeguard the development of our children should not be dialled down. Even if they are exposed to violence in the media, it is not an excuse for us to jump on the same bandwagon and attempt to disciple them pastorally by exaggerating the violence of our own tradition. While a wide range of gruesome violence exists in the Bible, taking in a movie laden with visual effects and featuring real actors is an entirely different experience.

Coming back to the true cross

We must teach Jesus and we must teach the cross. There is nothing more essential for us to do! But let’s begin and end with the real Jesus and draw them to the cross of the Bible. It’s there where true power is found, and a lifetime of passion is fuelled.

The cross was a violent, gruesome, humiliating, and unfair treatment of our saviour. It was an incredible amount of suffering! However, we do not need to embellish the details, bypass the facts, ignore the theology, or neglect context to tell this story. It’s important that we share the fullness of who Jesus truly is.

Good youth work doesn’t rely on easy wins. Rather than depending on these intensive (and insensitive) ‘jumpstart’ moments, let’s instead do the real work of building relationships with young people that will draw them close to Jesus with integrity, love, and longevity – rather than guilt, fear, and confusion.

It’s not a terrible film, and some of it I really value, but I won’t be showing it to my teenagers this Easter.

 

[1] A. Berlin & J. Magness (2004), Two Archaeologists Comment on The Passion of the Christ. The Archaeological Institute of America. Available at: https://www.archaeological.org/pdfs/papers/Comments_on_The_Passion.pdf

 

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Why youth workers sometimes need to switch off

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I have a cat. At most levels she is a normal, run-of-the-mill cat. White, fluffy, purry – the whole cat-esq shebang. But she harbours a dark secret – and that is she’s a psychotic lunatic freak with macabre pastimes and dangerous hobbies.

Let me explain. Luna (the cat) hunts mice. Normal enough, right? However, Luna can bring home (and eat) seven mice a day… that we know of. If that wasn’t bad enough, she doesn’t eat the whole mouse. She eats everything but the head, which she likes to leave on our doorstep. I assume as a warning to other mice – or just as a talking point for the postman.

Luna also loves to play with string. Again, normal right? But Luna will purposely spin in a circle chasing string over and over and over again, until she becomes so dizzy, that she stumbles around drunk, and then promptly falls over.

Youth workers can be just like my cat!

Through one lens we can look exactly like every other youth worker. We play games, we teach using creative object lessons, we wear ripped jeans, and we grow soul patches. We look like we’re doing this thing ‘normally.’ But under the surface, many youth workers – including at times, myself, are self-destructive, narcissistic, people-pleasing, terrified-of-our-own-shadow nightmares!

We have to be doing stuff – constantly. Stopping and considering or even appreciating is rarely on the cards. If there’s space, we have to fill it: An empty room? Run around throwing loo roll! A quiet space? Yell loudly! A sparse calendar. Fill it entirely!

Is this you? Then you’re running hot – and you’re gonna blow!

Some of this is certainly fear-driven. We get fearful that people aren’t having a good time, or fearful that the pastor isn’t happy with our job performance, etc. Fear is a huge motivator. I think there’s another reason though and that is that we just don’t know any better.

The self-perpetuating model of youth worker burnout

Most youth work in the UK is done by volunteers, and the large majority of paid youth workers have had no formal training. For most of us, we learned youth work from ‘the guy who went before.’ What I mean by this is that many youth workers learned youth work from their youth worker – with some tips picked up from festival and event youth workers along the way.

So, if these youth workers were ‘always on’ then we’re probably just perpetuating the same poor practice. More likely, however, we only ever witnessed them in full-on youth worker mode at projects, and then assumed ‘that’s just what being a youth worker looks like.’

Then there’s a theological reason too. Since the late 1940s we’ve been reading books and attending seminars telling us that as ‘incarnational youth workers’ we’re supposed to always be on. Our door should always be open, our phone always switched on, and young people should feel free to demand our energy whenever they feel like it.

Since this time, however, and especially since the 1980s, it’s been really hard to convince youth workers to stick around for very long. Very rarely will a youth worker work beyond one contract before moving on to something else. All of the youth workers I knew from growing up are not youth workers anymore.

There’s a lot of reasons for that, but I believe there’s more than just a subtle corelation between overexertion in youth work, and time spent in youth work.

So, switching off?

Why do you need to switch off? Because you will burn out if you don’t. We know this, but we don’t really know it.

We don’t really know the importance of regular, consistent days off.

We don’t really know the importance of booking and taking holidays.

We don’t really know the importance of switching off notifications.

We don’t really know the importance of hobbies, friends, and activities away from youth work.

Those who work these things out (and so do know) are those who keep going! But even they still need occasional reminding. There are others who know the importance of these things too though, and that’s those who have already burned out.

I could have phrased it ‘we don’t really know the consequences of not…’ Consequences on our health, our marriage, our kids, our sleep, our friendships, our hairlines, or even our job effectiveness. Exertion in does not mean quality out.

So, let me just end there – using a language we can all get:

Youth workers sometimes need to switch off because they won’t be very good at youthwork if they don’t.

Food for thought.

 

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How do we respond to CORVID-19 as youth workers?

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Let’s start with the obvious: we respond with love, grace, compassion, selflessness, and hope in Jesus Christ. On Sunday I was invited to preach in a local church where I talked about the opportunities we have to shine as Christians in the middle of dark and scary times – and how having a God-perspective on these times lifts our eyes to see a bigger picture. You can get the recording here.

Closer to home, we made the decision today to cancel our meetings. Our team will work from home, and our projects will be suspended until further notice. This was absolutely the right decision in order to protect the vulnerable that we all know. However, before we move on too quickly, lets just acknowledge that this really sucks. I am really really going to miss seeing our young people, and connecting with them over the message of Jesus. I’m going to miss their sense of humour and fun – and the light they bring each week. It’s rubbish for us, for them, and for their parents not to run. It’s still the right thing to do.

Before we go any further lets remember to take responsibility as leaders in our community. Parents and young people are looking up to us for guidance. Let’s take that seriously, and lead with love and clairity. Motivation is not enough, we want to be clear guiding examples. Let’s not pose as experts, or take overly sketchy political lines. We need to lead with love and grace and set a godly, humble, clear, and assuring example.

With that in mind – and after canceling our usual projects, what are we doing. Here’s 6 things:

1. Streaming

We are going to stream messages, fun clips, and challenges through YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. These will be simple and straightforward, short and sweet, and aimed at staying connected.

Practically speaking this will begin by using two devices. A phone for Instagram, and a laptop for YouTube (which will be linked to Facebook). Both will be sat next too each other (the phone on a stand), recording the same thing at the same time.

2. Video Conferencing

We are going to have a weekly discussion / Bible Study using video conferencing software for those young people who want to go deeper. We’re going to think of some innovative games and challenges too.

We’re still deciding between Google Hangouts and Zoom, although leaning towards Zoom because we can use breakout groups, and you don’t have to have a specific account. Nick Farr has provided a great tutorial for how to set this up here.

There are some safeguarding concerns, but after talking to the amazing thirtyone:eight this morning, they have sportingly put a document of advice together which I’ll upload a bit later today and link here.

3. Family packages

This is one I’m really excited about! We’re going to come up with loads of ideas to share with families so they can get the ‘most’ out of their extra time together.

This will include games, ice-breakers, activities, challenges and thoughts. We will do this in pdf form with maybe some prerecorded videos and send them out through email and social media.

4. Mobilising the healthy!

We’re going to help young people identify those in need, put together care packages, and (safely) delivery those to local people. We will also encourage families to connect (again, carefully) with their vulnerable neighbours and do some good Samaritan deeds for them as a family. Neat eh?

5. Informing young people

We are aware how much fear and misinformation is about. So we have come up with a short FAQ for young people – answering their questions such as, what does Coronavirus feel like? And am I at risk? I’ll upload this here for free once we’re happy with it.

It’s super important that we both inform and assure young people – who are going to be both nervous and bored for a while.

More to come!

We’ve got lots of ideas and you probably do to. This is a serious time, and we want to lovingly help people generally, and serve young people particularly. We’ll add more ideas as they come – but please comment, or send us yours.

This is an opportunity to innovate and there is a real necessity for us to lead. So lets do both!

All the best!

 

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How large is the average UK Christian youth group?

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Now that is the question isn’t is! How big is the average youth group? I don’t mean how many young people are there averaged out across the number of churches which exist in the UK – as most churches don’t have any youth provision. The question is, of the Church-based youth groups that exist, what is their average size?

There is very little actual research into this, and what there is seems questionable. Let’s start with one such piece of research from a reputable source.

Kageler’s Study

A few days ago, I was put onto a cross-cultural comparative study of youth work by Len Kageler[1] who found that the average youth group size in the UK in 2006 was between 50-180 young people.

Shocked? I was too. Even generously speaking – and including children – this would make the average Christian youth group bigger than the average church. Let’s spend a little time with this figure and see how likely it is.

Kageler’s methodology sampled youth workers who are part of the International Association of the Study of Youth Ministry (IASYM)[2]. This is a group that I’m a part of and it represents those in youth work who are actively involved in academic research. This means Kageler didn’t sample ‘typical’ youth workers, most of whom in the UK have no formal training whatsoever. This also excludes the majority of youth work in the UK that is run by volunteers.

Using surveymonkey he received 303 responses from across 24 countries. We don’t know how many responses came from each country, but taking the average, this would mean he received 10-15 responses from each country. This is clearly far too small a sample, and it looks to me like he happened upon some larger youth groups.

The issue with 50-180, of course, would mean that the ‘average’ youth group is larger than the ‘average’ church. To get to that figure we’d have to assume that either 1. Most Christian youth work happens outside the sphere of churches, or 2. Christian youth work is limited to just 10% (or less) of churches.

Exploring a better model

In 2018, the Church of England reported that the usual Sunday attendance was 703,000[3] people. Across roughly 16,043 churches and cathedrals, this makes the average attendance 44 people per church. Of this, 13% were children under the age of 16, or about 7 per church. As only 25% of these Churches have any youth provision, this would mean that the likely average across those 25% of churches is 22 young people. So, 25% have 22 young people under the age of 16, and 75% don’t have any at all.

Assuming that this is too stark, and that there would be some bleed through of Church of England churches with no youth provision but who still some young people attending – the average ‘youth group’ size in these churches would be around 18 young people, aged 0 – 16. Of course, this still means most churches don’t have any young people at all.

There is also a significant drop off of young people between the ages of 11-14. Only about 26% of those young people aged 0 – 16 noted above would be older than 11. This would make the average youth group in the Church of England would be about 5 young people. Perhaps 5 – 10 allowing for 17 and 18 year olds that aren’t part of these figures.

The Church of England make up nearly a third of all church attendance, but using similar available figures for Baptist, URC, Catholic, Pentecostal, Orthodox, independent, and ‘other’ churches, we should be able to put together a reasonable figure.

It’s hard to find data, but we can add to this that the Christian Youth Work Consortium in 2016[4] found 7192 13-19 year olds in the Methodist church were attending on a Sunday morning, but 67,000 attending weekly activities. This (according to Piggot, 2017)[5] would be across 4512 Methodist churches. Likely (using similar data to the Church of England), this means those young people will be spread out among fewer churches, making this about 10-40 young people involved in regulated weekly activities – however only 10% of this would be on a Sunday.

Limitations of this model

Some of this data goes back as far as 2005[6], but mostly church attendance trends downwardly. The Church of England, for instance, had an average attendance of 54 in 2005, but 44 in 2018. So, any figure we come up with is likely to be generous.

Much (but not all) of the data is also only pertinent to England, and misses Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Also, this data doesn’t look at all at parachurch groups like Youth for Christ, YoungLife, YWAM, Scripture Union, or Urban Saints. It also doesn’t make a clear distinction as to what constitutes a ‘youth group.’ It’s likely that much of the figure from the Methodist churches above includes larger one-off events or schools work. For that reason we should err on the cautious side.

It’s also worth noting that we stream young people into age categories. So often youth ministries have separate 11-13s and a 14-18s groups. In these common cases, a youth group may actually be two groups. This also doesn’t account for funnel models of larger youth groups where there can be as many as seven different groups/projects based on group aims or maturities.

Finally, some churches have larger average sizes but make up a much smaller proportion of church attendance across the UK. So Pentecostal churches, for instance, have an average attendance size of 129, but only make up 9% of Christian worshippers across the UK.

With all those provisions, let’s try to estimate an average.

So, what’s the answer?

With this in mind, we are able to come up with a broad, but I think likely figure.

I believe that the average youth group size across the UK is between 5 and 20 young people aged 11-18. These groups are mostly limited to 25% of the church.

Splitting up the age categories, the average is probably 5 – 12 young people per youth group.

 

** Additional note suggested after publication:

For an excellent study on the impact of vocational youth, children’s and families workers has on youth group attendance in the Church of England, see:

Francis, L. J., Howell, D., Hill, P. & McKenna U. (2019) ‘Assessing the Impact of a Paid Children, Youth, or Family Worker on Anglican Congregations’ in England, Journal of Research on Christian Education, 28:1, 43-50, DOI: 10.1080/10656219.2019.1593267

They found that the average youth/children’s group in the Church of England contained 0 – 10 young people, but saw an increase of around 7 when a vocational worker was added; making it 0 – 17 young people aged 0-18. This would be consistent with my findings above.

 

Notes:

[1] Kageler, L. (2010) ‘A cross national analysis of church based youth ministries’, The Journal of Youth Ministry, 8(2), pp. 49–68

[2] https://iasym.net

[3] Church of England (2018) Statistics for Mission. (Research and Statistics, Church House, London), available at: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/2018StatisticsForMission_0.pdf

[4] Christian Youth Work Consortium (2016) Report of the consultation: Christian youth work and ministry across the UK, available at: https://www.cte.org.uk/Publisher/File.aspx?ID=182924

[5] Piggot, A (2017), Statistics for Mission, available at: https://www.methodist.org.uk/downloads/conf-2017-42-Statistics-for-Mission.pdf

[6] Evangelical Alliance (2005) English Church Census 2005. Available at: https://www.eauk.org/church/research-and-statistics/english-church-census.cfm

 

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Should we hold youth meetings in church buildings?

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Historic church buildings are an important British heritage, and a legacy of the established church of Christendom. But are they the best place for a youth event?

When Millennials were the young people of the day, the answer would almost certainly have been no. The arguably masculine authoritarian architecture mixed with the over-spilling soreness of growing up with GenX and Baby Boomer parents who were made to go to church by their parents have been a dead turnoff for many. This is largely why the youth events of the 90s we’re moved to school halls and community centres, and why many Millennial church plants have gone to pubs and houses.

But we don’t work with Millennials, do we?

Are GenZ as freaked out by our ancient church buildings as we were growing up? Or are church buildings just another detached source of intrigue in the same way a Mosque or a Temple would be? Are they, as Mark Griffiths might say, ‘three generations removed’ from the bitterness of the anti-church generations? Are we at risk of reading our own prejudices into the cultural whims of today’s teenagers? Are there perhaps benefits to running youth events in church buildings now?

As with all things culture and history – it’s probably not that simple! Let’s start with some important background.

History, Wealth and Power

Throughout Christendom historically, the Church has asserted itself on the landscape by imposing centralised places of worship. Back in the 4th Century, Roman Emperor Constantine not only enabled Christians to worship publicly, but also gave them resources to do so. He returned property that was previous confiscated by Emperor Diocletian, granted tax exemptions, and built basilicas throughout the empire – often financed by pillaging pagan temples. This planted seeds that largely continued throughout Europe until now.

In Britain today, the established Church of England is still one of the wealthiest landholders with a £2 billion property portfolio and 100,000 acres of land across England and Wales. This makes up a significant portion of their £6.7 billion in declared assets. Their investments have returned almost 20% and are up from £4.3 billion in the last ten years. The Church also enjoy generous tax benefits on these holdings. Early Christendom advocated the Jewish practice of giving alms for the remission of sins which ensured a continual flow of wealth to the church that continues in some form today. ‘Even the most humble members of the Christian community were involved in this perpetual mobilisation of wealth.’ (Brown, 2013, The rise of Western Christendom: triumph and diversity, A.D. 200-1000 p.69).

The cultural conception that “church just wants our money” comes from a quantitive reality; one that is arguably an easier position to argue than “churches serve the poor,” however true it might be. Throughout the Middle Ages there was a stark contrast between the wealth within and the poverty outside imperialistic church buildings. The steps of Cathedrals today, especially in larger European cities, are still peppered with the poor and homeless.

In 2015, Housing Justice lobbied the Church of England to sell its underused properties to respond to the housing crisis, issuing a report stating, ‘The Church cannot speak out on this or any other issue without putting its own house in order.’

Church = The Building

‘Church’ has become synonymous with buildings rather than the gathered body of believers. There is an implicit idea that to meet with God means you must go to an established church in a recognisable building, and to be a Christian is to simply be a regular church attender in said building. In 2015, however, the Church of England reported 1926 closed and repurposed buildings, making the God who resides inside seem irrelevant, inanimate and diminishing.

Even when at the height of relevancy, the aesthetically beautiful and imposingly grand structures only speak, at best, to part of God’s character, or allowed for limited expressions of worship or activities. Ever tried to move some pews for a game of dodgeball?

Church buildings themselves can serve as a monument to an apparently dying religion. They are often crumbling structures which are locked for all but an hour a week surrounded by smaller memorials to the deceased. Inside, older British churches have uncomfortable, formal and awkward interiors that do not exist in any other public building save perhaps a courtroom, theatre, or overcrowded classroom – each designed to give credence to just one voice at a time.

Problems increase when examining the symbols used throughout the buildings, much of which is in memory of someone other than Jesus, including the often-imposing wall of military paraphernalia. The cross is sometimes absent, replaced with coded Christograms such as IHS or XP. The absence of the cross uncovers darker problems, as for some cultures and students of history it represents conquest, not loving self-sacrifice.

Church buildings and symbolism create a plethora of problems for the relationship between church and society today. They can misrepresent Gospel values, exhibit irrelevancy, disable participation, and are sometimes seen as a testimony to mistreatment and imperialistic exclusivism. Although newer church buildings are less of an issue than the many older listed buildings, they are still often built with the same values, and may therefore still trigger the same responses in society.

Do young people care about any of that?

Well, frankly, some will and some wont. However, even if they don’t explicitly care about it, this reality still exists in the zeitgeist that they are growing up in.

That said, it’s not the whole picture.

Institutionalised church has also been an immense source for good in the Western world, and many excellent community-driven churches today still meet in exactly these buildings. A sense of wonder, mystery and the right kind of holy reverence can be modelled by them artistically, helping us with some forms of our worship. As in all things of course, the heart will bleed through the stones, and a genuinely loving church will look loving, even dressed in its granddad’s old suit.

With all that background in mind, here’s a few thoughts on church buildings, venues, and young people:

Authentic people create quality spaces

Young people are attracted to authenticity and genuineness, no matter what it’s dressed in. In the same way that young people respond better to a good listener than they do to someone who has binged the same boxsets, young people will go to events that strike a chord with their values.

Under the traditional attractional models of youth ministry, the venue itself needs to have either an inherent coolness or be an inherent blank canvass. So, cinemas became great youth ministry event venues, and coffeeshops became fabulous regular project spaces.

If young people today can feel the genuineness of the people running it and can find empathy with those people, then they’ll probably rock up anywhere accessible that we hold an event.

Physical spaces are approaches though digital corridors

Much of GenZ’s community building is now done completely separately to actual physical spaces. Relational capital is largely built online through social media spaces. If you can develop a healthy online presence that reaches into the worlds and circles that young people move in, then they are more likely to sound out the venues you use that flow from that.

There’s something in exclusivity here too. If you found a real space through personal online invitation, there’s a feeling of personal importance and specialness that comes with it.

Ancient spaces are expected for mysterious philosophy

The Christian faith is no longer a societal ‘given’ when we’re talking about British religion. It’s not the only classically religious worldview on offer, and possibly not even the most obvious. The little that our young people know about the Christian faith does come with a few interesting expectations.

One of the only things that most young people know about Christianity is that it’s old; so they are expecting something deep, rich, and ancient. With that comes intrigue and interest. And because we’re not trying as hard as we would have been with Millennials to distance ourselves from ‘traditional’ Christian stereotypes, trying to avoid an ‘old’ expectation is not as high a priority as it used to be.

So why not use it? Young people are often looking for a refuge from the fast-paced, modern, inauthentic consumeristic world they live in. We can provide that through relevant authentic ancient spaces that demonstrate a steady depth to the God we worship.

So, are church buildings always a no no? Food for thought, eh?

 

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Working with visiting speakers – 9 tips

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Over the past twelve months I’ve been on both sides of the visiting speaker divide. I’ve been touring my book, and running events that needed outside help.

Some churches have policies and budgets for speakers, but in youth work land, we easily neglect these in the wake of enthusiasm and last minute planning! I’ve had some truly wonderful, and some frankly weird encounters as a visiting speaker, so I thought I would share some top tips and little stories to help you get the most out of your visiting speaker.

1. Do your homework

Don’t just go for the biggest names as it’ll cost your whole budget, and they might not actually be the best voice for your groups. You could even end up compromising  ideal dates and venues to fit their busy schedules. You should look instead for what a speaker values; ask for feedback and listen to some of their recordings. Match the speaker to the people they are speaking to, not the topic.

I was asked at one event last year to talk about inner city ministry to disadvantaged urban teenagers from ethnic minorities. I winged it but there are so many people more qualified than me to talk on this topic.

2. Show your working

When sending an invitation to a speaker, specifically point to why you have asked for them. Share what traits they have displayed, or topics they have spoken on which you think will find synergy with your group. This is not about flattery (although it couldn’t hurt, right?), it’s about starting a conversation on the right track.

I’ve had people ask me to speak purely because they know I’ve written a book – but had no idea what the book was about. This proved awkward when the theory of youth work I proposed was dramatically different to events I was asked to speak at. Whoops!

3. Clearly communicate

Most visiting speakers are in some kind of full-time ministry, thus will have an ongoing calendar to juggle. For me that means I really appreciate a few months (not weeks or days) notice, and will want a reasonable picture of I’m speaking to, and for how long. Don’t just drop a speaker into a context they wouldn’t normally work with without very clearly defined and properly communicated expectations.

At another stop last year I was given forty minutes to talk, however, twenty-five minutes in it was clear that the room was confused and restless. Apparently fifteen minutes was the usual length but the person who mediated my visit wasn’t a regular at this service and hadn’t checked!

4. Give value

Use a speaker for what they are good at and are passionate about. They shouldn’t feel like a spare part or just another volunteer. Make sure it’s worth their time.

A vocational speaker puts a lot of heart, effort, and personal energy into a talk, and it’s harder for them because they don’t know the people they’re speaking to. Make sure they know that they have been used specifically, and picked with careful intention.

5. Decide on remuneration

This should at least cover expenses for travel and board, but it’s also important to consider a financial gift for their time. If I’m speaking for 30 minutes then I’ll probably put 5-8 hours total work into it. With this in mind when I’m running an event, I try to delegate 15-35% of the budget for speakers.

Some speakers have more established expectations than others. it’s better to ask in a frank and clear way early on – but with the attitude of wanting to bless, not wanting to save.

Note: If you plan on recording their talk and selling material with it in afterwards, then you need to get their permission to do so and factor that into your gift. I’m always frustrated when I discover a talk I gave is being sold when I didn’t even know I had been recorded!

6. Be realistic with your expectations

If your event starts at 6pm, don’t ask your speaker to be there with the setup team at 3pm to ‘meet people.’ If you want them to meet people then put on a dinner beforehand. There’s nothing more awkward for a speaker than wandering around a hall, trying to find ways to be useful (or just stay out of the way) for 90 minutes while it all gets set up. This is time your speaker would rather have been with their family.

With this comes realism and honesty. I attended several events last year where I was assured a large number of people, but only a handful would actually make it. 10 and 100 people are very different things. I would still have spoken at these events, but I would have changed my approach or format if I knew beforehand.

7. Ask for their requirements

Sound, projection, computers, adapters, tables, pens, seating arrangements, or helpers to hand things out are all helpful to discuss before a speaker arrives. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve arrived somewhere that didn’t have even a music stand for my notes. A speaker shouldn’t dictate the shape of your event, but you should talk clearly about what is available and how they usually work.

8. Say thank you

It’s important to value your speaker. You can give some helpful feedback, but mostly show your gratitude for their work. Visiting speakers are professionals so they can work with feedback and understand that people have different needs.

I try and give the ‘triple whammy’ of thanks: First, say thank you in the event publicly, which gives the whole group an opportunity to be a part of it. Second, say thank you to them personally, as the event organiser, when walking them to their car or dropping them off at the train station. Third, say thank you a day or two later, over email, highlighting the specific ways you think it was useful to the audience.

9. Don’t let them be a diva

You should value your speaker, but if you have given clear expectations in a timely fashion, then you should expect them to work within those parameters. You can’t change the shape of your whole event to fit them, and you can’t throw out your theology play book to accommodate something they’re playing with at the moment.

I once worked with a visiting speaker who was given 20 minutes, but spoke for almost an hour (mostly crying), until we interrupted and moved him off stage.

A speaker should ideally be there for the whole session to settle in well, understand the vibe, and talk to people afterwards. They shouldn’t nip out the back when their bit is over. Be clear and upfront, and hold them to the expectations you have agreed on.

 

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Why train for ministry?

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Because you should.

I’ve written several posts now about the pros and cons of training. I’ve tried to gently and persuasively spell out why it’s a good idea. If I was to be a little bit more honest and franker however, that I’d say you actually need a really, really good reason not to train.

Ministry is not about you. It’s about Jesus and it’s about those that you serve. If you’ve got the opportunity, therefore, then you should give God that intentional time to shape you to be ready for those people. You owe it to your future congregation to spend less time playing trial-and-error, and more time building intentionally on a solid foundation.

Why would you not train if you have the opportunity?

If you want to take ministry seriously as a calling and not just a vocation, then you’ve got to think of your life in terms of decades and not years. This means portioning out serious time for ministry training.

You can always build experience later, but you can’t build a foundation later, especially not when you’re already several floors up.

Why train?

Because you’ll learn how to handle the Bible.

You’ll learn how to preach better.

You’ll gain an understanding of different learning styles.

You’ll start to ask better questions.

You’ll play test ideas.

You’ll examine things that have already been done.

You develop practices critically without responsibility – which means you won’t hurt anybody if you get something wrong.

You’ll meet a band of brothers and sisters to grow with.

You’ll learn to engage more critically, developing nuance and subtlety.

You’ll be evaluated by people who know more than you do.

You’ll learn in community not just isolation (which is how the Bible was designed to be read).

You’ll do more reflective practice.

You’ll receive formal recognition that you have reached an understood standard – making you more employable.

If you feel a call to ministry then don’t see training as only one potential option. See it as the obvious main path, and only choose a different one if God lays it clearly in front of you.

Training is so important. I believe that one of the main reasons so many youth ministers quit after just one contract period, is simply because they weren’t trained to hit the ground running in the first place.

Training can be better, and it certainly could be cheaper, and you might even end up picking the wrong place for you and then need to change. But this doesn’t make training a bad option. Please, if you’ve written it off, think – and then think again.

 

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How to write better blog posts

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This will be a somewhat relative post, as all blogs are different. They have different readers and serve different purposes. For blogs like this one though, where you are trying to offer a genuine digital service, along with sound advice, thought provoking stories, and solidarity for like-minded people, making the effort to raise the bar is – I think – a noble pursuit.

I know the title of this post is going to be treated with a healthy amount of scepticism, but considering the amount of nonsense I’ve written, and the many, many mistakes that I’ve made, I feel like I can add a few dots of wisdom to the topic.

I started blogging almost 15 years ago, and at the time it was just a way of interacting with other students at my theology college. My posts tended to be long-winded, poorly written, over detailed, badly structured, filled with reactionary content, and peppered with incendiary commenting.

Since then I’ve made a lot of effort to carefully cultivate a readership, be more specific in my focuses, and generous with my platform. For those of you who have followed me for a long time, I hope you agree that this is a far better blog that It once was.

This post has been prompted by three people who kindly emailed and specifically asked me this question over the last few weeks. I said I would write something on it, so here it is.

There are many ‘how to write better’ posts already out there, so this just contains a few ideas that I personally have had to work hard on. I hope one or two might be useful!

Take it seriously

Readers are people first. My job is to engage with them as human beings and not click numbers.

I have quite a detailed a profile in my mind of a fictional, yet believable person who I’m writing to before I begin to plan each post. This isn’t always the same person but does tend to be one of three or four that I regularly think of. At very least I remember that my reader is not me.

This means that I take great care in how I research a post, how I structure it, the language I choose, its length, and its anecdotes. I try to be person specific.

Also, because I see blogging as a genuine part of my ministry, I invest in it. I pay for a self-hosted WordPress account, domain name, and template, and I take time off in the year to properly design and renovate the site.

Know your USP

‘USP’ or unique selling point, is basically a tool to help you remember what it is that makes you distinct. Your unique voice online should flow out of your unique personality. What place does your voice have in the wider conversation? No blog can be the complete word on any subject, but it can still have a clearly recognisable voice.

YouthWorkHacks tries to be a bridge between theoretical and practical youth work. Its place is to push the boundaries of theory into real application, and to challenge practices to engage more critically with their philosophical roots.

This is why the ‘voice’ of YouthWorkHacks requires pure practitioners to reach deeper for foundations, and pure theorists to reach a wider for applications. Hence the moto: ‘reaching further in youth work.’

As I’m both a practitioner and an academic, this suits me well. Some blogs are more resource driven, and some are more abstract. What’s your USP voice in the conversation – what do you bring that’s distinct?

Critically engage

Postgraduate marking criteria always mentions critical engagement. This is the ability to look at one issue from several angles, including perspectives that you might not agree with. The best posts follow this same principle; softening highly rhetorically or reactionary language in favour of genuine discussion.

When critiquing, the critically engaged post tries to see the context in which something is framed, it looks for the extraneous threads that pull on the central idea, and it knows the best arguments against its own position.

Rather than, ‘Person A said something stupid,’ how about ‘Person A has presented this idea, which is consistent with their other works in “these” ways, but it’s probably based in “X” particular context. Person B has a slightly different approach, which contrasts with Person A in the “following ways”. I think Person B makes the more lucid argument for “these following reasons”, and I would apply that in “these ways”.’ This is longer, but it gives far more content and it outgrows our own opinions.

Provide more than just problems

Plenty of blog posts don’t go beyond an observation of something they don’t like. If you think something is missing, or ethically wrong, or dangerous, then say so, but say why, and say what you think needs to happen in response.

A blog that only focuses on problems tends to be written as an exercise in catharsis. The focus becomes the writer and not what is said. When several blogs do this, they become an echo chamber, rehashing the same problems without solutions, and reframing the same issues without acknowledging hope. A post that says, ‘I saw this and it sucks’ without any more evaluation will always leave me wanting, and will probably mean that I won’t return to that blog again.

I want my blog to be a place of positivity and kindness, but without losing the reality of genuine struggles. It’s entirely possible to do both, but you have to plan, research, reflect, and write with more care and attention that just ‘sticking up a post.’

Blogs can’t square every circle, and they shouldn’t try to fix things that should be grieved over, but they can still provide a unique view, or an abstract set of ‘maybe if’ ideas.

Write better

This is such an obvious thing to say but good content requires a working vehicle to deliver it. When I read a post that clearly hasn’t been proofread, then I feel disrespected as a reader.

You don’t have to be Shakespeare to make sure that you have full stops in the right place, or capital letters for names.

I’m not a naturally gifted writer, instead I have to work very hard at it. This is why I tend to proof read my posts the day after I write them – and obviously before I post them. I also use tools like Grammarly and PaperRater – and I write my posts first into Word, rather than the blog wizard. Personally, I’m terrible at using inconsistent tenses, run-on sentences, and using words like ‘simply’ over repetitively. I use passive voice too much, and I write too much like I talk.

If you are a writer, then you must also be an editor. This is about serving the reader. My wife explains it this way; ‘Tim, you need to take me by the hand and walk me through each point, don’t assume that I’ll just get it.’

Pray more

Pray before you post. Pray for the message, the content, the readers, and for the people those readers work with.

As a ministry, commit it to God in the same way you would anything else.

If what you actually want to do is journal, then journal instead. If, however, you are advertising a public blog and producing content that shapes and informs people’s lives in ministry, then give it that same attention you would if those people were in the room with you.

Pray like you mean it, like you respect it, and like you want it to genuinely serve.

Thanks folks. I hope you found something helpful in there. I don’t always get these right (in fact, some times I get none of these right!) but they’re all well worth the effort and the time.

 

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What to do in the first three months of a new youth work job

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This won’t be a popular answer, but you should do nothing. Well, almost nothing.

I was recently at a conference where I overheard a new youth worker tell another youth worker that she was struggling in her brand-new position. The second youth worker’s advice was ‘change as much as you can as quickly as you can.’ I felt like banging my head against the wall… or I felt like banging someone’s head against the wall anyway.

One of the main reasons that youth workers don’t find traction in new positions is that they fly in like superman with brand-spanking new shiny ideas and a completely out-of-context, duck-out-of-water leadership style to boot. Whereas some will see this as a novelty and will try to get behind it, most will treat the over-excited new guy with a healthy level of scepticism.

So slow down puppy.

For your first few months you need to build.  Build credibility (no your CV did not do that), build trustworthiness, build respect, build confidence, and – of course – build relationships. You’re also building up information and research, so the actual changes you’ll make later will sit on something much more like solid ground.

So, here’s my short list of what you should do in your first three months instead:

1. Watch everything

Go to each ministry project that the church or ministry runs. Visit all the homegroups and services. Attend training and meetings. Don’t get stuck into to serving, just watch. Watch, look, listen, and take notes. You’re trying to breathe the culture in, put your finger on the pulse and find the heart (or hearts) of the ministry. Don’t waste this time of watching as a relatively objective outsider – you won’t get it back later.

2. Keep a journal everywhere

Note down some thoughts after every event. Ideally do this under four headings. 1. Who did what when and where? 2. What did I like/do I think worked? 3. What did I not like/do I think didn’t work? 4. Anything else of note? Keep this journal private but do fill it in regularly.

3. Talk to everyone

Accept every dinner invitation and go out for so many coffees that you start to shake. Ask impertinent questions, get people to tell you their stories, and listen actively to what they say. Talk to local schools and government. Talk to other churches and project workers. Make notes in your journal afterwards and reflect. Ask lots and lots of questions – of everyone. Try to withhold judgement and keep the pieces in tension. You’re trying to sense a flavour of people, not just gather facts.

4. Change nothing

Don’t just jump in with your new ideas, learn to listen for the heartbeat. This will build you a foundation that you’ll be able to build solidly on for years to come. Not only does this build you some much needed trustworthiness, but it also gives you the space and information that you’ll need to plan healthily.

How to do this in reality

This starts at interview! You need to make clear that this is your plan for the first quarter, so the ‘interim’ staff or volunteers can’t just pack up and leave in lieu of the new guy coming in. Make sure the pastor or team leader communicates this to the church, teams, and eldership before you start. Then you can hit the ground running by not actually having to run. Winner.

 

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27 habits to beat burnout

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There are plenty of reasons that youth workers burn out, and more than a few horror stories. However, the best work a youth worker can do is long term youth work. So stick to it! In the meantime, here’s 27 habits to get into to help you avoid the burnout trap!
  1. Surround yourself with good people who love you and don’t report to you.
  2. Make sure you are a worshipping part of the community – so take regular Sunday’s off from commitments.
  3. Have a separate line-manager, pastor, and mentor.
  4. Take your days off. Always. No exceptions.
  5. Plan your holiday’s in advance.
  6. Safeguard family times.
  7. Talk to God regularly like He’s an old friend who desperately wants the best for you.
  8. Have hobbies. Commit to them as a valuable part of your life, not simply extras ‘when there’s time for them’.
  9. Give. Generously and a little bit ridiculously. Don’t wait to give.
  10. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Commit to growing that above all else.
  11. Grow in love for the Word – as a relationship with your dad in heaven, not as a ministry prep thing.
  12. Married? Make intentional space for intimacy. Explore, make it fun!
  13. Kids? Try and be more crazy than them when you play. Really *play* with them.
  14. Dance when no ones around.
  15. Plan prayer & reflection times into your diary. Don’t plan meetings over them. Write them into the calendar.
  16. Commit to a couple of conferences and retreats each year. Make sure you take them as additions to holiday’s, not replacements.
  17. Watch TV. Read books. Play games. Laugh lots.
  18. Develop healthy sleep, eating, exercise, and hygiene patterns.
  19. Don’s take yourself too seriously. Seriously.
  20. Remember they’re God’s kids, and it’s His ministry… It’s not yours. God was in their life before you were, and will continue to be after they/you leave.
  21. Also remember you’re not a surrogate parent.
  22. Give yourself a pass when things sometimes suck.
  23. Remember that you’re just one of God’s tools, not the best/only one. (Num. 22:21ff right?)
  24. Have big healthy poos.
  25. Finally remember that Jesus might return tomorrow.
  26. Finally finally remember that you’ll be in heaven one day, and in a 1000 years, what seems monumental and stressful now, will pale in significance when you spend all your days in utter delight worshipping around the throne of Jesus.
  27. Eat cake.

 

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