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Pioneering research uncovers young peoples’ views on life and sets a challenge for today’s Church

8 May 2006

 

Revealing research published this week looks set to be a Spring page-turner for all those with an interest in how the Church engages with young people.

Making Sense of Generation Y contains the results of ground-breaking research into the world view of 15-25 year-olds who have little or no connection with the Christian faith, and is set to offer radical perspectives on how the Church should engage with young people. The book is part of the Explorations series, a growing library of books which aim to stimulate debate within the church.

Following his widely-reported appearance at a youth work conference in a hooded top underlining a message that the Church must look beyond the superficial in attempting to engage young people the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has praised the insights of the book. “This book stresses the need for investment in relationships with young people and for ‘patient sowing’ of the gospel story into our culture. There are no ‘instant solutions’, but there are things we, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can – and must – do,” the Archbishop says in his foreword.

By interviewing more than 120 young people in 18 locations across the country, the book’s researchers – academics Sylvia Collins-Mayo and Sara Savage, and youth ministry specialist Bob Mayo – embarked on an eye-opening journey that lays bare the dominant aspirations of contemporary youth.

“This book is astonishing. Putting it bluntly, it suggests that many of our assumptions about young people, their world view and the quest for spirituality are wrong. This has implications for the future of mission, youth ministry and the Church,” says Jonny Baker, Mission Adviser for Youth and Emerging Church at the Church Mission Society.

The fourth author, the Rt Revd Graham Cray, Bishop of Maidstone and Chair of the Mission-shaped Church working party, offers reflections on the research’s wide-ranging implications for the way that the Church relates to young people. The bishop principally places the emphasis both on individual Christians and church groups to embody the gospel through an ‘incarnational’ approach – meeting and serving young people in their own environment. Fresh Expressions – a project led by the Church of England and the Methodist Church to develop contemporary ways of being church alongside traditional ones – is commended by the authors for championing this approach to ministry.

In pointing to possible ways of bridging the gulf, the book also explores the question of whether the Church can use the popular arts – such as film and music – to regain authentic relationships with young people, and points to opportunities to continue the long-term sowing of the biblical story into contemporary culture.

The research further highlights that the Christian moral tradition, and the teachings of Jesus in particular, provide an unparalleled resource for coping with the complex stresses and strains of modern life for young people.

Making Sense of Generation Y will be unveiled at the National Christian Resource Exhibition, being held at Sandown Park from 9-11th May, and will be available from Christian bookshops from 12th May or from Church House Bookshop, 31 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BN, tel. 020-7898 1300, e mail bookshop@c-of-e.org.uk (mail order available).