What makes a rubbish youth group work?

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I sometimes wonder about our standards for what constitutes ‘good’ youth groups.

If young people are as varied as humanity itself (which they are), and leader’s love for them can express itself in many different ways (which it can) – then who are we to decide if its quality youth work? If the result of that formula looks poor to us, we should look a level or two deeper before casting judgement.

I get to visit lots of different youth clubs as part of my job – and one of the things I’m supposed to do is say what’s not working and how to fix it. A few years ago I visited a ‘rubbish’ youth club.

It met in the evening – too late to be ‘after school’ and too early to be an evening out. It was right around dinner time, so thee kids were missing food and missing family time.

The meeting – which was a completely random mix of young children and teenagers – gathered round a few nasty looking go-pack tables, with over-diluted orange squash, and dry cookies that had been stored in cling-film.

There were no games, and a completely incomprehensible craft. The materials they used were both too young for most of the group, and too old to have been considered relevant; the weirdest bit though – was the youth leader.

She was about 85 years old, wearing every manor of doily, and smelling faintly like a mix of old spice and fish. She sat a the end of the table and ruled the room like a quietly spoken drill master. I sat in the corner making a long mental list of everything wrong with the group.

At the end of the night, this leader broke the news to the young people that because of her diminishing health she would have to step down. I was totally unprepared for the response.

Tears. Everywhere. From the youngest children to the hardened 16 year old boys. There were quiet sobs, many hugs, and a real brokenness in the group. She then proceeded to talk to every single person around the table one by one to tell them what she loved about them, and what her favourite memory was of each of them.

She had remembered everything! And – as was clear from her examples – she had spent decades opening up her whole life to young people. She had taught many of them to bake; she was a math tutor to several more; she had provided a home for some who had lost parents, or had run away. She had also been there for many of them, literally, since they were born.

I had never seen anything like it!

They were committed to coming to this terrible youth group, because she had committed to loving them.

I had never seen love like that.

These were healthy, holistic, cared for, supported, nurtured, discipled young people – in the worst looking youth club you’ve ever seen.

Let’s get our youth clubs right, of course! Let’s be clear, fun, relevant, engaging, and accessible. But – so much more than that – let’s love.

If we get nothing else right – let’s get this right. Let’s love these young people. It’s that which holds everything together, it’s that that makes the pieces work, and it’s that which changes the young people’s lives.

How to read people’s faces during a talk

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Bottom line – don’t do it.

It’s very easy to be unnerved by a twitching lip, a quirky grin, a shaking head, or a deadpan stare. I’ve had people fall asleep during my talks and yesterday I gave a talk with a disabled gentleman blowing loud raspberries at me. Awesome! It’s easy to get distracted – or even change what you’re saying – because you pop-psychoanalysed the audience and decided they were going to assassinate you by your conclusion.

Again – don’t do it. It’s not worth it!

Looks of furry, boredom, confusion, sadness, or even ‘a look of particular theological disagreement’ mean nothing. Genuinely. Why?

First, we are not Freudian psychiatrists with internal crystal balls that tell us exactly what individual facial expressions mean.
Second, people make all kinds of ugly looks for no discernible reason at all.
Third, facial expressions may have nothing to do with you! Maybe their cat died that morning, or they’re worried how they’ll get out of their parking space. Maybe they just broke wind.
Forth, it just won’t help you.
Fifth, it really won’t help you. Even if you’re right about what you see!

It’s important to stay discerning, and to know the people you’re speaking too; and it’s even important to make on-the-fly changes in reaction to what you think the Holy Spirit might be saying. That’s the key though – you make changes because God tells you to, not because people’s faces freaked you out. No mid-talk change should be prompted by fear – which is what were left with by trying to read people’s quirk-expressions.

Don’t give in to the temptation. Trust the words God has given you, and trust His knowledge of each person in the room.

Read peoples faces? Just don’t.

Why study with the Institute for Children Youth and Mission (CYM)? – Sally Nash

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Watch this – learning to be me by Ria Taylor a CYM student

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXKHLoej-_E Ria Taylor – Learning to be me…

My first response to this question which Tim asked me is to say talk to our students! That is why there is a five minute video to watch, a piece of spoken word from Ria one of our students.  It was  part of her final assessment at the end of a three year full time undergraduate degree in Youth and Community Work and Practical Theology with a nationally recognized JNC professional youth work qualification.

CYM – a partnership organization

I was one of a team of people who helped to set up CYM back in the 1990s and the word team is important.  We have always been a partnership organization wanting to show how youth work and academic organizations can work together to deliver good training rooted in great practice.  I was working for Youth for Christ at the time and joined with colleagues from Frontier Youth Trust and Oxford Youth Works, national denominational leaders and others to create a new sort of opportunity for people with a passion for ministry who wanted to become even better in their role.  CYM offers training at Further Education levels 1, 2 and 3 across England and at undergraduate level in Nottingham and Belfast and postgraduate level study blocks are in Nottingham and Belfast.  We can also deliver specialist continuing professional development training validated at levels 4 or 7 in a wide variety of topics which come with a University Certificate of Credit.

Why train?

I believe that training is vital for everyone who works with young people.  I can think of no other field where people would be allowed to do this without the appropriate training first.  As Ria says in the film, she has a qualification which gives her equal status to other people who work with young people – social workers, teachers etc.  She doesn’t have to go into an encounter in an apologetic way, she is there by right of having a professional role in a young person’s life.

One of the key decisions you need to make in terms of training to work with young people is if you want this JNC professional qualification as part of it.  It gives you a wider range of options post graduation as it is recognized by people like the NHS as an appropriate qualification for work in a hospital, for example.  You still get to study theology and include theological reflection in all your academic work but you also get the opportunity to do a significant alternative placement in a secular context as well as a community focused one alongside your main placement. You get to explore and test out vocational choices as you go along.

What’s involved?

On the undergraduate course with CYM in England you live in the area your placement is and travel fortnightly to St John’s College Nottingham for a two day teaching block in term time (In Ireland you travel weekly to Belfast).  You do 14 hours a week in your placement and the rest of the time is for study.  If you want to do our postgraduate JNC option you would travel to two 3-4 day study blocks and some optional study days.  If you are looking at a career change then the postgraduate option could be for you and you can study that part time if you are doing at least 2 sessions a week of youth work so you can train alongside a job.

We have a wide range of students studying with us, our undergraduates range from 18 to 50 something and are from all sorts of different backgrounds and church traditions.  Some may have 3 good A levels, others will not have studied formally for 20 or more years.  For everyone that joins us we are committed to helping you fulfil your potential.  Every student has a personal tutor they relate to and become part of a supportive community who learn, worship and have fun together!

Both our undergraduate and postgraduate courses are eligible for student loans (undergraduate fees are £6000 a year and postgraduate £6000 for the whole Masters degree) and some placements will offer financial support too.

We also specialize in running chaplaincy courses and you can join us for anything between a week and a three year undergraduate or postgraduate degree!  We recently published a Grove Youth Series booklet on Chaplaincy with Children and Young People and have set up a Centre to support work in that area – see www. Stjohns-nottm.ac.uk for more details.

If you want a more ministry focused degree then we offer a BA in contextual ministry where you can choose placements that support you learning in that context.  We also offer a very flexible postgraduate course where we work with you 1-1 to help you put together options which enhance your professional development as well as some core modules.

Want to know more?

If you want to find out more check out our website www.cym.ac.uk or book in for an open day.

If you are interested in reading something on our approach to youth work and youth ministry read Christian Youth Work in Theory and Practice edited by Sally Nash and Jo Whitehead published by SCM (You can order one from mcym@stjohns-nottm.ac.uk for £15 including postage quoting youthworkhacks to get this price – cheaper than Amazon!).  We also established the Grove Youth Series at MCYM and can recommend those for an accessible introduction to a wide range of topics!  https://grovebooks.co.uk/collections/youth

 

Rev Dr Sally Nash
Director, Midlands Institute for Children Youth and Mission
Director for Undergraduate Studies Institute for Children, Youth and Mission
Researcher in Chaplaincy Centre for Paediatric Spiritual Care

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Out of the Question – A new Youth apologetics resource

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It has perhaps never been harder for Christian teens and young adults to stand up for Jesus in their schools, colleges and communities. If they do stick their head above the parapet, they can receive a barrage of questions from several different directions at once! How should they respond? How can youth leaders, churches, and parents give them the tools to deal with these situations?

There are several great resources already out there which can be used to help but a new initiative is being launched which does something unique.

Out of the Question is a series of animations which, rather than giving answers to remember, give tools to use to equip teens and young adults to defend their faith. It’s unique because it combines humorous animated media with a narrative form. This is done through a question-based approach.

Animation is a great way to communicate, teens and young adults love the format and you can do things in animation which simply aren’t possible with other media. The narrative form means that the apologetic tools and arguments are weaved into a story that makes them both immediately more accessible (especially for those who are less bookish) and applicable; young people can see how a conversation might go.

These are conversations, because of the question-based approach taken. Questions help us understand what lies behind what’s being asked of us. They give us understanding of the person as well as the argument, they show that we care what they think, and they invite discussion while also buying a bit of time for our heart rate to slow! Even more important than all those, out of a question comes something very significant for Christian young people: the opportunity to move from the back foot to the front foot, to help people see that no-one is neutral. This is one of the most powerful aspects of this animated series; it helps train young people to see that everyone has a faith position and needs to be able to justify that position, even atheists.

The Out of the Question series is due for release in May this year and will be free to download from our website. Because of that we need all our funding up front and we still need a final slice of money. So why not watch the trailer and if you like it, spread the word so we can finish off this great project for release in May!

5 Types of criticism that I’ll always ignore… or at least try to

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Exactly a year ago I wrote a post called ‘7 Ways Not To Complain To Your Youth Worker’. As a result I received comments and messages from other youth leaders that had gone through the same things. Some of the stories they shared were just heartbreaking.

This made me realise that we’re not done with this topic yet.

Critique is vital to health; it’s so important to have an objectivity about the work that we do, and a humble perspective on the difference between ‘God’s’ work and ‘ours.’ We need to keep ourselves accountable to trusted, godly men and women who will feedback with clarity and gentleness on our ministries. We need to be open to challenge so that we can truly grow as teachable and dependable ministers of the gospel.

Without an openness to healthy critique, we are just asking to fail.

However…

What do you do when the feedback is poorly given, ill-conceived, spiritually dangerous, or just personally stupid?

I don’t mean what do you do if you don’t like or agree with the feedback. There’s lots of stuff that we won’t like or agree with that will contain nuggets of truth that we need to listen to. This is a post, however, on how to identify feedback that needs to be left by the door.

I recently (ish) received some ‘feedback’ that was hurtful and – frankly – just wrong. As a result I spoke to some friends that I genuinely trust for their perspective – trying to find out if there was some truth that I couldn’t hear because of my upset. One of these guys said to me that he believed some feedback was a form of abuse, and needed to be disregarded quickly before it stuck.

Some critique must not be allowed room to breath.

So I’ve called this ‘5 forms of criticism that I’ll always ignore.’ A more honest title however, would be ‘5 forms of criticism that I’ll try to ignore’ or ‘5 forms of criticism that I really really should ignore.’ The truth is I’m human, and if you get punched to the gut, it hurts!

Hopefully, however, we can all team up on this, and support each other by identifying some kinds of criticism that really don’t need to be taken seriously. If there are nuggets of truth, we need to pray and ask God to reveal those to us in healthy ways that we can action unconditionally. Some feedback, however, needs to be named and shamed, and not even given time of day.

Hostage feedback

This is feedback that won’t let you off the hook. It’s forceful, repetitive, and needs very specific agreements. Feedback that holds you hostage usually comes in the form of a conversation that’s impossible to leave. ‘Thank you very much, I’ll go away think about it’ just doesn’t work.

When someone holds you hostage to their feedback, they’re expecting very particular agreements to what they’re saying, and very specific and immediate appropriation of their suggestions. It’s all on their terms. The ransom is only paid in complete submission and total surrender to their opinion.

If the person giving you feedback doesn’t respond appropriately to your need to go away and process it, then – rudely if necessary – turn and walk away.

Delivered via gossip

Thirdhand, or ‘gossip’ feedback, is when someone is hoping you’ll hear their criticism without getting their fingerprints on it. Criticism via gossip means they have spoken to everyone but you. The most hideous form of this is when it arrives on your doorstep via your wife, your husband, or your kids.

Gossip is an issue that needs to be tackled at the pastor level; however it is worth identifying the source, approaching them directly, and getting them to tell you their problem eye-to-eye. It’s always important to call gossip out, otherwise it festers and continues.

Without proper examination

I recently received feedback from someone I’ve never spoken to before that questioned my very relationship with God after they walked out of my session three minutes in. Not only did they leave with the exact opposite point that was delivered, but they made huge assumptions and bold assertions with very little information. There was no questions, no listening, and no attempt to understand. It was an attack – quite literally – on nonexistent content.

This particular feedback was given in anger (which isn’t always a problem) and was fuelled by significant misunderstanding. In this case I really struggled to let it go as it called my faith in God to account. So I sent my recorded talk to several friends who are theologically solid and not afraid to challenge me. They left with the opposite impression than the person who left early. Their feedback suggested a personal trigger, rather than a problem in the content.

If any feedback given doesn’t flow from the information that was available, then it’s probably fuelled by something else – something that’s personal to the individual. Don’t digest it – it’s probably not about you.

Overgeneralised and unspecific feedback

‘You’re always doing this’, or ‘you’ve never been like that’, or even ‘that project you run is total shambles!’ I’ve had all three of those.

Feedback, and especially criticism, needs to be given in love with the hope of edification and correction. This means it needs prior thought and careful steps before delivery. Usually overgeneralised and unspecific feedback means there is simply a difference of opinion – maybe they just don’t like you!

My response is usually ‘sorry, I can’t work with that, can you bring me a particular circumstance or tell me a specific example.’ If they can’t – leave it behind.

Overreaching feedback

2+2 equals a sack of bananas, right? Overreaching feedback points to a problem, then makes a totally inappropriate conclusion. Like someone saying you need to rethink your relationship with God… because there was a broken window at youth club.

In a previous position, someone complained in our eldership meeting that I didn’t want to go on their suggested safeguarding course. Their conclusion was that it was inappropriate for the church to hire a youth worker who wasn’t trained in safeguarding. Of course I had done lots safeguarding training, I just didn’t like the particular flavour of the course they were suggesting.

Feedback should flow between problem, consequence, and solution. If there is serious disconnect, then disregard.

But what if they’re right?!?

And here is my big problem! I don’t disregard a lot of feedback that comes in these various ways because I want to be open to change and growth. I don’t want to be a feedback snob! And there could be valid criticism buried beneath all that goop!

However, I have my whole life the work on problems, and I know that my work is held accountable to people who’ve earned the right to speak into it. I’ve regularly got things to work on, and all of my work is held accountable to a manager, a broad, a team, good friends, and committed mentors. This affords me the space to be discerning about when feedback is given inappropriately.

So don’t be afraid feedback – surround yourself with people who love you, are smarter than you, and are not afraid to hold you accountable. If you have a system in place for healthy criticism you won’t need to jump at every wagging finger.

In a future post we will consider these five areas again, but in reverse – and talk about more appropriate ways to give feedback.

Thanks for reading!

Why we need sync – Grace Wheeler

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As a communicator, one of the things I always used to connect with people is stories.  I tell stories about dogs, about inspiring people, but mostly about me!  This is not because I love myself, it’s because I know me best and when I share something of my life it connects with my audience.

Stories are powerful.

I don’t know about you but I can remember the stories I read as a child, curled up with my mum on the sofa or fighting sleep as I settled down for the night.  And I do so for a very good scientific reason.  When we hear stories, our brain secretes powerful chemicals: cortisol which makes us pay attention, oxytocin (the same hormone that bonds mother and baby), which makes us feel empathy for the story’s characters and dopamine (also found in some ‘fun enhancing’ substances), which makes us feel good when there is a happy ending.  Moreover, brain scans during storytelling reveal that the same chemical patterns are observed in both teller’s and hearer’s brains.  It’s as if you sync your mind to the other person’s using the power of story.  It’s as if Jesus knew what he was doing when he used parables to communicate the deep truths of the cosmos.

And in youth culture stories resonate even more.  When you use Snapchat or Insta these days you are not just invited to capture a moment in time but to tell a story.  Our music videos and computer games have evolved.  The story is central to them.

What does this have to do with evangelism?

Recently I have been captivated by the idea that in evangelism, three stories collide.  We have a story, God has a story and our friend who does not yet know Jesus also has a story.  Great evangelism is about bringing these stories together through the power of relationship.  One of the first steps here is to know your own story.

Purpose, forgiveness, friendship, belonging, change, hope, life, love, adventure, guidance, mission.  All these words help young people tell a story of the difference Jesus makes in their life.  St Peter writes, ‘Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have.’  1 Peter 3:15. One of the best things we can do for our young people is to prepare them to tell their story.

As an evangelist, I am compelled by the idea that if every Christian young person knew their story, God’s story, was praying for a few mates and committed to intentional relationships with those around them, the viral potential for the Gospel could be unleashed in a new way.  That’s why at Youth for Christ we have created Sync, a Youtube channel to help young people know their story and be inspired to share it.  I would love you to check it out and run it for free with your young people.

 

Grace Wheeler is the National Evangelist at Youth for Christ.  You can explore the free Sync resources here and see the Youtube channel here

A different way to evangelise – Jonny Price

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I remember clearly when my faith became an exciting prospect for me.

I had been a Christian for about 5 years, and was travelling in Australia for a few months. Someone had very kindly given me an audiobook on CD (I know, I’m old) of Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis. This was at the height of Rob’s influence in the Christian world, back before the cliff edge that Love Wins became.

I was on a train from Sydney to Newcastle, a journey of around 3 hours, and was listening, when something Rob said jumped out and grabbed me;

“I’m convinced being generous is a better way to live. I’m convinced forgiving people and not carrying around bitterness is a better way to live. I’m convinced having compassion is a better way to live. I’m convinced pursuing peace in every situation is a better way to live. I’m convinced listening to the wisdom of others is a better way to live. I’m convinced being honest with people is a better way to live.”

During all the time I had been a Christian I had never heard anyone speak about Christianity like this. It was all about personal salvation, it was all to do with the cross and forgiveness. It was about what happened after death, I couldn’t recall anyone saying that it was about living before that.

This feeling has come back to me recently as I have been thinking about the way that we evangelise, and more generally, about how we talk about faith in the Church.

It seems that we are obsessed with the death of Jesus, but can take or leave His life.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I believe that the death and resurrection of Jesus are absolutely non-negotiable in any understanding of orthodox Christianity, but in focusing so clearly on the end of Jesus’ life, I believe that we have missed something significant. If we can redress this balance, I think there are three significant impacts we could see:

  1. It shows us the best way to be Human

Through His life Jesus shows us the best way to be human, the best way to be an image bearer of God. He shows us a better way to live.

For a while now Christianity has been plagued by a version of humanism, the idea that human reason and logic are all that is needed for a better world. Some parts of Christianity have taken this idea, and said that because we are image bearers, we are able to make this a better world in our own strength.

The problem with this is that it is untrue, it is not our idea of image bearing that matters, but what Jesus shows us about being image bearers.

 

  1. It reminds us we are called to build God’s Kingdom

If we can call young people to a better way to live, as well as to salvation beyond, then we can help to grow excitement in them for building God’s Kingdom on Earth.

This ties into an ancient tradition in the Jewish faith, of tzedekah and mishpat. These literally mean righteousness and justice, but in their Jewish forms, evoke ideas of righteousness as something given by God, and of going from retributive justice to restorative justice.

If a young person makes a commitment to Christianity at age forteen, there is a lot of life still to live between their commitment and the results of their salvation. But if that same young person is taught about tzedekah and mishpat, then they can see how their life can tie into this incredible, rich tapestry of people building the Kingdom of God. They can live for a purpose greater than any other.

 

  1. We can make our evangelism more effective.

Millennials and post-millennials are keen to make the world a better place. They want to see equality in wealth, health, education, standards of living, and gender. They want to see peace.

And Christianity has an umbrella for all of these ideas to come under. If we can show people hungry for change that all of these causes can fit into the Kingdom, then think what a different picture that paints of the Church.

It ceases to be an institution desperate to serve and save itself, and becomes a movement that seeks to serve others. It becomes something people want to be a part of.

 

Final thoughts

Jesus died for the sins of the world, but let’s not forget that He lived a life as well. His life was more than a way to get to the cross, it was to show us how to live as image bearers, how to be Kingdom builders, and how to seek after His righteousness and justice, putting others before ourselves.

Jesus did die for us, but he also lived for us. Let’s not sit around waiting for heaven, but live fully alive just like Jesus did.

The youth ministry idol of new

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Youth Ministry sits on the the cutting edge of contemporary missionary theory, and fresh expressions of church theology. We pride ourselves on being innovators, creatives, and revolutionaries.

Throw a new year into the mix and we have a skittish spasm of fresh ideas, along with a fidgety, impatient sense of ‘let’s change everything – right now!’

The new year is often the time that we change all the programs, layouts, teaching themes, leaders, logos – everything. We support this random change of track by pointing out that youth culture itself changes every five minutes, and that we have a missional responsibility to be on trend or even ahead of the curve. We need to stay fresh, or we’ll go stale.

We do like new don’t we? Hence the postmodern mantra, new year, new me.

This should leave us with a pertinent question though: What was wrong with the old me? When it comes to our personal new year resolutions the answers might come easily. I’m too out of shape, too disorganised, too isolated, too social, etc. I gotta fix all of the toos. It’s great to work on self improvement, but also easy to forget that we just spent a year teaching on the value of identity in Christ that isn’t caught up in these things. Mixed signals perhaps?

When it comes to youth ministry, these mixed signals go into a blender. We – sometimes completely tactlessly – take what we and our teams have poured our lives into, screw it into a ball, and start all over again. All for the sake of something new.

When you start something new to replace something you’ve been doing a while you create some baggage, and leave a wake of confusion. What, for instance, happens to the legacy of your ministry, the value of the hours of tears and hard work that went into it, or the period of necessary settling before an idea really starts to work. When you keep starting something ‘new’ you consistently devalue what was before.

The thing is though, God works with journeys, with time, and with settlement. He honours toil and dedication, and he loves constancy and consistency. Oddly, these are all the things young people value too.

Sometimes we do need to make big changes to our youth ministries, or start something completely new, but there should be a lot of caveats first, such as:

  • Did we really give this time to settle and form?
  • Are we adding yet another shaky inconsistency into our teenagers lives?
  • Have we properly identified, addressed, and worked the issues?
  • Are we properly resourced for this ‘new’ thing?
  • Did we bring everyone with us?
  • Did we try to bring people with us?
  • Are we avoiding a real issue by bouncing off it?

New can be an idol. In a Youth Ministry world of fresh ideas, cool stories, and funky logos it’s all too easy for us to be caught up and surrender the high ground of constancy, for the rivers of skittish change.

Let’s send down some roots this year – give our world and people the time they need to form and settle, and seek fresh encounters with God where we are at with who we are with.

Let’s maybe give the old a chance.

Let’s stop telling future youth ministers to skip training!

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(Sorry – slightly ranty post)

Over the past decade, Bible Colleges in Britain have really started to struggle getting people to apply. This has been most clearly seen in youth work courses. Not only have several large and well-established youth work training centres now closed, but many of the biggest Bible Colleges in the UK don’t even have a dedicated youth work teacher.

I find this really weird, because also over the past decade, loads of deep-thinking books and resources have come out on youth work. There is a plethora of relational practice books, education theory journals, and new Phds published on youth work theology released each year. The knowledge base is constantly growing – I thought we were just starting to get it?

Ministry Lite?

Youth ministry has been seen as ministry lite for a while now. From the outside it looks like underpaid, entertainment driven purgatory – waiting for ‘real’ ministry later. Only a cursory glance into the youth work world, however, would reveal just how many areas youth ministers need to be carefully developed in.

They need to be trained theologically for sure; but they also need to understand HR, safeguarding law, project management, working with additional needs, and a mountain of other very specific, and vocationally professional areas.

Youth ministry is no joke. Done badly it can bring down a church, done really badly it can bring the  entire Gospel into genuine disrepute. And it’s now easier than ever to make huge mistakes without even being aware of the issues.

So why are we so blasé about formal training?

Paediatric doctors will train for years. As will mental health nurses, psychiatrists, counsellors, sports coaches, and of course teachers. We see these as professions which require putting real effort into training. We take these seriously because they are involved with the care of vulnerable young people. But wait – isn’t that exactly what we do in youth ministry?

Taking Youth Ministry Seriously

Youth work is no joke. It involves holistic care and theological security. Youth workers – especially those in lead ministry positions – need training. Experience alone simply doesn’t cut it; theological illiteracy is too epidemic, laws change too quickly, and young people vary too widely.

I’m not saying for one second that youth workers need to be more intellectual or more academic – but come on! A little hard effort into understanding complex issues and deep truths about young people goes for miles in youth work.

In most of my posts I’m totally on the youth worker’s side – but in this one I’m asking the impertinent question: What are you doing to show that you take your own ministry seriously? Are you enrolling on courses, reading books, going to training regularly, and asking for a bigger budget to do just that?

I really believe that youth workers should see their role as a calling – something long term. If you believe that’s you, then taking a few years (yes years!) out to do proper foundational training should be seen as an obvious thing to do.

Training doesn’t replace experience of course, nor should it eclipse your own reading, but you can build concurrently and afterwards. It’s much easier to gain experience while training than it is to train while working.

Why would you not?

There are several routes into youth ministry, and many of them don’t require any formal training: Internships, apprenticeships, or graduating from voluntary work are often the most regularly travelled paths.

I love these options and I’ve seen some great youth workers come out of these routes too. However, there are often (if not always) signifiant holes in their ministries that need to be plugged.

When someone asks me about youth work training – and specifically about getting a degree – I always ask: why would you not? Yes, some people hate the classroom and really don’t do well with traditional academic methods – but there is now so much choice in the UK for youth workers who feel just like this. There is also a wide range of funding options, distance learning courses, and timeframes to consider. You can usually discover a good fit if you put the effort into finding out.

There is a lot of criticism levied against formal theological training: It’s not worth the money, universities are too hampered by their awarding bodies, youth don’t need another pasty-faced academic, I’d rather just be doing it, I can get all the same information from books. However, I’ve only ever heard those arguments from people who decided not to train. The Dunning-Kruger effect comes to mind.

The fact remains that the best youth workers I’ve ever met are both well-experienced, and formally-trained. They didn’t feel like they we’re already ‘good enough’ to skip it and move on, and they didn’t feel like youth work didn’t deserve the time or the effort. They are doing amazing work today that will long outlast them!

Is it always necessary to get a degree?

It probably sounds like I’m saying that right? Well, no it’s not… but I’d like us to start seeing degree-level-trained youth ministers as the norm rather than the exception. At the moment there are a lot less formally trained youth workers out there, and I’d really like to see the balance tip.

So there are genuine ways you should be able to go into youth ministry without getting formally trained – but I’d love to see that as the exception, not the rule.

There are experiences, information, and learning environments that you just cannot get any other way – from people who are paid to stay up-to-date and informed – in a space designed for you to make lots of mistakes and ask lots of questions. Why would you not see that as the first option?

So get on it!

Formal theological and practical training in youth ministry is worth every minute.

Rather than asking ‘what else could I do’, start looking at training as the first option. You wouldn’t want a doctor working on you without proper training, or a mechanic working on your car with big gaps in their knowledge. Lets take youth ministry at least as seriously.

:P That is all.

Rant over.

Is your youth group autism friendly?

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Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a hugely broad and varied collection of conditions, symptoms, and traits – so trying to gather ‘autistic friendly’ guidelines is a difficult task. However, a few basic rules of thumb, and a keener understanding of what to look out for will go a long way.

Understanding ASD Basics

Autism is a cognitive disorder characterised by social discomfort, repetitive behaviours, linear focus, concrete thinking, and difficulties with language. The spectrum is so broad that you may not notice any traits at all – but you could also see so many physical and behavioural characterises that you end up mistaking it for something else.

Physically, you might see a young person constantly making fists, shaking their arms, or flapping. They might hum, or click their tongue. They will often resist physical contact, and will often struggle making eye contact.

Socially you could experience a young person with ASD standing too close to you when they talk, speaking too loudly, or ‘ignoring’ cues. They can be uncomfortably honest or seem inappropriately aloof.

One of the most common traits, however, is a difficulty when trying to grasp something in abstract. So talking figuratively, sarcastically, or metaphorically can be a huge wall to concrete understanding.

Common Problems in Youth Clubs for Young People with ASD

We do love our extrovert-driven, spontaneous and loud up front presence don’t we? But these three pieces can actually be the most unhelpful traits for integrating young people on the spectrum.

‘Extrovert-driven’ assumes a social ease, ‘spontaneous’ assumes that unpredictability is comfortable, and ‘loud’ assumes an ability to take complex cues from voice changes. None of these are necessarily safe assumptions with young people on the autism spectrum.

Our teaching styles can also be insensitive to those with ASD, as they tend to be heavily reliant on abstract story telling and object lessons. Both of these are an enemy to the concrete learner. I often talk about two figurative people ‘Bill and Ben’ who live in a cardboard box that I hold in my hands. An ASD young person, however, might not know that I’m talking figuratively, and that the box I hold doesn’t actually contain some form of tiny person called Bill.

Some Guidelines for ASD Friendly Projecting

Your ministry should primarily serve the people that come – so I’m not going to suggest you change everything to fit all the varying people that could be. This would also be impossible! Some of these guidelines, while being very helpful to many ASD young people, might be incredibly unhelpful to, say a young person with Downs Syndrome. So read with caution and apply with care.

There are lots of tips and guidelines online and in books that you can find to help you – here are a few that I’ve gleaned and personally found to be particularly useful:

Create Consistency

Having a regular plan, or at least consistent names for project elements (‘game time’) will create a track that an ASD young person can follow. They know what’s coming next and can transition smoothly into it. Sometimes it’s worth printing off a simple plan for a session that they can follow, with a space to tick off what happens as they go. Routine, although we tend to avoid it as youth workers, is really important to an ASD young person.

Know The Parents

Talking to parents can give you clear insights into the particular triggers and needs of their own child. This allows you to fit into the young person’s social development while learning how you can very specifically support their individual needs.

Be Visual and Tip Your Hat to the Concrete

Having physical, colourful things can help to teach – especially things they can handle and work with themselves. At the same time, when you teach with objects, and when you use stories, do make a note that it is ‘just a story’ or ‘just a metaphor’.

Create Your Environment With Care

It’s tempting to fill a youth space with lots of competing sounds and sights – filling the room with intense environmental distraction. This can be torturous to an ASD young person, and makes it almost impossible for them to focus. I’d actually argue that this habit we have towards intense levels of environmental distraction is bad for most young people anyway – even those with ADHD. Choose your environment carefully – take care particularly over the overt use of lights and sounds.

Watch Your Language

By which I mean abstract, figurative, sarcastic, or over generalising language. In the same way you would speak to someone who has learned English as a second language, avoid too much that needs interpretation over translation. It’s great to use abstract language – just make sure that you let people have another way of seeing it too.

Provide For Unstructured Time

Many young people love the free time to create their own activities and have their own conversations. This time, however, can be very difficult for an Autistic young person. Always make sure there is some optional ‘thing to do’ in unstructured times. A box of lego with some instruction books, for instance, can go a long way.

Keep Instructions Simple

Everyone hates a three hour explanation for a game anyway, so find a way of communicating complicated instructions simply and visually that doesn’t have long sequences. Videos can be similarly difficult to follow – if you have it, then turn on the closed captions feature.

Provide For Note Taking

If you’re giving talks or asking them to take notes or write anything down – provide for how they do this. One ASD young person who used to be in my group loved to draw – so during talks I would let them draw their interpretation of what I was saying on a board at the front. Sometimes handwriting can be a struggle too – so why not provide a laptop or tablet for them to use? This is particularly important to think about in nonverbal young people.

Allow For Messiness

Some ASD young people can focus better if they are standing, rolling, swinging, bouncing from foot to foot, or just walking around. Create a youth work culture that accepts this as ok, and provides safe spaces for it.