AUDIO
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Archbishop Peter Jensen's Christmas Message 2011 on the centrality of Jesus to human history
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“I see the way people around me behave and it reminds me of what God has done for me. I recall the stuff that I used to do and I am just so thankful,†Matthew says.
“It's like how Paul was changed. He used to kill Christians, then he became a man who only boasted in God.â€
Matthew's ‘Road to Damascus' experience occurred when he was a Year 7 student, sitting outside the principal's office. “I was a cheeky boy and one day I got in a fight. I was punched in the face and suspended the next day,†he says. “Then they kept me outside the office where I did nothing for two hours.â€
It was while he was sitting there that the Rev Tim Booker (then assistant minister at St Luke's, Liverpool) saw Matthew and invited him to the Liverpool Boys High lunchtime Christian group called Crunch. Within a year, Matthew started attending St Luke's and became a Christian.
Crunch usually gets around 15 students, yet some who attend are not allowed to go to church due to family restrictions. Adam Taylor, pastor of St Luke's evening congregation has made special efforts to ensure that the school group has a similar format to a youth church.
“The main thing we do is a Bible study and a talk which is similar to a youth group meeting,†Adam Taylor says. “We take hot chips down, just chat with the guys and muck around. Then we open up the Bible, read the passage together and answer some study questions.â€
A number of the students from Liverpool Boys High have been connected with St Luke's youth group, including Matthew, who is now training to be a leader. Matthew attended the Youthworks ‘Leaders in Training' conference at Springwood in January.
“I don't want to make any plans yet but I think my career will be something in ministry.â€
Australia is very different to the USA. Apart from the fauna and the football, our access to the state school system for ministry is without parallel.
As an Australian youth minister, I can run a church meeting during lunchtime in the form of an ISCF group. In NSW, I can even teach my denominational doctrines in the classroom through Special Religious Education (SRE). In America, both of these religious activities are prohibited by the US Constitution.
For this reason, we need to be careful when we import US youth ministry strategies that fail to fully take into account the Australian school system.
So then, how should we do Australian youth ministry in a way that reflects this greater access to the schoolyard?
1. Plant a church in a classroom at lunchtime
There is no reason why we shouldn't regard a lunchtime group as a genuine church. If it gathers around God's word in the Bible, then it is truly church.
The thrust of our Diocesan Mission is church planting, yet this remarkable opportunity is often overlooked.
So how would this look? Well, start with an ice breaker, and then include interactive sharing, group prayer and a Bible talk. If a Christian group already exists without these elements, introduce them. Advertise this meeting throughout the school. Encourage students to invite their friends. Tell the students in your Scripture classes about the group.
It is still good to encourage students to also join a parish-based church, since the opportunities for fellowship and service at school can be limited by time. What's more, it's important for students to join a ministry that continues after they graduate from school.
2. Make your parish youth group similar to the school church
Many US strategies suggest that parish-based youth ministries should run novelty "contact' programs to build bridges with non-Christians.
Yet, regardless of other problems, this tactic is unnecessary in Australia. For, youth ministers who teach scripture classes and lead the lunchtime group have already made excellent contact with non-Christians.
Therefore, since it is unnecessary to run high-energy contact events, just make your weekend youth group similar in style to the school lunchtime church, although with a little more depth. This will make transitions between the two much easier. New Christians will know what to expect from the weekend youth group, since it is modelled on the lunchtime meeting they already attend.
Football, meat pies, kangaroos " and school church. Youth ministry, the Australian way!
Jodie McNeill is a youth ministry adviser with Anglican Youthworks. Email: jodiem@youthworks.net
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