Are your young people ‘rooted?’
“What helps the seeds of faith in young people root, grow and flourish?”
In November 2016 the Church of England released a research report exploring what factors support young people maintain their faith throughout adolescence. The report follows similar international research that formed, among others, the Sticky Faith and Growing Young projects. In Australia, one response to the wealth of research has been the Here2Stay collaborative project.
The findings resonate with similar projects – the major themes were inclusion, equality, leadership and space.
The report’s recommendations:
- Churches should aim to build a culture of intergenerational relationships
- Churches should be inclusive of all ages in both leadership and worship
- Churches should recognise young people and young adults as equal members of the Body of Christ
- Churches should be encouraged to explore the possibility of admitting baptised children to Communion before Confirmation
- Churches should become unconditionally welcoming places for young people
- Churches need to do more to support their youth workers and leaders
You can access the full report here – Rooted in the Church
Some questions for leaders and councils:
- In what ways are we intentional about the faith formation of young people?
- Does our church culture encourage young people to grow and flourish?
- What’s the next step we can take?
The Synod Intergen team would love to support your church in exploring these questions.
