Part one of a 10-part series from an article by Stuart Crawshaw that appeared in The Briefing in 2008 titled: Moving beyond the shock absorber: The place of youth ministry—past, present and future

Introduction

Western societies like Australia are living through times of rapid change. Revolutions in technology create new ways of living that in turn create new ways of thinking. Young people grow up in environments very different from their parents, and so often develop different values.

This makes the passing on of biblical values from one generation to the next difficult. The technologies that shape our lives give us amazing freedom of choice, and relative independence. But this is creating a growing, transient, consumer-driven individualism in our societies.

Youth ministry acts as a shock absorber for the institutional church in this environment of change and individualism. Youth ministries’ ability to absorb cultural shocks and disperse them gradually through the institutions of the church has helped the church communicate to secular youth for 200 years.

While it has had a pragmatic positive effect for our evangelism, it has helped to create more and more secular expressions of church that have led to a breakdown in continuity of discipleship for young Christians, thus leading to a reduction in their Christian identity. Now, as the pace of cultural change speeds up, youth ministry is trying to respond to pluralism, and is under great strain.

This may mean we need to look for a new revolution in the way we pass on the gospel. This revolution may possibly involve building stronger, more stable local church communities to strengthen our witness and to provide a stronger platform for the proclamation of the gospel. It may also lead to the demise of youth ministry as we now know it.

Moving Beyond the Shock Absorber - Part 1

Introduction

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