Tweenagers
I’ve been thinking a lot about the 11-14’s age group recently (especially as Spring Harvest is coming up fast). I’ve been running the church 11-14’s group for around 5 years and always had a lot of fun doing it, but I’m seriously considering if the programme we run is delivering what this age group actually need. Although the group is thriving with around 25 each week (50 at most), a varied and fast paced programme, and a great staff team, I can’t help feeling that we’re missing something fundamental in providing them with the skills to take responsibility for their own faith.
Most of the young people that are from church-attending families have a reasonable understanding of the bible and generally engage with the programme, but there is a huge gap between their head knowledge and how it effects their lives. My passion is to see them coming to a full understanding of faith and fulfilling their potential in Him. But to do this I think we need to look critically about our whole approach to this age group; who there are and who they’re learning to be, how we teach them and what we expect of them.
My thinking on the subject has been prompted this week by two events:
The first was an invitation to attend the Reaching & Keeping Tweenagers Seminar. Although I have not yet read the book by Peter Brierley, I’ve seen the research quoted enough times to get the drift of it. I cannot actually attend the seminar, but it got me thinking about my own approach to this age group.
The second event was starting to read ‘(Pretty much everything you need to know about) Working With 11-14s‘ by Tricia Williams & John Stephenson. Although I’ve had it in my possession for a while, I’d not got round to opening it up so I dipped in. It’s an excellent resource for anyone working with this age group as it actually covers almost everything (I also like the fact it references other material for you to research further). Of particular use to me this week, it has reminded me of the difficult biological and psychological changes that this age group go through and brought home the sensitivity and stability that we need to provide them.
So does anyone else have any thoughts on how to provide for 11-14’s? Know of any good resources or theories that have been useful? Heard of any real success stories? Let me know as I’m really keen to develop my work with this age group!
March 21st, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Hey Jon,
I think Ian McDonald (Youthblog) is writing something for Grove Booklets on this - he would certainly be up for sharing his reflections.
I’m thinking of running a training / equipping day in the Diocese in the autumn exploring how the church engages with this age group, certainly in the CofE we see many voting with their feet as they hit 11/12 or get confirmed . . . it is crucial we have a discipleship / faith nurture structure - which games can be part of, but begin to instill the need for personal spiritual discipline.
A couple of key things, 11-14s still need structure (which sometimes gets chucked) and they need a challenge (how are they involved in deciding what happens in Church life)?
March 21st, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Hi Ali,
Thanks for taking the time to post a comment. Let me know if your training day comes off.
The second point you made is an interesting one. Do the 11-14’s currently have any way of influencing church life? No, not really - but it is something I’ve been thinking about. A few individuals have opportunities in the wider church (AV, playing instruments, etc.) but is it possible to help facilitate this for everyone?
I got a lot more thinking to do!
March 26th, 2007 at 10:17 am
This is something which is a big feature of my work at the moment as well. In our youth work vision/strategy document we’ve said that we’ll put a focus on the 9-13s age group (recognising that children are becoming youth earlier now) but this is easier said than done. Like yourself, most of those that I work with in this age group within the church are engaged in some part of the activity of the church. Some of them have astounding head knowledge of all things God-related but like you I yearn to see it deeply affecting their lives, to find ways of helping them express worship in a relevant and meaningful way. I think one of the biggest challenges in this age group is that some days they can come and be like children, really needing so many games and activities and not being remotely mature. On other days they can come in and be mature, ready for discussion and full of insightful comments. There’s never any telling how any of them will enter a group on any one day, and they’re never all in the same frame of mind! This is what makes it exciting and awesome, but also deeply challenging! I look forward to some of the ensuing discussion and wisdom