According to the Passing on Faith report by Theos, 49% of 18- to 24-year-olds believe in God. And the Talking Jesus report tells us that 44% of practising Christian credit their friends for introducing them to Jesus.
‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ is my favorite carol, I love singing it in Advent, building and building, as we look to ‘adore’ Jesus, reflecting on and anticipating the birth. Then at Midnight Mass (after midnight, of course) we get to sing the last verse. This for me is always a magical and special moment in my year as we say ‘yea Lord we greet thee’, no more waiting, the moment has arrived, Jesus is here, Immanuel, God is with us!
‘O Come let us adore him’ we sing… What can that mean in light of those two statistics above? Well, perhaps instead of lamenting at the loss of young people in our churches we can look to the God that is with them, and come, being more comfortable and confident in our adoration of Jesus. I am considering how to wonder and share that adoration with the young people I meet, and develop confidence in that. This Advent, rooted in waiting, in prayer, to see Christ come, I’m anticipating seeing that in the lives of the young people that come across my path. I’m determined to make sure I am offering space for young people to see and savour Jesus, recounting the stories of Jesus, reflecting on their application to our lives in London in 2016, come let us adore him!
‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ we sing… How does this traditional song impact youth work? Well, whatever ages we are, look around at a carol concert and it’s clear that, wherever we are on our journey, we sing together as we go to meet Christ. Young people can see that they are not in this on their own, and nor are we! Just as we find encouragement in our number on Christmas morning, perhaps we need to find encouragement in our youth groups that we are not alone, that together we come. Even if we come arguing in our differences, we are all the faithful, so let’s rejoice in that, let’s share testimonies of our different experiences as together we come, as our faith is developed and encouraged in our walk, together, come all ye faithful.
‘O sing choirs of angels’ we sing… yep that’s right, we are joining in with something much, MUCH bigger! Young people, like all of us, are so often consumed with their world and what is happening in the immediate, I think part of our role as Christian youth workers is to help young people glimpse the bigger picture, whispering them the stories of God and love that they might not immediately see. That their praise (whatever that looks like) is joining with the company of heaven, sing choirs of angels.
James Fawcett works with CONCRETE Youth Work and assists the Diocese of London in supporting youth work.
Image credit: All Kings Shall Fall Prostrate by Lawrence OP, used under Creative Commons Licence 2.0.