Religious Teachings Evolved

“Today, some young people are rebelling in a whole new way – by seeking religion” (Miller W1). Youth are given the opportunity to grow within their faith by doing, sharing, discussing, and acting upon their beliefs. Some people feel that learning about their religion is not important, but good programs give the child self-esteem, self-confidence, and allow the child to make friends and be involved in something productive as well as teach about religion.

Religion can be taught in many different ways. The child may attend a private school and receive the religion education like he or she would receive math. As the child ages he or she may complete many different sacraments as well as continue religion education. The parents may choose to teach the child themselves giving them the ability to judge what information to give the child and when it is appropriate. This method will give the child more comfort in asking the parent about their religion.

The most common way of teaching religion is by devising a less from a book. For younger children this method uses their curiosity to keep them involved. The bible reads like a story and if the child is taught as though it is a story he or she will be enthralled with the information. With older children this method reminds them of school; therefore, causing him or her to be uninterested in the subject at hand.

Religion education loses the parents interest as well as the child. The parent may be sending the child in order to have some peace and quiet around the house; or the parent may feel obligated to send their child. Some parents are less apt to make their children go to classes if there is no preparation for a sacrament that year. This causes the child to be lost in the education and encourages the child to believe that learning about their religion is not important. If the parent does not care whether the child learns or not then neither will the child; the teacher can give the child the same feeling.

The parents may want the child to learn about their religion and go through the sacraments as well as the teacher, but other things may cause the child to withdraw from the class. If the teacher does not control the children’s behavior, the children may not feel open to discuss topics because another child may pick on him or her. The teacher can make the class more enjoyable for the child by incorporating fun activities with the lesson, otherwise the child dreads going to class because it is boring and they do not do anything fun. Activities enjoyed by the child include: acting out skits, rapping a bible verse, or other creative ideas.

As the child reaches adolescence, ages 12-21, he or she wants to belong to a group and learn about him or herself. The young adult can choose from many different groups to see where he or she fits in. These groups include but are not limited to: hate groups, athletics, academics, cults, religious groups, drug circles or social circles. These groups give the young adult positive and negative benefits.

The discussions in class may not be directly related to the youth’s life and the young adult does not know what to do with this knowledge. Religion programs that just focus on material no longer meet the needs of the youth. So the question is: what can be done to keep the youth involved in something good that interests them?

Religion education cannot be pursued, as it was when the youth were younger, because the young adult may feel like a kid again. The young person wants to be treated like he or she is an adult now. Many religious bodies have taken the approach of creating a group for youth to confide in, a support system often called a youth group. Youth groups provide a sense of belonging, a place to grow, and give answers or ways to find answers. This group also makes the parent feel more confident that their child is doing something good. The group will find ways to get the child involved in the activities even if the parent does not care about the child’s religious development. The group has fun activities planned so that the child that was forced to go by his or her parents can leave feeling good about the time spent with the group.

Young adults join the group for many different reasons. They are “…looking for an intense experience, a close encounter with a high power” (Miller W1). The youth have fun, make friends, and feel it is a place to gather outside of the home. Bob McCarty is the executive director of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry and says, “…kids are hungry for meaning and purpose in their lives, ‘desperately trying to make sense out of all the pieces of their lifestyle…’” (“’Advocate for Teens’…” 19).

Youth may also leave the group because they get bored or their parents don’t approve. The most unlikely reason youth choose to “…leave the church as a result of stagnant practices that only encourage hypocrisy and alienate them” (Castano h08). The young adult may see other members of the congregation acting in a way that does not agree with the church. This causes the youth to feel like the “church” is not credible; therefore, causing him or her to leave the group.

The church faces many challenges to keep the youth and their parents satisfied with the youth group, its activities, and involvements within the community. Church leaders want to convince youth that their faith is lifelong and not just an extra-curricular activity. The group should keep the interest of the youth and not offend the youth’s parents. Church leaders want to capitalize on the effort of pop culture saying that church and spirituality is cool. Church leaders struggle with the competition between other financially able bodies such as bands, laser light shows, and other big events provided by less productive bodies.

What does a youth group do? Well, there are different areas in which youth groups focus on. Depending on the denomination and leadership, youth groups may combine one or more of the following monthly meetings and extras with entertainment, instruction, liturgical, retreats, traditions, rituals, and or whatever else their creativity allows.

A youth group usually meets at least once a month if not twice to four times a month. At these meetings different things may take place depending on the denomination and youth minister. My youth group meets every other Wednesday evening; we center our activities on a theme for each night. The night we discussed Christian Identity we did not tell them exactly what we were leading them too. We started the evening with a bible reading and then moved into an icebreaker. In the icebreaker we recognized the similarities between our outward identities. We ended in small groups and then discussed our identity at school and with our parents. The man who read the bible verse described to the youth that Christian Identity was our topic and how all the activities related to it.

The youths’ favorite part was the treats but as they got their treats we told them to pick something out of the junk pile and we will give them further instructions. I went around to each group and told them that they needed to relate their Christian Identity to that object or vice versa. They conversed while eating and brainstorming, then one by one they stood up and explained their thoughts behind their object. The cotton ball related to someone’s Christian Identity by being absorbent yet it can withhold losing a piece of itself, perhaps giving it to benefit someone else. They all came up with something unique and clever.

We then moved into discussion about what it means to have a Christian Identity and what exactly Christian Identity is. We ended with a solemn prayer; we took a piece of the loaf of bread as we shared our intentions for the evening. We all dispersed our ways and carried with us the prayers of everyone in the group.

That evening went well for several different reasons. We gave the youth an opportunity to socialize as well as eat. We approached the topic in several different ways and made the evening interactive. The youth’s creativity shined as they gave their interpretation of the object as well as in the small group discussions. The prayer gave the youth an opportunity to share something important to them with the group.

Entertainment provided by youth ministries depends upon their financial ability. Some examples are ski trips, game nights, rafting trips, concerts, dances and other fun activities. These activities provide the group with the opportunity to get to know each other on a more personal level and connect in more social ways.

Youth groups may present material as I have using many different methods to get one point across or they could stress one method. Other approaches should be combined with instructional learning in order to avoid the problems that arose in standard religious education methods. Mark Yaconelli, a writer for The Christian Century, recognized that he “…had taught plenty of lessons about God but had failed to give kids the space, time and tools for experiencing God” (450+). The youth may respond to journaling, meditation, discussion, games, skits, or small group conversation in combination with instructional learning.

Churches of all denominations have found that using traditions and rituals peak the youth’s interest. Many types of meditation, prayer, and activities can be combined together in order to satisfy youth as well as the church at large. Meditation is a time for reflection and can be done in many ways. Some examples used with youth are studying rock and flowers, chanting a prayer in English or Hebrew, journaling or just lying down and listening to their surroundings. Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius is a rigorous way of meditating developed by a Spanish soldier in the sixteenth century. Cabala is a form of Jewish mysticism that has an “erotic element and sexual element” (Miller W1). Cabala contains a type of meditation that focuses more on the inner self.

Groups can pray together aloud, to themselves, by journaling, or using Jesus Prayer, Lectio Divina, or Taize. Jesus Prayer is a prayer that is repeated over and over like a mantra. The Eastern Orthodox monks in the middle Ages regularly practice this type of prayer (Miller W1). Lectio Divina “…is a way of reading the Bible prayerfully, by reading a passage again and again…” (W1). Taize a kind of prayer that involves singing repetitive songs possibly in foreign languages.

Labyrinth combines prayer and an activity. Labyrinth represents a pilgrimage or a place where someone can experience God. “…Youth ministers are using them to teach teenagers about ancient prayer” (W1). Coming of Age Ritual is something that a group or individual can do to signify their physical and mental growth. The Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist located in San Francisco hosts a rave mass. Rave masses are “…all-night dance events, based on “rave” clubs, which feature loud techno music and light-shows” (W1).

Mission trips and retreats are usually arranged so that a group can do community service for the needy in the area. Brian Willoughby, a writer for the Columbian, asked Rev. Bob MacGregor, “Why send teen-agers on such missions?” (Front Page). He responded, “To touch the world” (qtd in Willoughby Front Page). There are organizations that support the youth ministers and provide planned trips for the group. “About 100 youths and 37 adults from east and southeast Texas participated in the program [United Methodist Action Reach – Out Mission by Youth]…” (Sandoval 4A).

Many organizations have been created to help support the church and their development of youth in other areas as well. Kadima is a conservative Jewish organization for middle school kids with a current participation of ten thousand kids. World Assembly of Muslim Youth “…is an international charity organization which takes care of Muslim youth by holding educational camps, giving scholarships, establishing information centers and mosques and extending relief to needy Muslims around the world” (Mistry 177). Saving A Nation Endangered (SANE), founded by renowned rapper Mase, was established to get “…God’s word out to anyone who wants to listen” (Johnson ARC).

These organizations give the youth minister help when trying to put everything in order. They also provide support for the youth minister, another challenge faced by the church. The youth minister can get overwhelmed quickly with all the different areas that can be pursued. The youth group I lead is not run completely by me. We have established a team that coordinates activities and helps engage the youth within those activities. I feel the same as stated by Mark Yaconelli, “Rather than being chaperones or committee members, we wanted to be an intentional spiritual community” (450+).

What should a youth group focus on? There are many different areas as shown above, but the youth will respond to what makes them feel comfortable and is interesting. We are looking into creating a youth board that will plan future activities for the youth group upon approval by the adult planning team. We are currently struggling with how much power should be given to the youth. Should they plan the events completely on their own? Should we give them choices and have them go from there? Or should they do all the brainstorming with no help from us? We will find what works for our group and go from there. The activities and areas pursued by our group will be influenced by the youth somehow; we are just not for show how.

Our hopes are that the youth learn about themselves, their religion, and get to know other people who believe in the same things. These goals are hard to accomplish, but will be beneficial to the youth and us.

Works Cited

Castano, Joshua Thomas. “Two Youthful Perspectives.” The Record [Online], 29 June

2000: H08. Available: http://www.elibrary.com [2000, October 25].

Johnson, Jeneil C. “Vision of Hell Takes Rapper Mase from Hip Hop to the Ministry.”

Gannett News Service [Online], 11 Sept. 2000: ARC. Available: http://www.elibrary.com [2000, October 25].

Jones, Arthur. “An ‘Advocate for Teens’ Heads Up National Group for Youth

Ministers. National Catholic Reporter 34(38). [Online], 4 Sept. 1998: 19. (Proquest).

Miller, Lisa. “Rebels With a Cause.” Wall Street Journal [Online], 18 Dec. 1998: W1.

(Proquest).

Mistry, Malika. “Muslim Youth and Contemporary Challenges: A Conference Report.”

Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs [Online], April 2000: 177. (Proquest).

Sandoval, Stephanie. “Minor Repairs, Major Impact: Elderly Moved by Service of

Teens.” The Arlington Morning News [Online], 28 July 2000: 4A. Available: http://www.elibrary.com [2000, November 7].

Willoughby, Brian. “Youth Embrace Vast World Outside U.S. Borders with Faith.” The

Columbian [Online], 17 June 2000: Front Page. (Proquest).

Yaconelli, Mark. “Youth Ministry: A Contemplative Approach.” The Christian Century

116(13). [Online], 21 April 2000: 450. (Proquest).