Can the Church ever reach young people again?
by Ian Paul, Psephizo:
Amongst the rather depressing statistics about decline in attendance at Church of England services, one that stands out is the plummeting of engagement with young people. Jimmy Dale is the Church of England’s National Youth Evangelism Officer, and I had the chance to ask him about the current situation—how we got here, and whether anything might change in the future.
IP: How did you come to faith? And how did you end up working in the area of youth evangelism?
JD: I was brought up in a Christian household (my dad was a strict Baptist minister), but like many clergy children, I fought against my parent’s faith, until upon moving out from home at 18, I had what I’d call a conversion moment at an interview for Carroty Wood Adventure Centre. From there, I worked in adventure sports until sensing God was calling me into something else, which eventually resulted in me taking a job with an Anglican Church in East London, where I served as a youth worker for five years.
After that, I set up a local Youth For Christ centre in Newham, East London, with a strong sense that we needed to do more to equip the local church to do sustainable and effective youth ministry. For the next five years, the team and I worked with over 90 churches to help set up, establish and grow youth ministry around Newham. From this role, I was encouraged to apply for the new Youth Evangelism post with the Church of England, which I stated in 2017.
IP: A generation ago, there appeared to be a wide variety of ways that churches were working effectively with young people. What has changed—is there a single major reason why the situation has changed so much, or are there multiple factors?
See also:
Number of UK children unhappy with their lives rises – report, by Denis Campbell, Guardian:
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