The youth can do it

Throughout my 20 years in ministry with teenagers, I have been approached by individuals and groups of Episcopalians with different kinds of projects in their minds or hands, saying to me, “The youth can do it.”  The reality is, however, that most often, the youth cannot do it. They cannot take on all the projects adults in the parish want them to do or think they should do. Let me tell you why.

There is nothing wrong with many of the projects or activities suggested by adults. The main issue is the actual amount of time the youth spend at the church. These days, teenagers are very over-scheduled. Besides school, they have extra-curricular activities like sports and dance. They have a social life too, which is very important for young people’s development.

Church is part of the lives of many youth, and we are happy to have them in our midst, attending youth group here at St. Andrew’s. For most of them, church and youth group are the only places they get any kind of Christian formation outside of the home. Here they learn about the movement of God in their lives and what it means to be a Christian.

The time the youth spend at church each week is very limited. Therefore I carefully plan each EYC meeting to ensure that we have time for lessons about our faith in Christ and discussions about issues youth face today, like bullying and stress, and opportunities for our young people to strengthen their social connections with each other.  Attendance at EYC is greatly affected by school calendars and also by the parish calendar itself. Consequently church time with our teenagers is very limited, and each EYC meeting is only 2 hours long and full. That’s why there is not a lot of time to dedicate to other projects.

Please know that when I say “no” to your suggestion of a project for our youth to take on, it is because I am carefully guarding the precious hours they have here for formation and spiritual growth.

Next time I will share with you what goes on during EYC meetings.

The Rev. Lorna Williams