Church Must Inspire Young to Follow Christ

The Bishop of Bolton last week warned that a shortage of clergy has emerged in his diocese. But it is not only his diocese which is reporting such shortages. Nor is it only the Church of England. Rather a majority of the denominations in the UK are making a quiet gulp as they face up to the fact that they are losing the hearts of many young people to computers and football.

Computers and football? Yes, computers and football - among other things. Last year The Telegraph reported that churches across the country are struggling to fill their choirs with boys because the likes of football and computers have become such unrivalled distractions.

With an ageing and retiring clergy, and a low number of under-35s in training, the fact that the church is losing dismally to other pastime delights is alarming; it is young ones just like these on whom the church is relying to become the next generation of clergy candidates.

And if singing in the choir doesn't sit all that highly on the young churchgoers agenda then just where exactly does becoming a priest or vicar figure into their longer-term "when I grow up" ponderings.

The thought processes of young people have been cornered in large part by two giants. The first one is the pressure to settle into a career which will secure both respectability and high levels of material comfort with minimal effort.

The second is the mental list to get through of bizarre and quirky work placements at home or abroad, unusual or exotic travel experiences - usually of substantial length, or awe-inspiring outdoor antics that they feel might give them an edge of individuality and uniqueness over their fellow man in an increasingly generic (Western at least) world. Training to join the clergy is just not on that list.

The Lord said he would make us fishers of men. So just how can the church catch these wriggling young fish before a stronger current sweeps them out of the church's hands forever?

One area in which the church needs to actively work is in convincing these young people that becoming a member of the clergy is not simply about putting on special robes or going through special rites, and that it is definitely not about becoming boring and old.

The message has to be clear about what becoming a clergy means: it is about becoming closer to God.

One priest hit the nail on the head when he reflected on what makes a good priest: "You have to have a strong sense of being called (BBC: Anna Browning, Saturday 30 July 2005).

The struggle does not lie in dressing up the clergy option in the right packaging or lingo. It lies in the struggle to give young people a strong sense of being called.

That is something that no funky tag line or branding is going to give the young people on the receiving end of a clergy recruitment drive. The selling point has to be spiritual. More specifically, it has to be spiritual fulfilment.

So what does it mean to be 'called' anyway? It means to feel the overriding sense that the Lord is asking me to serve him, to share my life with him in bringing the gospel to all people. To serve the Lord there has to be an even stronger sense in the individual that they have received something from the Lord that money cannot buy and that no amount of material pleasure can compare to. For this, there has to be a strong sense of what the Lord has given us: salvation.

Alarmed at the high levels of ignorance among young Christians on the basics of who Jesus was and why he died for us, the Evangelical Alliance last year launched a new course, 'essential', to eradicate the scourge of Bible illiteracy among young Christians.

"The future of the church could be under threat unless biblical illiteracy among young people is not urgently addressed", warned the Evangelical Alliance at the time.

The Rt Rev Graham Cray, Bishop of Maidstone, meanwhile warned that: "Young people, both inside and outside the church, are substantially ignorant about the Christian story and the main framework of Christian beliefs."

This widespread lack of understanding about the salvation that Jesus brought us has to be fixed. There is no greater fuel for positive action than gratitude.

There are many Christians who feel moved to the point of action. Some go no further than regularly joining services, others sing in the choir, help out with the mothers and toddlers groups, serve the vulnerable in the community or go on overseas mission trips.

The difficulty then lies less in getting Christians to be active in their faith as getting them to be active in considering becoming a member of the clergy.

And for this there has to be that something special attributed to being a member of the clergy that has perhaps been lost in the eyes of particularly young people. In days gone by, being a member of the clergy gave one a status and access into society far beyond what the limited means of the position would have otherwise allowed. No one wants to return to the past but it may be beneficial sometimes to bring elements of it into the present.

Joining the clergy is not an option for those who want to be loved by the Lord more than others. This is impossible; Jesus loves all those who follow him equally. And anyone who has the desire to serve the Lord can rightly say they feel called. Those who serve their church as lay members can also rightly say they love the Lord. Different people will be and feel called in different ways and for different purposes.

Whichever way one might feel called, this feeling of being called can only come from knowing the Lord. More courses like 'essential' could only be a very good thing.

The church must give young people a sense of calling. The other side of that requires the church to guide young people into the different avenues of service open to them as a response to their calling, be it choir, community service, and, yes, joining the clergy too.

Essentially, if the church wants more young people to come to the clergy it must present the possibility of joining the clergy as an honourable aspiration for those who want to demonstrate their love for the Lord more, who want to serve the Lord more, who want to be set apart for the Lord more and those who simply feel called more.