Church of Scotland Acknowledges Need to Improve Youth Dialogue

|TOP|A report to be presented to this year’s General Assembly will urge the Church of Scotland to speak more effectively to young people and branch out its current youth services.

The report from the Kirk’s Mission and Discipleship Council details how the number of young people attending church organisations, Bible classes and youth fellowships over the last 20 years has “fallen drastically”.

This fall in attendance figures among youth has been taken by the report to express the need for a change in the Church’s direction in order to capture back the participation of young Scots in church life.

The report also acknowledges, however, the progress that has been made through the Kirk’s existing youth work, particularly the success of the National Youth Assembly and the addition of youth delegates at the General Assembly itself.

|AD|The Church of Scotland has also seen a rise in the number of its congregations that now benefit from a professional youth worker, rising from less than 10 in the early 1990s to more than 150 in 2006.

The Kirk has made it one of its prerogatives to promote the training of people involved in ministry to children and young people and has approved a mission statement furthering the Church’s commitment in this area.

In the report, the Mission and Discipleship Council will stress the need for the Kirk to expand these existing services in recognition of the fact that “many of the young people it works with have no real connection to the Church,” a Kirk press statement read.

The council will also encourage the Kirk to explore newer models of youth ministry such as Youth Alpha with the aim “of helping young people develop spiritual awareness and become involved in congregational life”.

In light of this, the Mission and Discipleship Council has asked the General Assembly to approve a strategy for young people which includes a clearer definition of the aims and objectives for the Church’s youth work with young people, which according to the report’s authors is needed now if the Church Scotland is to survive.