YFC Director Urges Churches to Focus on Youth Mission

A recent article in the Leaders-Digest issued by the Evangelical Alliance UK conveys a call from the National Director of Youth for Christ, urging the Church to seize the opportunity of evangelism given by the openness of teenagers to the Gospel.

Roy Crowne, the National Director of a world renowned youth mission group, Youth for Christ (YFC), revealed the desperate need to concentrate on youth minitry based on some statistics and figures.

According to statistics by church growth experts, 85% of people who come to faith in Christ do so under the age of 25. Many people are usually too quick to criticise this age group for their lack of morals, apathy and ‘couldn’t care-less’ attitude. However, on the other hand, people at this age are spiritually aware and they are always looking for some solid truth in life.

Young people’s desperate spiritual thirt can be easily observed, according to Crowne. TV shows such as the X Files have drawn young people, while films like The Matrix and Lord of the Rings suggest that people are all searching for some deeper meaning in life other than the "natural".

Crowne honestly declared that the UK is now facing a crisis in youth ministry because more and more young people are leaving the Church and finding fulfilment elsewhere. And for this, the Church could not evade its responsibility.

The society is now trapped in morality decay and social chaos. With escalating divorce figures and a lack of positive role models, young people are looking elsewhere for inspiration.

Crowne described that the Church has a fight on its hand to save the young people from the world, "churches worldwide are facing the challenge of keeping their young people who are being bombarded with dozens more enticing offers from the media and society at large."

Crowne lamented that despite the need for a revival in youth ministry, youths have often been ignored by the Church. He quoted Christian author and international speaker Winkey Pratney, who says, "a great deal of church activity is focused on those ages ‘least likely’ to be saved – families that tithe, older people with stable jobs whose lives are settled and who enjoy status and reputation in the community. The majority of the Church’s efforts and resources are focussed on the aforementioned group, the people who incidentally are most likely to give into the Church financially and functionally."

Crowne therefore urges the Church to take action and realise the opportunities it has with young people. Crowne wanted to show to the Church that young people are actually the treasure of the Church.

He said that some of the people who have had the greatest impact for the Kingdom of God and society at large were in fact very young in age. Salvation Army founders Catherine Booth and William Booth were 17 and 15 respectively; Amy Carmichael was 15; Billy Graham 17; D L Moody 18; Charles Hadden Spurgeon 15: C T Studd and Hudson Taylor, two outstanding missionaries and George Whitfield were all teenagers.

"The phrase ‘we need to take care of our young people, as they are the future of the church’ is frequently heard. I would say that they are not ‘the future of the Church’, rather that ‘they are the Church’," Crowne said.

Based on this vision, YFC aims to release more and more young people to be the desperate radicals who actually see this nation change and turn around.

"We need to acknowledge the value that young people bring to a church. They have their whole life ahead of them. They need to be released into ministry, and to places where they feel valued, affirmed and involved, and given a taste of ministry. We need to release finances to see youth work as a priority in the Church’s budget," Crowne pledged.

YFC has now adopted a mission strategy with an evangelistic emphasis on youths. The most recent project ran from November to December 2004 - the national mission week called Mission: Trust.

Youth workers from each of YFC’s 57 local centres ran individual Christian missions in the schools, churches and youth clubs by using the resources and ideas from the material of the same name, Mission: Trust. They have reached over 50,000 young people with the Christian message.