response to 'Youth ministry needs to be part of mainstream' article by Judy Steers

I agree with Judy Steers’ comment in the Anglican Journal June 2011 that ‘When it comes to youth ministry, it may be time for the Anglican Church of Canada to wake up and smell the coffee.' Youth ministry may be perceived as an extra in the church community but take heart, it is also addressed in many Ontario schools through the Character Development initiative and supported by the Free the Children/We Day organization (http://weday.freethechildren.com/about/). Although the church may see youth ministry as ‘ a nice thing to do’ We Day inspires youth to make a difference in the world by taking on local and international missions. It becomes a school commitment. This involves a lot of youth – our youth, now learning leadership skills in discipleship through the secular world. Oh sorry, they are not learning about discipleship. They are learning to make a positive difference in their local communities and the world at large - also perceived as a ‘nice ting to do.’ There is no Christ in the We Day mission work – unless we are talking about a Catholic school. This initiative grows out of the school community. It looks as though, thanks to the We Day organization, that this kind of mission work is thriving in the schools. Students who attended the one day event (last year it drew over 20,000 youth to the Air Canada Centre) are encouraged and inspired to a make a difference and learn about leadership skills and given the opportunity to work on a local and/or international project. The impact is considerable. Two years ago at the We Day event, the Honourble David Only, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, spoke at the We Day event and challenged the youth to take back to their faith communities what they were learning. I think it is time that the faith communities, our faith community, became aware and recognized the efforts of the schools and We Day and to help our students see these activities ‘to make a difference in the world’ as discipleship – what we are called to do as followers of Christ.
Steers is correct in saying that ‘churches don’t need to hire professionals to set up and run youth initiatives’ this is already being done. I encourage church youth leaders to take advantage of the existing grassroots connections and networks already out there in the schools our youth attend.
Anglican Youth Ministers have the opportunity to learn more about how We Day re-energizes and inspires our youth. We Day is prepared to offer support to our Youth Ministers to learn more about how they train their leaders in the schools as well as share their many resources (much of which are free). As Steers says we are not alone, ‘there's support, there are people out there doing similar things.’