At the beginning of the 21st century, the National Study of Youth and Religion was released as one of the most significant pieces of sociological research on faith in this country. The longitudinal study is an invaluable resource in the ongoing work of faith development and formation in children, youth, and family ministry.
One key discovery was the strong correlation between “sticky faith” in children (faith that lasts into adulthood) and their relationships with adults who can communicate authentically and articulately about faith in ordinary life. These trusted adults are one of the most significant factors in sticky faith for the children in our care and keeping.
In the past decade and a half, we have come to know Jean Hansen as one of those adults: a key figure in helping faith “stick” with and continue to positively influence our children through adolescence and into adulthood. As you read, she has worked hard to create a network of adults around each of our children, adults who can speak honestly and authentically about what God is up to in their lives. It is her work, and theirs, that have kept our ministry with our youngest members alive and moving forward.
Now, that work transitions to a new staff leader and into a new season at St. John’s. The terrain ahead is not without significant challenges. As Jerome Berryman, creator of the renowned Godly
Play curriculum, noted in a recent article in the Christian Century: “If learning to be a Christian is like learning a language, then teaching children to speak Christian is more complicated than it used to be. Families don’t go to church as much as they once did, and the culture does not naturally support Christian speech or Christian ways of thinking about the world.”
If children are to have faith that sticks with them into adulthood, they need sustained contact with folks who can speak the language. That exposure requires an ecosystem that nurtures both adults and children. It will require a recommitment of effort, energy, and resources equal in the church to that which we give to our programs, liturgies, and formation for adults.
This season of transition is the perfect time for our faith community to take stock and to assess with honesty and care, whether we need new resources or a better redistribution of resources to tackle the challenges of faith formation for children and youth at St. John’s.
During May and June we will host three listening sessions, one for parents of young children, one for youth, and one for all members. A search team is being convened and a job description posted.
In addition, there will be a survey for all members asking for good feedback about our hopes and aspirations for ministry with our youngest
members and their families. Do you think St. John’s has a place for people of all ages to use their God-given gifts? Are children and youth as welcome and fully included in our faith community? In worship? In faith in action? In formation? In music? What do you most appreciate about our current ministry with children, youth, and families? What do you hope to see next? We want to hear from you at these listening sessions and in the anonymous responses we gather with this survey.
In June, we will begin interviewing candidates with the hope to call a new staff leader for Children, Youth, and Family ministry to partner with us in shaping our programs, building use, worship, and formation, to better connect with families and our youngest members, helping transmit the faith, and celebrate the faith and gifts in each generation.
As Berryman concludes, “just as the commitment to creating meaningful worship reaps its own rewards, so too teaching our children [and youth] the language of faith has deeper benefit than we can imagine. Jesus said that if we would welcome his kingdom, we must do so like a little child. In teaching children [and youth] the language of faith, we enter into the mystery anew.”
—Jered Weber-Johnson
Originally published in the May-June 2019 Evangelist.
