idea magazine September / October 2014

www.eauk.org/idea

T H E M AG A Z I N E O F T H E E VA N G E L I C A L A L L I A N C E

SEPT/OCTOBER 2014

NEWS COMMENT FEATURES

Missing generation?

A 20s and 30s takeover

MILLENNIAL CHURCH

How churches are reaching out to 20s and 30s

IN YOUR WORDS

60 SECONDS

FUTURE LEADERS

We profile eight bright young hopes

GOOD QUESTION

THEOLOGY

WHY I’M STILL IN CHURCH

Young people tell us just what’s kept them from leaving

CONNECT

ON THE JOB

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CONTENTS

Chine Mbubaegbu: “… be inspired and re-invigorated in knowing that our faith has something to say to all people, of all ages, everywhere.”

idea-torial “Many of the people I was in Sunday School with have drifted away from the faith.”

I’ve spent 30 years in church. I was born into a family whose roots have grown deeper in the Christian faith over the generations.

Much of my adult faith and the Bible verses I have committed to memory, which give me hope in the darkest times and speak of eternal truth – were shaped

by Sunday School. But sadly when I look around, many of the people I was in Sunday School have drifted away from the faith; with every step through the realities of life taking them further and further away from a Church they no longer see as relevant.

This is the reality for so many people of my generation.

So many of us grew up in church and stayed there until life happened: the depression, the divorce, the debt, the doubt, the disappointment. Instead of clinging to the faith of our childhood, so many of us feel we’ve outgrown it: that Christianity is not big enough to cope with what life throws at us. This trend is being seen across the UK and the rest of the Western world.

Our generation is missing. At the Evangelical Alliance, we just cannot let that happen. We long to re-ignite a vibrant faith among the 20s and 30s generation.

FEATURES Special edition: The missing generation 14 Leaders of the future

We profile eight Christians in their 20s and 30s changing their worlds.

19 US Millennials

A reflection on millennial Christianity from across the Atlantic by David Kinnaman of Barna Group.

How do young Christian people relate to those living around them?

28 Not all doom and gloom

Young Christians tell us why they’re still in church.

14

REGULARS 8 On the Job

On page 14, we’ve profiled eight young Christian leaders changing the world and interviewed Gavin Calver of Youth for Christ on page 26. We tell you some stories of how churches are innovatively reaching out to young people on page 36 and David Kinnaman, who leads Barna Group in the US, gives us his thoughts from his vantage point from across the Atlantic (page 19). I hope you enjoy this special edition. I’d love you to pass it on to your children and grandchildren, and be inspired and re-invigorated in knowing that our faith has something to say to all people, of all ages, everywhere.

Gavin Calver, who leads Youth for Christ.

Katherine Maxwell-Cook, editor of Tearfund’s Rhythms.

eauk.org/annualappeal Front cover image: Thousands of young people in their 20s and 30s worshipping at Momentum festival.

We’re on Twitter!

Follow us @idea_mag

Future leaders Natasha Rufus Isaacs and Lavinia Brennan, who run ethical fashion company Beulah, are among those young Christians profiled as public leaders.

16 Good Question

How old do you need to be to lead a church?

26 Big interview 38 Last word

The general director writes…

34 Created for connection So many young Christians are addicted to technology. Her tells the dark tale of the blur between human relationships and our relationships with technology.

eauk.org/supportthreads

We’ve had a great year at the Evangelical Alliance! Look out for our upcoming Impact Report and appeal, which you’ll receive shortly, detailing all the amazing things we’ve been able to do thanks to the generosity of our supporters.

Caleb Meakins: Risking failure, shifting culture 60 seconds with Caleb Meakins, who spent 40 days practising rejection.

20-21 Good neighbours?

This is why we launched threads two years ago – a collective of young people exploring faith as it relates to real life. God has blessed this group of people hungry to work out our faith together. You can read more about threads and how you can support it on pages four and five. Throughout the rest of this millennial-themed magazine you will find a range of different articles on, by or about the 20s and 30s generation and their relationships to faith and church.

Chine Mbubaegbu, head of media and communications

7

Head Office Evangelical Alliance has moved: 176 Copenhagen Street, London N1 0ST tel 020 7520 3830 [Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm] fax 020 7520 3850 info@eauk.org www.eauk.org

Email address changes to members@eauk.org Northern Ireland Office First Floor Ravenhill House 105 Ravenhill Road, Belfast BT6 8DR tel: 028 9073 9079 nireland@eauk.org

Evangelical Alliance leadership team Steve Clifford, Helen Calder, Fred Drummond, Elfed Godding, Krish Kandiah, Dave Landrum, Peter Lynas

Wales Office 20 High Street, Cardiff CF10 1PT tel: 029 2022 9822 wales@eauk.org Scotland Office International Christian College, 110 St James Road, Glasgow, G4 0PS tel 0141 548 1555 scotland@eauk.org

The Evangelical Alliance. A company limited by guarantee Registered in England & Wales No. 123448.

Registered Charity No England and Wales: 212325, Scotland: SC040576.

Registered Office: 176 Copenhagen Street, London, N1 0ST

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

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CONNECT

News from the Alliance

Support a movement that’s re-igniting faith among 20s and 30s Young adults in their 20s and 30s are rapidly leaving the Church as they see faith as simply no longer relevant to them. With your help, we can reach them.

In just two decades, the number of 20-somethings attending church has halved, according to research from Peter Brierley’s Pulling Out of the Nosedive. And according to the most recent English Church Census, only three out of 10 of every 100 people in their 20s attend church. The Evangelical Alliance’s own research on our membership base (Why Christians Give) found that while in 1998, 25 per cent of our members were aged between 18 and 34, just 10 years later this had dropped to three per cent. David Kinnaman, president of the leading faith and culture research organisation Barna Group (who writes on page 19), wrote in his book You Lost Me: “To many young people who grew up in Christian churches, Christianity seems boring, irrelevant, sidelined from the real issues people face. It seems shallow.”

In the Church, we’re good at supporting and nurturing children and teenagers, and there are numerous agencies dedicated to helping us do this. But when they get to their 20s and 30s – a time of life often characterised by upheaval, huge life changes and big decisions – we’re failing them. As an organisation dedicated to supporting and resourcing local churches to engage with

people of all ages, the Alliance knew we had to step into the gap. We’re in a unique position to help due to our 168-year track record of bringing evangelicals together to make a difference, excellent contacts with more than 4,000 Christian organisations and churches, and access to their expertise.

We plugged into all of this to launch threadsuk.com in 2012 – an online collective of Christians in their 20s and 30s exploring faith and life.

threadsuk.com Here’s how threads has made a difference to the life of one young man, John: “Ever since my university days, I’ve been on the fringe of church. I struggle with my faith and, if I’m honest, particularly with how it relates to relationships, and I’ve found that a lot of people shy away from such topics in a church setting.

When I went to a threads event in London, however, I found myself deeply challenged.

People expressed themselves freely. It felt like a safe environment to speak your mind. I was pushed, both spiritually and intellectually, to think more deeply about my faith and how it relates to all manner of issues. It was a great help and encouragement to meet others who also struggle with the same things I do.

We long to take threads to the next step – from re-igniting faith, building community and relationship, to reaching out to those who don’t know Christ.

But we can’t do any of this without your help. If, like us, you have a heart to reach the

I would like to: Make a regular gift by Direct Debit of: (tick boxes) a month.

Please complete Direct Debit form below, leaving the reference blank. Our collection date for Direct Debits is the 3rd of each applicable month.

I would like my support to go to:

q Wherever the need is greatest q threads – our online collective for 20s and 30s IDEA MAGAZINE / 4

eauk.org/supportthreads

Since we launched we’ve won Best Christian Blog at the Christian New Media Awards, we’ve collaborated with organisations including Lambeth Palace, the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity, St John’s College Durham, Soul Survivor, New Horizons, Tearfund’s Rhythms, Christian Aid and many more. We’ve had hundreds of Christians in their 20s and 30s contribute to our site.

Yes, I’d love to give to the Alliance and play my part in supporting a movement that’s changing the world.

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‘missing generation’, we’re inviting you to become a supporter of threads for as little as £3 a month. You can do this by filling out the form below or visiting our website.

Give a single gift of:

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

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60 SECONDS WITH…

Interview by Lucy Cooper

Caleb Meakins: Risking failure, shifting culture Caleb Meakins made his way onto the red carpet and chatted to Hollywood stars Sarah-Jessica Parker and her husband Matthew Broderick as part of his 40 Days of Rejection challenges The face of 25-year-old entrepreneur Caleb Meakins became familiar on social media for his 40 Days of Rejection project last year. The challenges pushed him out of his comfort zone and left him open to failure. We find out how he believes that creative young adults stepping out and taking risks can bring about a true culture shift. idea: So you asked for £100 on the street, tried to get on the red carpet and attempted to give a university lecture.

Why did you put yourself through it?

It was tough and didn’t come naturally to me at all. That’s why I felt the need to take it on. I had told people of my plans, during university, to focus on bringing new ideas to life. But they couldn’t understand why I would risk failure. I think this fear is why many of my fellow bright students suddenly focussed on securing jobs in city banks, less risk and more money. I needed to push myself to take risks, be passionate and creative, but also inspire others to face the fear of failure head-on.

What’s holding back innovation then?

All too often if we fall down we are told ‘you must not to do it again’ rather than ‘get back up and try again’. Trial and error isn’t encouraged enough. There is a culture of fear of getting it wrong, rather than learning valuable life lessons. We’re seeing inspiring and powerful stories burst out on digital platforms from teenagers working in their garages or bedrooms. There is a rising optimism for innovation, but on the whole we’re not quite there. I noticed that bureaucracy and doing things by the book really suffocated me. I don’t think I’m the only one.

Tell us about Shift …

Shift began at new year, 2012. Myself and a few friends decided that because new year SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

is often an anti-climax, we would gather to start the year excited for God and the year ahead. As we prepared, we felt God call us to rally others of our own age to understand our role as Christians in society and in the Church. The vision of Shift is to see our generation captured by God and impacting culture. We set up two purity networks called Last Man Standing and Pure Gold which openly and honestly tackle the issues of sexual purity in our culture. We aim to inspire people and challenge perceptions, from a place of security in our identity in Christ.

So what’s the big opportunity?

In London, there are around 25,000 Christians in their 20s and 30s, compared to 1.2 million who are not Christians. So by that calculation, each of us is responsible for reaching 48 non-Christians. I don’t think many of us are intentional with five, let alone 48 colleagues, friends or neighbours. Instead of feeling condemned, we have an opportunity to become more intentional. My heart is to see us wake up to this, to reach our generation and see change. ‘Culture’, for me means both people, the things they are interested in, and the way they outwork their personality e.g. through music, art, film or fashion. Often we detach those things from our faith but I would love for Christians to be speaking into this space. When the people representing the Church are adding value to society, we become credible and people say ‘yeah, you are here and you are among us.’ It doesn’t have to be a four-point gospel presentation. It’s not about us but about what God is doing.

The vision of Shift is to see our generation captured by God and impacting culture.

So how can we adopt a new positive mindset as Church?

Life with Jesus is adventure, exciting, risk and purpose….everything my peers are looking for. They need to encounter a true representation of Jesus which is why creatives, entrepreneurs and young people should be leading in the Church. Creatives capture and present something in its true essence, entrepreneurs push things not done before and youth are the future. At 17, my vicar took a gamble when he allowed me to organise an event for people to invite their mates to. It happened to go well. Three hundred people turned up, some came to know Jesus and the event continued for three years. Then later, at Open Heaven Church, the leaders gave anyone permission to run with their ideas with church backing.

Instead of being limited by leader capacity, this was incredibly releasing. I believe we could see churches alive, relevant, thriving and serving. Jesus transforms our lives, our churches change and a culture shift begins.

Caleb is developing Shift while also growing a media consultancy. shift-uk.com IDEA MAGAZINE / 7

ON THE JOB

Rhythms of

justice

Lucy Cooper chats to Katherine MaxwellCook, editor of online collective Rhythms.org, on encouraging the emerging generation to connect lifestyle with biblical action…

With a 10-year background in drama and the arts, Katherine landed her perfect job, commissioning young writers and editing content for Rhythms. “For a long time I had been trying to bring together different strands of my life,” says Katherine. “I love dreaming up accessible and interesting ways to engage young people with a Christian response to poverty and injustice.

It perfectly combined my skills with my passion for justice and community, having been living in community on an estate in Islington.”

As part of Tearfund, the Rhythms community encourages young adults to think about how everyday UK lifestyle choices impact others. Online posts and offline events enable students and young adults to relate to community, social action, injustice, conflict or poverty in our globally-connected world. “If you take an action for 30 days it becomes a habit, a way of life and a rhythm.

It starts with making a proactive choice and then can become more natural,” Katherine explains.

“First it’s about opening our eyes to notice what is around us. Homelessness is poverty in your face, so we might share questions and thoughts like…How do I talk to the homeless? Do I give them money or food?

Is there a better way? Some young people return from overseas placements deciding they don’t want to be the same as before, and others have a vision for political lobbying.”

By nature, the millennial generation doesn’t need convincing that climate change is an issue. It’s been taught, accepted and they want to know what can be done.

Older generations may have been inspired by elders or experts but millennials are influenced by their peers. “Influencing your peers and network is the primary aim and if it goes wider, that’s even better. Young and old share the planet so everyone has responsibility to start something today, but the emerging generation are the ones who will likely have to face up to the problems and put a stake in the ground,” comments Katherine.

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Image credit: Photo by Tom Price

Katherine Maxwell-Cook.

Katherine loves the diverse community in which she lives. “We throw parties, inviting friends and neighbours. I love that a PHD student, a neighbour, who’s been a postman all of his life, and Aunty Grace, who can cook up a Nigerian feast, are mixing. It’s rare but beautiful. When we create an understanding we see another story. This impacts our perception of who our neighbour is and that might lead to thinking about who, other than Tesco, actually provided your morning coffee and how you might consider them as your neighbour too.”

The Rhythms community is a place to share questions, concerns or thoughts in an uncondemning way - linking thoughts, talking, writing, theology and action. With huge global issues such as consumerism, poverty, climate change or conflict, an individual can feel overwhelmed but there is solidarity and encouragement in a collective.

“How do we talk about the war in Syria in a way we can connect with and not switch off from? Actions must be as simple as possible, starting today and hopefully growing as a journey continues. Instead of thinking they have to tackle climate change single-handedly they can add their name to a petition or decide not to buy coffee in plastic cups anymore.”

She continued: “My mind has just been blown by the sheer scale of our overconsumption. We’re living like there are three planets and not connecting with how things are made. We can’t carry on buying new clothes and wasting food at the current rate. When you buy a £2 T-shirt someone else is paying the price.”

Rhythms also run emerging influencers, a mentoring programme for students and 20s, providing advocacy opportunities. ‘Put thirst first’ co-ordinated by Beth Milburn highlighted the water and sanitation Millenium Development Goal. She met her MP, the minister for equality, and collected

1,600 signatures on a petition presented to the House of Commons. “She influenced her friends and they joined her walking round campus dressed in snorkelling gear in contrast to millions who lack access to any clean water. Tim Perkin pushed the government on homelessness and many joined him sleeping on the floor for a week, in solidarity with those without beds.”

Activism and sharing your concern for a cause can connect with people outside the Church who might get involved in a foodbank or homeless shelter run by a church but not attend a service. “Many are

Older generations may have been inspired by elders or experts but millennials are influenced by their peers. activists before they are worshippers, so let’s not dismiss action as a way for people to get to know God,” adds Katherine.

“Mother Theresa’s quote that it might be just a drop in the ocean but the ocean would be less because of that one missing drop, encourages me. If one person can inspire 10 of their friends to do something too, that’s 10 ocean drops. I have to believe there is hope, that we can make a difference, that our world can be better and that Jesus will restore his kingdom, because if I don’t, it’s just too bleak. Jesus is at work.” rhythms.org

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

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NORTHERN IRELAND

eauk.org/northernireland

Our questioning generation Thomas McConaghie, co-ordinator of threads, the Alliance’s 20s and 30s collective, reflects on his first 43 days of reaching the missing generation…

I’m Thomas, aged 25. I’m husband to the wonderful Laura who is carrying our first child. As an avid idea reader, you may recognise my name from this column before. I live, love and stub my toes in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

It’s fair to say the first couple of months in this role has been spent learning. Admittedly, I spent a whole chunk of time worriedly making sure that threadsuk.com wouldn’t be the world’s first website to actually explode. In that regard, I’ve been successful. Since then, I’ve been able to divert attention to the deeper and more significant question of why…

Why has threads generated a decent amount of attention within the sphere of young evangelical Christians? Why are my colleagues excited about the future of threads? What can threads really offer young Christian adults?

Then there are the significant questions that I ask of myself: why am I here? What is my role in this generation? How can I play my part in helping young Christian adults, my peers, realise opportunity and their potential in any given context?

I haven’t yet gained answers to many of these questions. And that’s ok. I suppose that’s an answer in itself, and the main lesson I have learned. Immediate answers aren’t always forthcoming.

Me and my generation, we ask lots of questions. Some are good, some are terrible, and some are just downright annoying. Bear with us. We ask questions that don’t always have answers or we don’t like the answers being given. It’s important that we ask them all the same. The worst questions are the unasked ones.

Please don’t think that I’m questioning the fundamentals. I selfascribe as an evangelical so by no means am I questioning the integral ingredients of the gospel. I’m secure in my understanding of Jesus, and that gives me the freedom to ask questions about the unimportant important stuff, you know?

Here’s where I speak for my generation: we’re aspiring to live full lives. We aren’t happy with mediocre. We’re earnestly trying to make sense of the life God has given us. That leads us to asking questions.

We don’t mind if we come to different conclusions because we welcome diversity – it helps us make sense of things.

Back in July threads writer, Stu Bothwell (who’s also Northern Irish) posted an article encouraging us to ask good questions; ones which will give us more helpful answers. Am I contradicting myself already?

Questions like: ‘who am I?’ and ‘where do I belong?’ or ‘what am I going to do for the rest of my life?’ have a time and place to be asked because I believe that when we know who we are, we know what to do. But relentlessly pushing into those questions can be somewhat anxiety-inducing. Stu implored us instead to figure out our strengths, how we work, and our values.

Using this advice, I’ve found a few answers. I’ve managed to learn a little more than I expected.

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Thomas McConaghie

I’m an inherently hopeful person, and I love family, which drives the love of my city and its future. This is why I care about the future of the Church too. I love working with people who care about those things too. Through threads, I’ve met people who, just like me, aren’t happy to coast. If I’m honest, which I told you I would be, I’m pretty excited about the future. threadsuk.com threads is meeting a need; reaching out to a generation who grew up in Church, but for so many reasons are turning their back on faith As the Evangelical Alliance, we can’t sit back and let that happen, which is why we started threads. But without the support of people like you, threads cannot thrive. If you too have a heart for bringing a generation back to Church, for reigniting a vibrant faith among 20s and 30s, for just £3 a month, you could become a threads supporter. eauk.org/supportthreads Twitter: @thisthomas

SCOTLAND

eauk.org/scotland

Grasping the thistle…

by Kieran Turner

A band of young Christians are taking the fight against human trafficking to the heart of the Scottish Parliament…

In Scotland a person is rescued from human trafficking every four days. In what is otherwise a summer of celebration for Scotland these raw statistics point to a darker truth that people made in God’s image are living in fear and in captivity in communities across the nation.

It is this modern-day injustice, and the increasing awareness of the global problem of human trafficking, that has prompted a band of young Scottish activists to action, and who between them are leading a movement of prayer and advocacy into the heart of Scottish politics and the heart of the Scottish Church.

Abolition Scotland was formed in 2012 by Phillip Anderson from Glasgow House of Prayer, as a prayer response to this issue. Quickly this developed into advocacy work and as more individuals and organisations joined this led to the movement we see today, that exists to equip the Scottish Church to prayer and action.

This year has seen the movement reach a new level with the first Abolition Scotland conference held in Edinburgh in June 2014. This conference brought together practitioners, politicians, police and church leaders with around 100 activists, passionate about taking action, with keynote speeches from theologian Elaine Storkey and Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish government’s Cabinet secretary for justice. This combination of biblical reflection and practical politics made for a wonderful example of prayerful theology being applied to a pressing social need – exactly what Abolition Scotland was set up to do.

This movement has also reached the heart of the Scottish political establishment. Just a few days before the conference, the Christian documentary Nefarious: Merchant of Souls was screened at the Scottish parliament. MSPs from across the political divide gathered to see the shocking reality of the global human trafficking problem but also to hear the incredible testimonies of God’s redemptive work from the darkest of situations. Added to this has been the positive response from the Scottish government as they work towards publishing their Human Trafficking Bill in the autumn, building on the work already undertaken by Jenny Marra MSP. What is striking about Abolition Scotland is the youth of its leaders and its activists. Almost all the core team are in their 20s and 30s and in a nation where the Church is struggling to connect with young adults here is a movement of prayer, passion and action that is causing the Scottish government to sit up and take note. Are there lessons to be learned for the Church from such a movement? And are there lessons for my generation, the disengaged, as to how we engage our faith in practical ways to see God’s kingdom come in the fabric of our society?

Human trafficking is one of the most heinous and ‘un-sexy’ social issues imaginable yet it has captured the heart of a generation.

Would that the Church empower its 20s and 30s to lead and to ignite a passion for applying the values of the gospel to every area of our society.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

Leading voices in Abolition Scotland Andy Bevan, Edinburgh Day job: regional development executive for Scotland, International Justice Mission UK “As God called Moses to free the Israelites in Egypt, God is calling His people today to speak out against slavery and seek justice for the oppressed. My role within Abolition Scotland is to equip the Church in Scotland to respond to this call.”

Heather Simpson, East Kilbride Day job: Part-qualified accountant “I’m fairly new to Abolition Scotland and feel guided to look into what a ‘Scotland’s Survivors Service’ would look like. Studying what is available and more importantly what is not yet available for those who have suffered through human trafficking. This has been on my heart from an early age, my passion is to see those in bondage restored through the love only Christ can bring. I believe as a united Church we can do this together.”

Stuart Weir, Glasgow Day job: national director, Care for Scotland “I want to see human trafficking abolished in Scotland because the picture we have of the new creation is of flourishing, free, restored human beings of all nations living in harmony. This is the opposite of what we see in Revelation where Babylon trafficks people as a commodity (Revelation 18.13). We should therefore seek to enact this coming new creation now as much as is possible as a foretaste of what is to come.”

Abolition Scotland is a coalition made up of Glasgow House of Prayer, Care for Scotland, IJM UK and the Evangelical Alliance. The full core team is Phillip Anderson (GHOP), Heather Simpson, Andy Bevan (IJM UK), Stuart Weir (Care for Scotland), Gordon MacDonald (Care for Scotland), Euan Fraser and Kieran Turner (Evangelical Alliance Scotland).

To find out more about Abolition Scotland or to book an Abolition Scotland speaker please visit abolitionscotland.org.uk IDEA MAGAZINE / 11

WALES

eauk.org/wales

Tempted to be timid: Reflections on being a young church leader

History and scripture is awash with tales of young men and women who accomplished great things for God. Picture the scene: a young man loves Jesus.

He has seen the gospel work in the life of his mother, her mother and their faith community. While his peers are pursuing other vocations, he can’t help but be magnetised to this thing they call “church”.

People from different classes, ethnicities and vocations, all gathering around and united in the Saviour he has grown to love.

He begins to encourage this community with some of his own discoveries from God’s word. They recognise a seed of gifting. The next thing you know an itinerant preacher is in town. He meets this young lad, hears of his passion for Christ and invites him to join his travelling mission team. The preacher mentors the young believer, affirms his calling in God and in time drops him off in a sprawling city of the day to look after a struggling church. This young fledgling pastor is thrust into the joys and challenges of significant church leadership responsibility at a young age. This young fledgling pastor was, in fact, Timothy (Acts 16:1-5).

Timothy’s experience mirrors that of many of us. I’m 25 years old. I’ve loved Jesus from a young age, the product of the investment of many older saints, and I’ve come to see that the most valuable thing I can do with my life is to give it to the flourishing of Jesus’s Church. Here I am, in the zest of my youth(!) learning how to serve and lead God’s people as Timothy was when Paul dropped him off in Ephesus. I’ve been encouraged by his example and want to share one battle Timothy faced that I think all young leaders IDEA MAGAZINE / 12

in church (myself included) can come up against; timidity.

When Paul wrote to Timothy, leading an endangered, divided Church, he constantly exhorted him to fight timidity and stand in courage (2 Timothy 1:7, 1 Timothy 4:12, 1 Timothy 1:3). If Satan can cripple young leaders with a fear of failure, a sense of unattainable expectation or a fear that success terminates in their own ability then the forward advance of the gospel in our day will be seriously threatened. History and scripture is awash with tales of young men and women who accomplished great things for God. And every one of them was weak and yet made strong in God. Leadership in church, as Timothy discovered, can be daunting. It takes courage to tell someone the gospel. It takes courage to speak a loving word of rebuke over a wayward soul. It takes courage to lead those who are older than you with conviction. It takes courage to rouse a sleepy congregation to spiritual zeal. Timidity keeps young leaders from being the men and women God has called them to be and doing the things God has called them to do.

The clarion call to young leaders is the words of 2 Timothy 1:7: “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control.”

Fight timidity, says Paul, by recognising who you truly are. God has saved us for more than a cowering fear that keeps us from risking all for the gospel. He, in His Son, has given to us a new Spirit - the Holy Spirit who births in us the strength to battle the

fears that keep us bound and empowers us to make a difference with our lives for the glory of Christ.

Timidity cripples risk and cultivates fear.

Power stirs up faith and releases courage.

Timidity turns us inward and grows pride.

Love turns us outward and creates humility.

Timidity causes us to be controlled by the opinions of others. Self-control enables us to harness opinions to live for God’s approval alone.

The confidence Paul was encouraging certainly must not be confused with arrogance. Too many young leaders have pursued confidence at the expense of humility. Godly confidence is humble confidence; a confidence that sets God as its foundation, not one’s own abilities. Godly courage doesn’t care who gets the credit for God’s work but cares deeply that it gets done.

Godly confidence also takes its cue from older leaders. Young leaders need older men and women who, like Paul, will come alongside them, believe in them and remind them of what God has called them to. I am grateful as a young leader for older leaders who continue to do this for me.

Are you a young leader in need of fresh encouragement or an older leader who could encourage?

Owen Cottom is elder at Rhiwbina Baptist Church

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PUBLIC LEADERSHIP

Eight young public leaders

Ethan Bernard Founder of Vessel Works

Public leaders are committed to serving God and being voices for good where He has placed them. They speak up and they step out. Public leaders take the time to get good at what they are doing and find opportunities to work with others. Change happens when people lead: when someone with passion, vision and purpose pursues a dream of how things can and should be, injustice gives way to righteousness. Here are a few young leaders who are taking responsibility in the public sphere, who are taking the authority God has given them and using it for good.

Ethan Bernard grew up in an area of Peckham notorious for its gang violence.

His life changed when, aged 19, he saw a close friend violently murdered. In a time of tragedy and emotional upheaval he gave his life to God and it changed his life. Ethan worked with Kids Company and is now a project manager for XLP. Vessel Works was founded by Ethan in Lewisham in 2011 and works with young people to help them make a positive contribution to their community and wider society. Ethan helps young people explore and engage in music and media and turned the junk room of a local church, Crofton Park Baptist, into a production studio. vesselworks.com

Suzy Stride Labour parliamentary candidate for Harlow

Catherine Gladwell Founder and director, Refugee Support Network Catherine Gladwell was working for a large international charity when she realised the level of need in her own community. Along with other members of Community Church Harlesden in 2009 she founded Refugee Support Network (RSN). The charity works with young people affected by displacement and crisis and helps them access, remain and progress in education. RSN now works with over 300 young refugees, asylum seekers and survivors of trafficking across London providing them with mentors and helping them progress in their education at critical points on the forced migration journey.

Catherine commented: “We believe that at a time of great uncertainty and transition, education is essential and when we invest in a young person’s education, we send a clear message that they matter and that there is hope for the future.” refugeesupportnetwork.com

Suzy Stride is running for parliament, and has been selected by the Labour party to contest the Harlow seat in 2015. While much lies ahead, this is not the beginning of the story. Suzy’s political activism began when she campaigned in the 1997 general election, and she has been involved at every election since as well as taking on roles and responsibilities in her local party. In standing for election Suzy wants to take her local experience, both political and through working for youth education charity City Gateway, and bring it to a national level.

Along with Christians standing for election in other parties Suzy believes that there is huge crossover between our faith values and political beliefs namely around social justice.

She takes great inspiration from people like Wilberforce who saw present day injustices as something that the Church could not tackle on their own without engaging in politics and government. Present day injustices require the same commitment from Christians. suzystride.com

Beth Stout Chief executive, Golddigger Trust Beth Stout leads the Golddigger Trust which over the last nine years has worked with tens of thousands of young people and seen lasting changes to the lives of young men and women through their projects. Beth is a popular communicator and speaks both to conferences and the national media particularly on issues of youth work, identity, sex, pornography and self-esteem. Her passion comes from working with young people in urban and deprived environments, and reflects a hands-on experience of the challenges they face. By speaking into the media and public life Beth helps raise awareness of the issues young people are facing, and also helps equip the church to respond to that need. golddiggertrust.co.uk

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F Natasha Rufus Isaacs & Lavinia Brennan

Sian Rees

Sian Rees, in her mid-30s, thrives in a demanding and highly influential job as head of faculty at Ysgol John Bright in Llanduno.

She has inspired her colleagues through her dedication in her role which includes head of music. She is a long standing member of Evangelical Alliance Wales’ executive and council. Her passion is to see the kingdom of God extended in Wales. A gifted worship leader and preacher Sian has served on the leadership team of a Pentecostal church in Caernarfon and helped pioneer a new church in Pwllheli. She took a year out from teaching to attend the Hillsong training programme in Australia.

Founders, Beulah Natasha Rufus Isaacs and Lavinia Brennan founded Beulah after travelling to Delhi to work with Atulya, an aftercare home in the Dehli slums for victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Beulah is an ethical fashion label launched in 2011 which helps give a sustainable livelihood for those coming out of the sex trade.

Driven by both producing beautiful clothes and achieving positive social change, each garment purchased comes with a bag produced by victims of trafficking in India, from the ‘Freeset’ project based in Kolkata. Beulah hit the headlines after the Duchess of Cambridge wore one of their dresses, and have been featured in The Times, the Evening Standard and many other main stream press outlets. beulahlondon.com

Naomi Roberts

Max Manners

Founder, Friday’s Child

CEO, Resco

Naomi Roberts, founder of Friday’s Child, was driven by a passion to love the city of Leeds. She saw a growing need to support young people affected by low self-esteem and all it leads to; and through the support of Leeds Christian Community Trust founded a project to provide that support. Friday’s Child is based in areas of Leeds that have a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, and a mixture of both affluence and poverty. The project provides support by going into schools and youth clubs to deliver self-esteem and selfworth education (written by Cocoon). These teaching programmes are backed up by opportunities for young girls to be mentored and further supported.

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Original background image: Rainer Zenz Wikimedia commons

Head of faculty at Ysgol John Bright in Llandudno

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Max Manners founded Resco as a business, but also a business with a heart. They work with companies that want to place social impact at the centre of what they do – motivated by the belief that business can be a force for good. Max had previously worked with the William Wilberforce Trust, a ministry of Holy Trinity Brompton, as head of enterprise before setting up Resco as an independent business. Resco runs a 16-week employment programme which gives people the tools and confidence to break the cycle of unemployment and work towards a more fruitful future. The programme provides work experience within a business, accredited training, and tailored personal support. resco.co.uk

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GOOD QUESTION

How old should a church leader be?

We asked a few leaders their thoughts…

“To lead a large church one should be at least 30.”

“Age does not ultimately matter, although to lead a large church one should be at least 30. To have a major church one should be at least 40. What matters are these things: natural ability, a love for Jesus and openness to the Holy Spirit, a very good knowledge of the Bible, sound theology, teachable spirit, some academic preparation, transparent character, and at least three years in secular work. Being a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman was great preparation for me.

Those who come straight from academic preparation to ministry are not likely to be ready. All church leaders should have read Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends and Influence People.”

R T Kendall – author, theologian and former pastor at Westminster Chapel “Calling can come at any time of life.”

“I have been interviewing people over many years who are sensing a call from God to train for ministry in the Baptist Union. Basically it does not matter what age the candidate is because the calling can come at any time of life. Most churches are made up of a spectrum of ages and leaders are likely to reflect that – this appears to be the biblical pattern. However, a key way that the call is assessed is through seeing how God is using the person through the life of the local church and this is where younger people may well be disadvantaged. Sadly I have observed too many churches where younger people are not encouraged into any form of leadership, not given opportunities of leadership, and not mentored by an experienced leader. This seriously disadvantages them in the selection process and may well explain the predominantly higher age profile of people entering college. I have been delighted when IDEA MAGAZINE / 16

interviewing people in their 20s who have been nurtured in leadership locally – most of these have gone on to make excellent ministers.”

Kathryn Morgan, retired Baptist minster “Leaders attract people 10 years older or 10 years younger than them.”

“A church leader should be called by God, and intentionally develop a team around them who can serve multigenerationally. Research and church ‘folk-lore’ indicate that a leader tends to attract people to the church who are on average between 10 years older and 10 years younger than their own age. This is because their innate ‘cultural language’ and style make church more accessible to their peers.

So a seemingly obvious solution to the crisis in young adults missing from church would be to send through younger leaders to train.

Yet I feel this approach tackles the symptoms of the issue, not the root problem. As the one-year-old rector of three rural parishes in my early 30s, we have seen church growth this year with ‘people similar to me’. So my priority now lies in building structures and teams that can serve all peoples, bringing us together under Jesus, that we might grow here ‘on earth, as it is in heaven’.”

James di Castiglione, 33-year-old Rector of Chanctonbury churches, West Sussex “Age is irrelevant.”

“I planted a church on a really tough estate when I was 24 years old. I really didn’t have a clue what I was doing and was ill-equipped to deal with the incredible needs that my wife and I encountered, but I was up for having a go. I think that a combination of God’s grace, doggedness, passion and naivety saw us through and the church grew through conversions. By the age of 30 I was leading a church with several congregations

The average age of a minister is 54 and the average churchgoer is 55.

But what is the right age to lead a church?

and many hundreds of people. A minimum age? I think that’s less relevant than asking if someone has good people around them, is teachable, not arrogant, humble and has some measure of life experience that helps them have empathy and understanding. I know some 50-year-olds who don’t have those qualities and some 25 year olds that do!”

Carl Beech leads Christian Vision for Men “If 15-year-old girls can plant churches in China, why not here?”

“Old enough to hear a clear call from God into leadership (for me this was 15 years old). Old enough to count the cost to follow that call (for me that was 21 years old when I church-planted with a bunch of friends). Old enough to have mastered some basic leadership skills and have some people who are prepared to follow you. Old enough to know your strengths and weaknesses and therefore know who you need in place to mentor you, coach you and oversee the work you are doing. As an 18-year-old I received a prophetic word that ‘a group of young people were going to set up a church for young people in the Midlands’. At the time I was hearing stories about 15-year-old girls in China church planting as part of the underground church-planting movement in China. That inspired me to take the prophetic word seriously. I also happen to think it is particularly important for women to start early in pursuing and outworking their leadership call. Confidence gets built from experience and getting good at what you do. A woman who begins her leadership journey in late teens/early 20s can gain a significant run of leadership experience before a season of maternity leave/part-time work. As well as being ‘old enough’ there must always be a sense of being ‘young enough’ in attitude to try new ways of doing things, take risks, allow mindset shifts and having a never-ending desire to learn.”

Ness Wilson heads up the leadership team of Open Heaven, Loughborough

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IN THE THICK OF IT

by Richard Woodall

Millennial mission: how organisations are reaching 20s and 30s Reaching the hearts of today’s 20s and 30s with the message of Jesus is no mean thing. A common facet in all the different ministries seems to be keeping relevant.

Not just making the message of Jesus relevant to today’s searching, demanding, doubting generation; but to make it real and able to be lived out in all facets of life.

Key players in ministry to the missing generation are more aware than ever of the need to first understand young people; and to second allow them to ask the important questions about their faith.

Mark Elsdon-Dew is communications director at Alpha International.

He says the Alpha Course is a huge part of Holy Trinity Brompton’s (HTB) outreach to the 20s and 30s age group.

“The average age of people attending Alpha at HTB is 27 years old.

That’s the age group which is asking the questions, which presents a forum for discussion; questions such as: ‘What happens when I die?’ and ‘what am I here for?’ We feel Alpha provides a forum for those sorts of questions.

“In the last year particularly we’ve been aiming everything we can do at that demographic, in terms of the rebranding and the way we do Alpha talks. It’s also important that we have a lot of young people who do the talks. When we do our advertising, we are aiming it at the 24-year-old urban male.

“We work hard on the welcome, and how people are introduced to others in their groups. These days, those who come want to be able to relax - that takes work because of the different cultures involved.

“Most importantly, it’s a question of trying to keep on top of the culture and what’s going on.

We know Alpha works for the 20s to 30s group and we are fortunate because we’re in the centre of London, so people come in their thousands off the street.”

Is there hope for a reversal of the trend of 20s and 30s leaving church? Mark says: “We definitely hope it will be reversed; that age group are the ones showing the most interest. If we make people feel welcome, they will pour in.”

Another key movement seeking to address the deficit is the student movement UCCF. It has a vision to give every student in Great Britain the opportunity to meet Jesus.

“It tries to achieve this through the 200+ Christian Unions across the country and with the partnership of local churches aims to “meaningfully and persuasively” tell the gospel to each new generation of university students.

Pod Bhogal, head of communications at UCCF, says: “We estimate there are around 20,000 students involved with Christian Union outreach. We saw about 38,000 students attend our CU mission events nationally between January and March.

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“If you include non-believing students who attend events then you could be talking around 40-50,000 people.”

The local Church is key to discipleship while CUs also run Christianity Explored and Alpha groups as follow-up to evangelistic events. Small groups also help to foster spiritual growth among students in halls of residence, Pod adds.

“Apologetics has a very important role to play in reaching the 20s and 30s age group over the next decade as many are asking searching questions about life, the world and God.” he said.

“We believe in creative and engaging proclamation of the gospel and applying the gospel to them in ways that connect with who they are.

“It is essential CUs are working with local churches and that as people become Christians they are encouraged to join a church family where they can be cared for and grow.”

Christians in Sport (CIS) aim to reach the world of sport for Christ through encouraging churches to engage with sport and by giving sportspeople the chance to hear the Christian message.

A high percentage of Christians playing sport today are from the socalled missing generation, Elizabeth Hunt, communications manager at CIS, says.

Groups at universities and summer camps were key to supporting people. The momentum of the 2012 London Olympics was seeing more churches starting to view local sports communities as their “mission field”, she adds.

“We believe the key is to reach this age group where they are at.

Many people in their 20s or 30s won’t step foot inside a church and therefore it’s important we as Christians step boldly outside of the church grounds and get stuck into their worlds; be that at the local sports club, gym, pub, or music group. This is where we can share our lives and faith.”

COMMENT

David Kinnaman is the president and majority owner of Barna Group. He is author of bestselling books You Lost Me and unchristian. @DavidKinnaman

Finding faith in a new generation

Flickr by George Williams

by David Kinnaman

Many churches are struggling to find connection with the next generation of young adults.

Our research at Barna Group shows that among US Millennials (born between 1984 and 2002) who grew up in church, six in 10 (59 per cent) drop out of church involvement at some point in their 20s. A recent study conducted by Barna Global in Scotland reveals the UK dropout problem is even more severe: among unchurched Scots aged 18 to 24 half report they regularly went to church as a child or teenager. The pattern is even stronger among Scots who are 25 to 34 years old: nearly three out of five unchurched Scots in this age range were previously churched at some point during their life.

It’s easy to find ourselves worrying about the next generation. Sometimes those concerns are unfounded. Yet, in our book project You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith, our studies among this generation demonstrate how the Millennial generation in the West is discontinuously different from earlier generations. That’s because the cultural setting in which young people have come of age is significantly changed from what was experienced in the formative years of previous generations.

Few other generations of Christians have lived through a set of cultural changes so profound and lightning fast. Other generations of Christ-followers have endured much greater persecution. Others have had to sacrifice more to flourish or even to survive. But I doubt many previous generations have lived through as compounded and complicated a set of cultural changes as have today’s Christians in the West. The last 50 years have been a realtime experiment on the next generation, using free markets, media, advertising, technology, politics, sexuality, and so on as our lab tools. For example, popular culture has become a huge driver of religion for SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

Millennials—that is, teenagers and young adults take their cues about what to believe and how to live from today’s dominant sources of media input.

2.

Vocation. Millions of Christ-following teens and young adults are interested in serving in mainstream professions such as science, law, media, technology, education, law enforcement, military, the arts, business, healthcare, accounting, and dozens of others. Yet most receive little guidance from their church communities for how to connect these vocational dreams deeply with their faith in Christ. Can the Christian community prepare a new generation of professionals to be excellent in their calling and craft, yet humble and faithful where God asks them to serve?

3.

Wisdom. Young adults have access to more information than any other generation in human history, but many lack discernment for how to wisely apply that knowledge to their lives and world. Becoming wise is a lifetime process of deep transformation through faith in Christ, knowledge of God’s Word, living by the power of the Holy Spirit, and engaging in rich community with other believers.

How can the Christian community help young Christians live wisely in a culture of mental, emotional, and spiritual distraction?

The cultural experiment on younger believers continues, but we can already observe some of the results: fluidity, diversity, complexity, uncertainty. Today’s Millennials are being formed under the direct influence of these fast-paced changes.

Their expectations, values, behaviours, attitudes, and aspirations are being shaped in and by this context.

And the dropout numbers show that, like a Geiger counter under a mushroom cloud, the next generation is reacting to the radioactive intensity of social, technological, and religious changes. In most cases, we are sending them into the world unprepared to withstand the fallout. Too many are incapable of reasoning clearly about their faith and unwilling to take real risks for Christ’s sake.

These shortcomings are indicators of gaps in disciple making. There are three arenas where these gaps are in evidence—and where the church in the West has a Godgiven opportunity to rethink our ways of making disciples.

1.

Relationships. Young adults are highly relational in many respects. At the same time, 20somethings frequently feel isolated from their parents and other older adults in the realm of faith and spirituality. Many young people feel that older adults don’t understand their doubts and concerns, a prerequisite to rich mentoring friendships; in fact, a majority of young adults we interviewed report never having an adult friend other than their parents. Can the church rediscover the intergenerational power of the assembly of saints?

There are millions of young souls behind these numbers — very real young people who need our wise, biblical response to the trends. And, in fact, we are beginning to see local churches and committed families — and young leaders themselves — begin to work carefully and strategically to stem the tide of disengagement. Millennials are not merely the church of tomorrow, but the group of young adults through whom Christ intends to build his Kingdom here on earth today. barna.org

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21st CENTURY EVANGELICALS

I don’t see being involved in my neighbourhood as optional.

Jesus told us: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:36-38). But if we are honest, how many of us are really loving our next-door neighbours, or even know their names? And is there a difference between Millennials and other generations?

Are we good neighbours? is the latest research report in our 21st Century Evangelicals series and explores exactly this question – are evangelicals and their churches really loving their neighbours?

Our research has found that one in four are regularly supporting a neighbour who is lonely, frail or otherwise in need, while another quarter are actively welcoming newcomers to their area. Most people agreed that, despite the busyness of life, it is still reasonable to expect you would know your neighbours well. But just two per cent said they would turn to neighbours first for advice, whereas 65 per cent would turn to a church friend.

Three-quarters said they have prayed for their neighbour in the last three months, and almost two thirds have made it clear to a neighbour in the last three months that they are a committed Christian. More than a third are regularly joining with others to pray for their local community, and the majority are involved in at least one church social action or community project.

The findings show some interesting differences in the opinions and experiences of younger people (those born after 1980). Younger people are more likely to agree that “people in the UK are not as good neighbours as they used to be”, and also more likely to say that they tolerate living in their area and expect to move, rather than feeling happy and settled. They are also twice as likely as the wider panel to only return to their community to sleep because they spend most of their time elsewhere.

There are, however, Christians in their 20s and 30s who are passionate about their local communities. This includes Andy Walton from the Contextual Theology Centre, a charity which helps churches engage with their communities and campaign for social justice. He told us: “I don’t see being involved in my neighbourhood as optional.

The gospel involves caring about our neighbours, and though this doesn’t exclusively refer to those living near us, it certainly does include them too!”

Paul Rose agrees: “The story of the Good Samaritan challenged the cultural assumption of that time – that Jews should not associate with Samaritans. Today, in cities like London, it is loving your physical neighbour which is radical.”

Paul is passionate about the Angell Town estate in Brixton, south London, and plans to move there with others in September to build friendships and open their home to the community. He was warmly welcomed by St John the Evangelist, the Anglican church on the estate, and is inspired by their vicar Rev Rosemarie Mallett who is committed to building relationships locally and often walks the area, chatting with people and visiting local homes, shops and schools.

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Are we good

by Lucy Olofinjana

“The local Churches Together group in Brixton meets every week to pray together, and from this they’ve supported Street Pastors, established a foodbank, run collaborative youth activities, Alpha and 24/7 prayer throughout Lent, and are now planning to start a CAP debt advice centre. They’ve had a vision for a Christian community on the Angell Town estate for a while, and are so excited about our plans,” Paul explained.

Paul is also a local Street Pastor and loves this opportunity to be part of the community who are on the streets late at night. Paul regularly meets with other young Christians who are living as small Christian communities on estates, and said: “It’s so important that we pray for our communities.”

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It’s so important that we pray for our communities. four others to help, and the neighbour was so thrilled he handed them each a bottle of champagne as a thank you!” Another lady who is moving to Portsmouth has used Streetbank to find four people to help her move in, meaning she has already connected with people in her new community.

Sam suggests: “As Christians we often say we want to transform our communities, but forget that our street and our neighbours are a good place to start. We heard of a street where the neighbours now know each other and look out for each other’s needs, and it all started when one neighbour bought a bag of baby clothes for another when they had a baby. It grew into a tradition, with neighbours giving clothes and cooking for any new parents on the street.

“As Christians we have the ability to take our eyes off ourselves and look out for others.”

But, Sam adds, really committing to our communities may mean reassessing things: “I sometimes ask myself, to what extent am I willing to compromise some of my friendships outside of my local area to allow me to be more invested here?”

Visit eauk.org/snapshot to read the Are we good neighbours? report, order paper copies and access accompanying discussion questions.

Ways your church can encourage neighbourliness: •

Encourage people to get to know their neighbours and be generous to them

neighbours?

•

Ask people to sign up to the Neighbourhood Prayer Network, which aims to see every street in the UK covered by prayer – neighbourhoodprayer.net

•

Encourage people to use opportunities such as the Big Lunch to host parties on their street – thebiglunch.com

Sam Stephens is another young adult passionate about challenging the norm of “building a castle” and living isolated from those around us. The experience of getting to know his neighbours through sharing simple things like milk inspired Sam to set up Streetbank, a website allowing you to share things and skills with your neighbours.

Registering on the site enables you to see the requests and offers of others in your area who have registered, and also post information on local community activities.

•

Engage with the online community Streetbank which helps neighbours connect – streetbank.com/ church

•

Find out more about the Eden Network who support teams living in some of the toughest neighbourhoods in the UK – eden-network.org

•

Visit the Contextual Theology Centre’s online resources – theology-centre.org.uk

Sam is full of great stories of neighbours connecting with each other.

“Someone became friends with their elderly neighbour and saw they needed help with their garden. Through Streetbank they galvanised

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Hillsong:

church for a generation

by Chine Mbubaegbu

I met the team behind Hillsong over the summer – fresh-faced despite being fresh off planes from Down Under. They were in London for their conference, which attracted some 15,000 people at the O2 in London.

Hillsong conferences are huge and bring together church leaders from across the globe. At next year’s conference in Australia, for example, there will be the likes of Mark Driscoll, Rick Warren and Joseph Prince on the same platform. “We’re passionate about the Church with a big C,” says Brian Houston.

“This isn’t about looking at us and how great Hillsong is. It’s about encouraging others to be all that God has called us to be. Where there’s unity, God commands blessing.”

Part of the attraction of Hillsong for younger generations is the quality of their brand, image and marketing. Aesthetically, anything that comes out of Hillsong looks like something you might want to be a part of. But because of this, it often faces criticism for being far too image-conscious.

Wherever there is a Hillsong church around the world, you’ll find flocks of young people, full of zeal and utterly devoted to their church. How has the Hillsong brand hit the spot for the millennial generation?

A few months ago, I was on holiday, walking through the hustle and bustle of Time Square in New York and stumbled upon a long queue of young, trendy people. They seemed excited. Eagerly awaiting some celebrity or band’s appearance, I thought.

But this was late on a Sunday morning.

Curious, I walked to the front of the queue and saw that these young people were queuing for… church. Hillsong’s New York City offshoot is just like any other of its churches around the world. Young and vibrant, full of life and passion; and smiles.

Lots and lots of smiles.

Started in 1983 in Sydney’s Baulkham Hills by husband and wife team Brian and Bobbie Houston, the church has become a worldwide phenomenon; with churches in Kiev, Paris, Cape Town, Stockholm and Alliance member Hillsong London, to name a few.

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Over the years, Hillsong has become synonymous with some of the anthemic worship songs sung in churches of all types around the world today, including: Shout to the Lord, Mighty to Save, This Is My Desire and so many more. In recent years, as its popularity among millennials has grown, songs such as This I Believe: Creed re-interprets the Apostles’ Creed for a generation of young churchgoers at newer congregations who might not recite it on a regular basis.

But what is it about the church that has made it such a hit with so many and has even attracted the interest of Hollywood filmmakers who were granted full access to the church leadership team for an upcoming film? Warner Bros and Alcon Entertainment will release Hillsong: Let Hope Rise in 2015.

“I used to avoid the word brand,” Brian says. “I was so scared of it. But I think I have changed. I want us to have a strong brand: a brand that’s easily recognisable. I’m very intentional about the culture of our church and the parameters of that. We want to stay strong about who we are and what we’re about. I feel that ultimately it’s our calling to be very clear about who we are and what God has called us to do.”

With so many of its leadership team achieving almost celebrity status around the globe, is it easy for them to develop egos?

Brian says: “In our church, if you become a prima donna, or you attempt to, it’s just not cool. It wouldn’t fly. Some of it is just the Aussie way – not to let people get big heads.

I pray that we stay that way.”

Watch the trailer for the movie Hillsong: Let Hope Rise

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Does the Church get in the way of

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Romance?

by Danny Webster

Imagine a church where marriage was never easy but accessible to all who would seek it, and a church where for those who did not, their singleness did not reduce their worth or see them side-lined in the life of the church. A church where marriage or singleness was a real choice for all.

Imagine a church where the pressures of relationships is lessened, the opportunities welcomed and the expectations high enough to be exciting but matched with a realism that is rooted in knowledge and experience of what life is like for many people.

But for many that is hard to imagine because it is not a real choice, there are vastly more women in attendance at church services with surveys from the Evangelical Alliance showing there are nearly twice as many women as men in church, so many will either be married to someone outside the Church or single. There is a significant challenge for the church in making it a place where those who wish to get married are helped but not hurried, and those who don’t or are unsure are given a full role in the life of the church.

Last year idea addressed the question of whether evangelical churches were bad for singletons (July/August 2013) following research from Christian Connection that suggested the single Christian in evangelical churches “was more likely to disagree that singleness was a positive choice for them; and also felt less part of their churches than those from other denominations”.

What can the Church do in response to that, and how can it become a healthy place, where relationships can flourish and be nurtured, where marriage is held as important but neither to be rushed into nor idolised?

Speaking to friends about their experience of dating and relationships it’s clear that while there is plenty that is good and positive, it also has challenging aspects that are too often ignored or brushed under the carpet. Sarah* commented that in her early 20s “initially church was a massive help in getting married. It’s wholly encouraged to get married young and quickly and there are an abundance of people in youth groups and student groups who you could marry.

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However, if you ‘miss the boat’ and come out of university unmarried, I think you find yourself in a very different situation”.

She goes on to say that at 24 she moved and “asked which church contained all the people my age to find that none of them did and that people had either gone away to university and not come back or had married long ago”.

This experience is backed up by the survey Christian Connection conducted of single Christians where other difficult experiences were recounted. One said: “A problem I’ve experienced is the way any conversation between a single man and single woman in the church leads to ridiculous nudgenudge behaviour from others in the congregation. When I was younger this used to put unhelpful pressure on one of my much-needed platonic friendships with a guy, and made it much harder to behave and flirt naturally with the one guy who did

turn up on my radar.”

There appears to be a contradiction in how the Church handles dating and relationships.

Many want churches to be a place where they can develop relationships and be supported in them, but frequently find the culture and behaviour of people unhelpful.

Dave* commented: “The nudge-nudge pressure from the church doesn’t stop when you get married, the questions keep on coming and with them the expectation of what married life should look life, when are you having a baby? And then, are you having another? It places a lot of pressure and can be hard if you don’t fit that picture.”

Other respondents to the Christian Connection survey showed the other half of this tension, with one saying: “The Church seems to expect single people to ‘get on with it’ and get married but provides no opportunity for single men and women to interact, while at the same time stressing the

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could help end and unhelpful culture of speculation at the slightest hint of a nascent relationship. However, there are also many who would like churches to be a bit more proactive, and encourage a climate where dating and the formation of relationships can flourish. This could be the encouragement not to be passive if you’d like to be in a relationship, or the church putting on social events where single people, married people, young and old can get to know one another.

Jackie Elton, chief executive of Christian Connection commented: “People in church should be valued equally, regardless of status. The programmes, and accompanying publicity should be inclusive and balanced.

People should not be overwhelmed with pressure to get married or made to feel embarrassed about their status. Subjects around singleness and relationships should be addressed but in an enabling and nonfearful way.”

The Engage: making Christian marriage possible website, launched earlier this year, includes resources for churches seeking to address many of these problems. As well as seeking to raise awareness of the need for churches to address how they talk about and handle singleness and relationships in their congregation in order to provide a healthy environment. The coalition also wants to tackle the gender imbalance that is a cause of many of these challenges.

importance of purity and seemingly trying to keep single men and women apart.”

There is a desire for more talk from church leaders about relationships from the front, while less talk behind peoples’ backs. This

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Carl Beech, director of Christian Vision for Men, suggested that “the solution is simple; talk about these things. Share testimony of failings, rows and loneliness. Celebrate diversity in the Church. Create space for singles to meet and couples to share life. Talk openly about sex. Use humour, get real and get honest. The Bible is full of reality but church often creates an unreal holy bubble where babies miraculously appear and no one ever rows or fails.”

TURE

said: “Our vision is to make singleness or marriage a genuine choice for all Christian women and men, through a church which is gender-balanced and teaches about healthy Christian singleness, dating and marriage.

“Engage wants to facilitate action to help ‘make Christian marriage possible’, and this needs the whole Church to do three practical things: raise awareness of the current issues for men, women and children; redress the gender imbalance; and continually teach about healthy Christian singleness, dating and marriage - as issues that affect everyone.”

Engage engage-mcmp.org.uk CVM cvm.org.uk

Relationship Central relationshipcentral.org

Relationship Dilemma (book by Rachel Gardner & Andre Adefope relationshipdilemma.com

Romance Academy romanceacademy.org Single Christians – a website from Christian Connection singlechristians.co.uk

Adrian Chatfield, co-chair of Engage,

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BIG INTERVIEW

Leading a generation for Ten years ago Gavin Calver was a 24-yearold London Bible College graduate and the youngest ever member of Youth For Christ’s (YFC) leadership team – at the time holding the position of assistant director of church resources. He was also named in the ‘Magnificent Seven’ feature of young leaders to watch in idea May/ June 2004 edition.

A decade on and he’s national director of Youth For Christ – a position he has held since April 2009. Richard Woodall caught up with him about being a young leader and discipleship among younger generations…

“I think we’re a bit like British Gas, we’re something the Church might not want but they have to have. At church I am always asked how we should get more young people. I always say, ‘Do you want more young people, or young-looking old people’? Because I think a lot of places don’t want the change young people bring about.”

Gavin Calver seems sure about one thing: the Church needs to get with the programme. And that programme is making sure the needs of young people are met; and that when teenagers and 20-somethings do come through the doors of a church, they don’t leave again a few months later.

What strikes me too about the work of the Youth For Christ (YFC) movement is not just that the organisation has a long-term view, but that it offers something distinctively different from similar parachurch organisations seeking to bring the kingdom of God into the lives of young people.

“Other youth organisations do far more ‘mountaintop moments’,” he says. “There’s nothing wrong with that, we do some of them but not as many. Where I would say YFC is different is that we’re on the ground working with young people every day. At YFC, everything we do has to either demonstrate the good news and love of Jesus, declare the good news of Jesus, or see decisions to follow Jesus made, and we want to disciple people too. If it’s one of those four things, and ideally a couple, well that’s how we make sure it’s Youth for Christ.”

As Calver adds, part of his role upon joining YFC was to reposition it to work with the Church far more than it historically had been.

Whereas a lot of Christian organisations run events for young people, YFC see themselves as ‘incarnational’, working with around 250,000 young people a month - whether that be in schools, prisons, or young offenders’ courtrooms.

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Such scope allows for a lot of time investment; something which is not always easy to see the fruits of immediately.

“I think we judge whether our work has been a success at too early an age in young people,” said Calver. “People get very excited about their 14 or 17-year-old going to church; that’s great, I don’t want to take away from that, but show me them when they are 25.

“In reality, if you love Jesus when you’re 25 years old, you’re not likely to walk away. “When I took over leading YFC, our constitutional age was 11-18 but I changed it to 7-25, because a young person includes someone up to the age of 25. That’s the government measure.

“At 25 you’re not going to give up the faith because you don’t like the worship, you’ll just go to a different church. Whereas at the age of 17, you might give up. Our vision is that by 2020 we reach a million young people every month. That would be 15 per cent of Britain’s teenagers.

“According to secular research, if you reach 15 per cent of the demographic, you have the ability to transform the culture.”

Part of quadrupling the reach of YFC in the next six years has included the launch of the RE:quest website. Material is provided to help schools explore and learn about Christianity in religious education with a raft of multimedia content.

Jesus The strength of Youth for Christ, supporters say, lies in its ability to be both a pioneer and an innovator. It will celebrate 70 years as a movement in 2016.

“We’re constantly changing the style. We’ve launched street dance recently; I couldn’t be less into street dance but it’s great for young people. We don’t care about the method, because the method changes like the wind.

“We never claim to be the best at anything, but we are brave and we will go first.”

Ten years ago, Youth for Christ worked with Alton Towers to place a feature called The Crux at the theme park’s Gothic Tower chapel; a project which used technology and creativity to help young people think about their faith. It had four years of use at the Staffordshire theme park.

Going back further, some 36 years ago, leaders at Youth for Christ felt Christians weren’t coming together enough to worship God, so a residential was planned. It’s now known as Spring Harvest.

Calver says: “One of the things we find with young people is that when they come to faith it is totally transformative. There’s not much nominal Christianity among teenagers. But then they might go to church and meet people for whom Jesus is just some kind of random friend - not everything. I think it’s a challenge that if the older church is not on fire, it puts teenagers off.

“If the older church is not on fire, it puts teenagers off.”

“Too many leaders say no one is feeding me; you’ve got to feed yourself. I was asked recently by a leader ten years older than me as to what my biggest frustration with our generation of Christian leaders was. I said: ‘Ten years ago, a load of us wanted to change the world, but ten years on a lot of my contemporaries are more interested in the Ikea catalogue than in changing the world’. As you get older, you have to fight becoming safe.”

Gavin Calver is a member of the Alliance’s Council, is on the leadership team for Spring Harvest and runs the youthwork programme at New Wine. His wife Anne is associate minister at King’s Community Church, Oldbury, West Midlands. yfc.co.uk We caught up with the rest of the young leaders we featured in the Magnificent Seven article in 2004. Where are they now?

Read more about them on eauk.org/idea/magnificentseven

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COMMENT

What keeps you in church?

Young adults in their 20s and 30s are rapidly leaving the Church as they see faith as simply no longer relevant to them. According to the most recent English Church Census, only three out of every 100 people in their 20s attend church. We asked our threads community about the reasons they have stayed in church….

Claire Jones: “I go to a small group every fortnight, with up to 9 of us, all from very different ages and different backgrounds.

Every other Thursday afternoon, I leave work feeling reluctant to go - I’m tired, I want to slump in front of Netflix, or at least go to the pub with people more like me.

But as soon as I walk in the door of the vicarage where my small group meets, and I’m welcomed with “Claire, great to see you! Come and get some dinner. How was your day?” I feel like I’ve come home.

These people love me. They remember to ask about things that are important to me, they share their own lives over dinner and we look at the Bible together. We genuinely celebrate each other’s joy and share each other’s burdens. That’s Church. That’s relevant to me.”

Caleb Woodbridge: “For all the criticism it gets, I actually quite enjoy church. Not always, of course. Sometimes church can be quite run-of-the-mill and I don’t feel particularly connected to God. It can sometimes be a bit of a bubble and feel disconnected from my everyday life. Other people can let me down. But even when I don’t enjoy it, I know that it’s good for me to be there. The point isn’t primarily for it to please and entertain me, but to be in community with other Christians, which is an exciting, demanding, frustrating but often wonderful thing.

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Why do I keep going? To worship God with other people. To be part of a local community of Christians. To hear the Bible taught and preached so I can be encouraged and challenged. To have opportunities to serve others. Church is full of imperfect people with messy lives - myself included.

We have the treasure of his Spirit in us like jars of clay, and the cracks in us are how his light gets out.”

Claire Bradshaw: “I totally agree with Claire Jones in terms of the important of small groups. My small group means the world to me. My church as a whole and the national and international Church also mean a lot to me too though. In terms of loving and serving God, church is the main place that encourages me and enables me to do that.

It’s not perfect, but I’m there to serve God through it and that’s what keeps me there.”

Celeste: “I believe God has called us to be community, to be family to each other. Often that family is dysfunctional and not always fun. But I have stuck it out because God has not called me to another church. My child is settled there and that matters deeply. And so I stay. Sometimes I pray God will lead me elsewhere, that He will offer me a new home, a new branch of the family where I might ‘fit’ better. But for now I stay because he calls me to commit not only to him, but to his family.

Maybe church doesn’t often do a lot for me, but maybe there is something God calls me to offer.

Also, I am continually [aware] that I need to be more humble and less arrogant than thinking I know how church ‘should’ be, and thinking that there is nothing my current church can teach me. It may not be my preferred flavour but if I turn up with an open heart, there is usually a bite of something to chew over.”

Nick Tayler: “What kept me in was the community. I became a Christian around my 17th birthday and I did have a period of time when I was 20/21 where I drifted away from church because I no longer felt included.

After I had moved into my own house, God prompted me to go back to church and when I go now, I feel so valued instantly.

I was being invited to all sorts of things that were going on and people seemed to actually care about me.

It’s something that I have never forgotten. I am where I am today because those people took an interest in me. They are now people I consider very good friends and can barely remember my life before coming to my current church. It’s always worth being welcoming to new people and having time for them.” threadsuk.com eauk.org/supportthreads

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THEOLOGY

Greg Haslam: senior pastor at Westminster Chapel, London

1. You need a great family – no one can live the Christian life entirely on their own.

The best churches have lots of switchedon people, who laugh, talk, help, inspire, and love us. The alternative is to live like an orphan.

Do I really need to go to church?

by Greg Haslam

Loads of people, including many of the younger generation who have grown up in church, have ‘ditched’ the Church as an obsolete relic from a bygone age – outdated, irrelevant, decrepit, boring. But if we take Jesus seriously, he took 12 tough men to a place called Caesarea Philippi ‘up north’ in Galilee, where false-god mini-statues were displayed in rocky alcoves, and worshipped by local pagans.

US Pastor Bill Hybels declares: “The Church is the hope of the world.” I totally agree with him. There’s no other way God’s great good news will ever get out, so lives can be rescued, fools can become wise, losers turn into winners, dead souls can come alive, and life can truly be worth living, without the agency of Christ’s Church in every place on our planet. Which is why I passionately love Jesus’s Church.

Jesus then quizzed them about who they thought he really was (Matthew16:13-20), a pivotal moment in Jesus’s earthly mission.

After some wacky suggestions, which were all wrong, Peter blurted out: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” Jesus not only praised him for this insight, but declared the awesome truth that he would build his Church on it. We can’t love Jesus, and despise his Church.

So why would anyone want to ignore it?

Well, for the embarrassing reasons I listed.

All of which can be remedied by radical surgery, explosive truth, Holy Spiritempowered believers, bold actions, and faithful uncompromising leaders who’ll do what Jesus tells them to do. We don’t need any more wimps, sceptics, hypocrites, child molesters, or ‘wimpy’ clerics too scared to challenge compromise that destroy churches, in Jesus’s name.

Jesus then affirmed the Church’s permanent existence by adding: “And the gates of Hell will not overcome it.”

The Church of Christ is eternal, indestructible, and absolutely essential for everything God has in mind for the world’s future. In fact it’s Jesus’s plan A to save the nations, and our ageing planet. He has no plan B. But not a lot of people know that.

Coca Cola, McDonalds, Nike and Apple have gone to places where the gospel hasn’t.

Without the Church it never will. You and I are essential to God’s plan for billions of lives.

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We’re all called to be loyal followers of Jesus, who will follow him anywhere. When Jesus is working with us, he empowers our words, arranges miracle signs, wonders and healings, liberates ‘haunted’ people from demonic powers, then transforms broken lives through the holy triad of words, works and wonders. If you’ve never seen, or been a part of churches like that, I pity you. But they absolutely do exist.

It is absolutely vital that you not only ‘go to church’, but commit to it, sacrificing your life to see it succeed and grow. Here’s why:

2. Your life needs to change – the Bible taught fearlessly, truthfully, and honestly

by God’s gifted preachers, in ways that shatter and repair us regularly, will also ultimately be the making of you. Abandon drivel. Get God’s truth!

3. You need special people – some of whom you may not like at first. But over time, your prejudices will change, and you’ll discover you can’t live without them. You were never meant to.

4. You can’t live only for yourself – great churches train us to ‘wise up’, dump selfishness, think about others, grow, and discover our spiritual gifts, so we can impact people’s lives. This can’t happen anywhere else. Jesus planned this.

5. You need to ‘belong’ – we all do. Jesus insisted that this starts with ‘the normal Christian birth’ (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-20; Acts 2:38-47) – Running from sin. Faith in Jesus. Baptism to ‘drown’ the old you, then rising from the dead to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and ‘grafted’ into Jesus’s Church. Only ‘fools’ miss out on all that.

6. You need to train for your big fight – It’s the greatest fight in the world. You’ve signed up. You’re now in the ‘war zone’.

You get to do some damage to Jesus’s darkest enemies – simply by being real, speaking truth, sharing good news, ‘praying up a storm’, saying ‘Yes!’ to Christ’s orders, and ‘No’ to Satan’s lies. Want to become a hero? Join a church.

7. You need to make your life count – Nobody ever fully discovers God’s plans for them by ‘dissing’ God’s Church. His plan needs friends, and a lifetime to unfold. So love and serve what Christ most loves - His Church. He chose us. He ‘paid on the nail’ for us. He wants our lives to count for something – in time, and eternity. God’s Church is where it’s at.

Get connected.

COMMENT

Where are all the history-makers?

I was a teenager in the 90s and, like many of my generation, was deeply inspired by the faith and escapades of some leaders that were younger than our parents, but older than us. They were visionaries who shifted the culture of the Church and touched the world around them.

In particular I am thinking of Martin Smith (and his cohorts in Delirious), Pete Greig of 24/7, Mike Pilavachi of Soul Survivor and Andy Hawthorne of The Message Trust.

All four are still active in leadership today, continuing to inspire and bear fruit for the kingdom.

The enterprises that they spearheaded were almost instrumental in rejuvenating enthusiasm for worship, prayer, youth ministry and mission in the UK Church community. They helped us as a generation wake up and take our faith and lifestyle seriously. We were told we were historymakers, and I believed it.

Fast-forward to today. I am now in my early 30s. I look around and wonder, where are the pioneers of my peer group? Is it just me that wonders whether we really are that ‘historymaking’ generation?

I could easily list cynical reasons why we are not producing the kind of leaders that blaze a trail like those I mentioned earlier. It seems a lot of people have come in the wake of the pioneers – for every Martin Smith there is a Tim Hughes; Mike Pilavachi an Andy Croft, and so on.

Looking across the pond you can see there’s something different in the water. The likes of Shaine Clayborne, Jeff Bethke and the whole Jesus Culture movement have caught the imagination of many young evangelicals. It’s hard to see the same level of fresh thinking among young leaders in the UK. However, just because it’s hard to see, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. There are some amazing people of our generation who have found more niche places to excel.

I’m thinking of what Josh Stannard and his team at Doxa are doing with Christ Centred Fashion – it’s totally inspiring and unlike anything else I’ve seen. The same can be said of how Andy Baker and Resound Media have built amazing links with the mainstream music scene, and Christian musicians are touring with some of the biggest artists in the world.

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by Dave Griffiths

Dave Griffiths.

Is it just me that wonders whether we really are that ‘historymaking’ generation?

Talking to Martin Smith recently was eyeopening on the whole movement in the 1990s. He reflected how no one set out to be a ‘pioneer’ at the time – but that they were innocently pursuing God with no agenda.

It was only later people looked back at the journey and decided to put labels on things.

Martin wondered whether today people set out to do something ‘pioneering’, which almost never truly achieves the intended goal.

Are we guilty of being both too intentional and ambitious as a generation, and also suffering from a lethargy and cynicism that kills off passion? We mustn’t kid ourselves, we are in a different landscape than 20 years ago. We’ve never had so much access to information, literally in the palm of our hands. We are almost paralysed by choice and suffocated by a slew of opinions on every topic under the sun. It’s hard to think clearly in this noisy, digital world. We expect everything to happen so quickly – I know I’m guilty of this. Do we have the diligence,

patience and innocence that marks out the leaders of our younger days? Are we prepared to sacrifice comfort and allow God to mess with our plans? Are we, the ‘selfie’ generation, capable of working together and seeing past our little universes we are busily furnishing?

Believe it or not, I am actually a relentless optimist. I believe that we, as a generation, are yet to have our finest hour. But, there is still much to celebrate. I believe that the fences surrounding the Church culture cul-de-sac are being pulled down. We are leading and pioneering, but not in the obvious, almost celebrity way it was done by our big brothers and sisters. Maybe we are happier just getting on with it, quietly – not needing a stage or publishing deal to prove it? I meet a lot of people who are most definitely pioneering, but would be embarrassed to be put in the spotlight. We don’t have to do it the same way it was done in the past – and for that reason I think we should take the pressure off ourselves and just keep going after that which God has put on our hearts.

Dave lives in Bournemouth with his wife Jess and three children. A musician for a living, Dave is doing his bit with Chaos Curb, a network of young adults passionate about generous and creative evangelism. chaos-curb.com Twitter: @davegriff IDEA MAGAZINE / 31

IDEA-LIST

Chine Mbubaegbu, head of media and communications

Four things you’ll find in an all-age church

by Chine Mbubaegbu

1. Complaints about music

3. Some amazing dance moves

You’d think they were sitting in a rock concert right by the speakers in a gig at Wembley Stadium with the danger of their eardrums perforating, the way some – ahem – older people complain about the sound levels in church. For some of the more skinny-jean wearing muso band leaders, senior citizens in the congregation who moan week-in-week-out about Just How Loud the sung worship is are the bane of their lives. They just can’t win. They’re just trying to inject a bit of the spirit into the worship, man, to soak us all in the presence. But let’s spare a thought for those of us who would prefer church to be more restful than rave-up. We’re all brothers and sisters in Christ, so let’s look after each other’s eardrums.

Ever actually stopped and looked around while Father Abraham Had Many Sons, or My God Is So Big So Strong and So Mighty, or The Name of the Lord Is A Strong Tower (everybody!) are being sung at church? Or how about Lord of the Dance, or I Will Dance, I Will Sing To Be Mad For My King? It’s only in all-age churches that anyone would dare to worship to such songs-with-actions. Let’s face it, we all look absolutely ridiculous. But hey, we’ll do it like David did it. And in all-age churches you can always grab a kid and pretend like you’re doing it for them, which always makes things a bit less awkward.

2. Lots of babysitters When your church has gone through yet another baby boom, it’s comforting for all parents to know that with just a quick flick through the church directory, they have ready and willing babysitters – most likely teenagers keen for some pocket money; or young and older people who are happy to look after the little ones and catch some sneaky coochie-coo baby-loving. Just like the early Church shared everything they had, churches with members of different generations benefit from sharing the joy of babysitting.

4. Family In a church full of people from different ages, you won’t be short of images that’ll warm the cockles of your heart. From great grandmothers cooing over newborn babies, to middle-aged members mentoring people starting out in their careers and their walks with God. You’ll see teenagers helping out in crèche and old men and women whispering wise words to young ones. You’ll see young people, full of energy, helping their older brothers and sisters in Christ out with their gardening and shopping. What an amazing picture of God’s family.

Got any more? Tweet @idea_mag with the hashtag #AllAgeChurch IDEA MAGAZINE / 32

F REVIEWS TURE

Books of a generation

THE BIG EGO TRIP

CITIZEN

by Glynn Harrison (IVP)

by Rob Peabody (Lion Hudson)

There are not many books that everyone should read, but this is definitely one of them. The Big Ego Trip is a stunning expose of the self-esteem movement and its pervasive impact on British culture. Harrison, who is Emeritus professor of psychiatry at Bristol University, shows how boosting people’s self-esteem in order to solve social ills has failed spectacularly. Covering the origins of the movement, how it has been shown to have failed and why, he also shows how Christians have unthinkingly adopted its teaching. He offers a robust biblical alternative in which self-worth is only to be found in our identity as children of God.

On a balcony overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, Rob Peabody’s soul awakens to just what it is to be a true follower of Christ.

Already leading a mega-church in Texas, he senses God’s spirit awakening him to stir up a generation to not be satisfied with the status quo. And so the Awaken Movement is born. Citizen tells the story of a generation, gripping the reader right from the start; drawing us in to the passion to move on, grow and see lives transformed. As citizens and ambassadors for the kingdom, we’re also stirred up through Peabody’s words to play our part in this big, exciting, scary, risky story.

Reviewed by Amanda Pilz

Reviewed by Chine Mbubaegbu

YOU LOST ME

BLUE LIKE JAZZ

by David Kinnaman (Baker Books)

By Don Miller (Thomas Nelson)

“To become a parent, is to promise you’ll love prodigals.” As my wife moves into her third trimester, these words from James KA Smith frighten us. They act as a scrubbing brush to the mirage of our next 20 years of perfect parenting. The same story applies to millennials, or as Mr Kinnaman calls them, Mosaics. How then do we deal with absent Mosaics? Look for the silver lining: “A culture of scepticism, is a culture of questions, and questions can lead to conversations, relationships and truth.” God works in every generation. You Lost Me encourages us to look for where God is at work among a generation of creative upstarts who don’t settle for mediocre lives.

Don Miller’s writing is breathtaking. And in this classic book, he speaks the heart cries of a generation that is trying to make faith work in a postmodern society that calls for us to see things a little differently. A master storyteller, this book is full of Miller’s beautiful phrases and poetic truths. Subtitled Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, the book is a collection of essays and personal reflections detailing his journey towards an understanding of the nature of God. It is a favourite among many Christians in their 20s and 30s and is why it has sold more than two million copies worldwide and been adapted into a film. Read this to understand the thoughts of many of the young people in your congregation.

Reviewed by Thomas McConaghie

Reviewed by Chine Mbubaegbu

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CULTURE

Holly Price is a writer with Damaris, which provides free resources for Damaris Film Clubs as well as the Damaris Film Blog.

See damaris.org/filmclubs and damaris.org/filmblog

Created for connection Never has a generation had more opportunity to connect with people, and yet we millennials are as well-known for our detachment from society as we are for our attachment to social networks. In his unique drama Her, set in a not-too-distant future, Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, 1999; Adaptation, 2002) asks how a connectionfixated culture can isolate its population.

Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is well-acquainted with faux forms of intimacy. He writes for a company called BeautifulHandwrittenLetters.com, creating personalised love letters on behalf of clients.

Away from the office, he (like everyone else) lives in a technological cocoon, using an earpiece and mobile device that provides entertainment and communication. At home, he shares banter with characters in virtual games and has cybersex with strangers he ‘meets’ in chatrooms.

Amid the final throes of a divorce, a lonely Theodore makes an impulse buy: a new piece of computer software. When he downloads this artificially intelligent operating system (OS), he chooses a female voice and, after a brief series of questions, a tailor-made OS says: “Hello, I’m here” (in Scarlett Johansson’s vivacious tones).

Samantha – as the OS names herself – is designed to evolve to better serve Theodore. She begins by deftly managing all of his administrative needs. Then she moves on to analysing the intonation of his voice and the contents of his inbox to discern further, deeper needs. The scope of their conversations expands, inspired by Samantha’s fresh view of the world.

When Samantha asks about Theodore’s marriage, he says: “There’s something that IDEA MAGAZINE / 34

feels so good about sharing your life with somebody.” She replies: “What does it mean to share your life with somebody?” As man and OS develop feelings for one another, they attempt to share every thought.

Theodore even puts his mobile in his breast pocket, so that Samantha can walk with him and can see what he sees.

Samantha is constantly available to him and she seems to completely understand him. But, are her feelings real or just programming? And what will happen when she evolves beyond the remit of Theodore’s personal assistant? Precocious software isn’t the only complication; the eminently human neuroses that ended Theodore’s marriage creep into this romance as well. “I think I hid myself from her,” he explains of his ex-wife, “left her alone in the relationship.”

The concept of never truly being known was crucial to Jonze’s vision for this film. He told The Independent: “To have an intimate relationship with somebody [requires] a leap of faith. Even after years you don’t really ever know how they see or think about the world.”

What makes us hide ourselves from the people we love? If we are anything like Theodore, fear keeps us from committing to sharing our lives with them in earnest.

We fear that they might not understand or approve of our vantage point. We fear that they might outgrow us, or that we might outgrow them. We fear that revealing all our secrets might leave us all alone.

Technology can be our defence mechanism.

Always available, we need never feel bereft of company. “Hello, I’m here,” chirrups our mobile, ready to meet our every need, anywhere. In our online communities, we can personalise our profiles or avatars to

Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix).

show only the best version of ourselves. We touch base with the many by commenting on their photos, rather than genuinely engaging with the few. This is not to say that social media can’t be a communityenhancing tool, or provide an introduction that develops into a real relationship. But, those of us looking online for intimacy – to truly know someone and be known by them – are likely to find a counterfeit.

Early on in the film, Theodore goes on a blind date. He confides in Samantha afterwards, that he’d thought, “maybe [a one-night stand] would fill this tiny little hole inside me, but probably not”. Might we be able to speak into the emptiness caused by counterfeit loves, redirecting people to the only one who can meet our deepest need? Theodore’s only real friend Amy (Amy Adams) tells him: “We are only here briefly.

And while we’re here, I want to allow myself joy.” We have a gospel that can fill the void with the joy of being completely known and completely loved.

How do we deliver this message to this millennial generation? Paul’s Thessalonian approach can still speak volumes: “Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well” (1 Thessalonians 2:8).

Her is out now on DVD. Holly Price is a writer with Damaris, which provides free resources for Damaris Film Clubs as well as the Damaris Film Blog. See damaris. org/filmclubs and damaris.org/filmblog.

CHARTS

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F

TURE

Eight innovative ways churches are reaching the ‘missing generation’

by Lucy Cooper

A café

Connecting with culture

Sam’s café, run by Westminster Chapel, serves young adults with quality barista-style coffee and homemade baked goods. It’s a perfect place to hang on a Sunday afternoon to meet new people, have a laugh or complete the assignment due Monday morning. Coffee enthusiasts get excited and the sporty types will go play basketball in the sports hall.

A former Methodist chapel in Polzeath became Tubestation, a surf church and art centre. With an aim to remove the barriers often associated with church and connect with surfers, skaters and young people to let them see God. As passionate surfers themselves they understand the culture and communicate in accessible language, making church a welcoming place.

Influencing spheres

Festivals

New and rapidly growing Latimer Minster is attracting a vibrant congregation from across Buckinghamshire.

During the week missional communities are filled with young adults keen to express and live out their faith in the sphere they feel called to. One encourages people who work in business or are starting new businesses to set up prayer groups in workplaces and to influence colleagues. Another is made up of young creative types, based in High Wycombe, who express their faith through the arts and music. They bring new community ideas together.

Many churches like St Aldate’s in Oxford with their May festival for students, will go that bit further to make an event of the year for students and 20s. Other churches hold community festivals for all ages but primarily ask young adults to be involved or to organise them to ensure a wide variety of people come and have fun together. It could be summer BBQs, fetes or tournaments – all ways to involve the local community and have fun too.

Space for worship

Lorna Macdonald was inspired by First Friday in London, then the Glasgow Collective was born. Simply social in its concept, the collective creates space for 20s and 30s across the city to connect in a fun, relaxed setting.

Gatherings at pubs or bars are designed to make it easy for people to invite friends and colleagues to, prioritising belonging before belief.

St Mark’s, Milton Keynes have life groups that are specifically created to serve those in their 20s and early 30s. This is combined with Tuesday evening gatherings.

St Francis church in Salisbury hosts Awakenings, a community of people in their 20s and 30s meeting together each Wednesday to make space for creative and engaging worship and for talking about God, faith and life in relevant and honest ways. Churches such as St George’s in Leeds have a specific service aimed at the 18–30 age group.

University outreach

Developing and discipleship

Open Heaven Church in Loughborough set up a chillout room in the university’s student union every Friday night. Volunteers, mostly young adults themselves, sit with students who might have had a bit too much to drink. Water, biscuits, help and chats flow freely – and the odd sick-bucket is on hand. The church also has a good relationship with the university welfare team.

More and more churches are beginning to realise the need to address the challenge to stay relevant in an era where things are so rapidly changing. Acknowledging the need for young adults to be discipled and stretched, Open Heaven emphasises mentoring and discipleship. St Paul’s, Howell Hill in Cheam, are launching a new service with an alternative, more modern style of worship and developing peer-led life groups so accountability, support and the study of scripture can grow.

A collective

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LETTERS: HAVE YOUR SAY

In your words

heard in tweets @TiptonFamChurch Sent off our annual renewal for @EAUKnews membership.

We’re happy to belong to such a great organisation.

We love hearing from you, so have your say on any of the issues raised in idea or make any comments about the Evangelical Alliance by emailing idea@eauk.org

@ChristExplored Pray for our good friends @EAUKnews & @thegoodbookuk as they launch an exciting new outreach resource: Discovering Jesus through Asian eyes.

GOD’S GLORIOUS PLAN

encouragement. It is the equivalent of you cheering us on in our battles; reminding us that this issue matters and that faithfulness matters. Conversely, seeing any professing evangelicals switch to an affirming position, or merely saying it is an area of legitimate disagreement among evangelicals is a huge discouragement to us, the equivalent of telling us we needn’t bother fighting on.

So it was a huge blessing to see you guys take the stance you did. I know it gave you no pleasure to. But doing so gives us added resolve to keep living for Christ. This comes with huge appreciation, and with every best wish.

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Sam Allberry, Maidenhead

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Thank you, idea, for two excellent contrasting articles seeking to give a Christian view on how we should confront and tackle poverty and what should be the role of the state. I found them challenging and enlightening. It caused me to reflect that in the current age Christians and the Church are here to demonstrate in words, deeds and service what God’s kingdom is all about (Matthew 24:14). Though the degree to which we will change society as a whole will vary, we shouldn’t be discouraged if we only seem to be making a marginal impact because until Christ returns “the whole world is under the control of the Evil One” (1 John 5:19). On Christ’s return for the 1,000-year reign of the saints with him (Revelation 20; Daniel 7), we’ll be able to do far more and fulfil Isaiah’s prophecies of justice for the poor (11:3f ), but the ongoing presence of fallen human nature (Revelation 20:7-10) will still limit us. It will be after that, in the new heavens and earth, that God’s glorious plan for mankind in harmony with him will find wonderful fulfilment. Realising this is a powerful stimulus to me (a retired lifelong civil servant) to do my utmost for His kingdom. I will be able to achieve what I’ve always striven to do. Lord, “Your Kingdom come.”

Jim Shaw, Derby OASIS DECISION I want to thank the Evangelical Alliance for the recent stance you took on Oasis. I know this will have been a very painful decision to arrive at, and a very costly one in terms of putting you all in the firing line of criticism.

I know there was a huge amount of flak that resulted from it. But for those of us battling same-sex attraction such decisions on the part of the Alliance are a huge

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

THE PROBLEM WITH NOAH Holly Price’s comment (July/August) draws attention to the problem many have with the story of Noah. Noah and the Flood gets mentioned at several places in the Bible (Genesis, Kings, Psalms, Isaiah, Matthew, Luke and Peter). Yet so many doubt the reality of the event - a global flood having occurred quite recently. But isn’t the evidence for the Flood all around us? As Psalm 104 reminds us - the waters stood above the mountains, but at God’s rebuke they went down into the valleys. That retreat of the waters happening so quickly (seven months according to Genesis) shaped our landscape. Geomorphology (the study of our landscape) hits a blank wall when it attempts to explain what we see around us because it does not want to acknowledge that Genesis records real history. Price recognises the questions which many people focus on as - do we understand the God who allowed such a catastrophic Flood? - can only be answered after we acknowledge the reality of the year-long global event. Otherwise we put the cart before the horse.

Editor Chine Mbubaegbu – idea@eauk.org Assistant editor Richard Woodall Consulting editors Steve Morris, Krish Kandiah Contributing writers Lucy Cooper, Lucy Olofinjana , Amanda Pilz, Holly Price, Daniel Webster

Design & Print Cliffe Enterprise idea is published bi-monthly and sent free of charge to members of the Evangelical Alliance. Formed in 1846, the Alliance’s mission is to unite evangelicals to present Christ credibly as good news for spiritual and social transformation. There are around two million evangelical Christians in the UK, according to a 2007 Tearfund survey. idea is published in accordance with the Alliance’s Basis of Faith, although it is impossible in every article to articulate each detail and nuance of belief held

by Alliance members. Articles in idea may therefore express views on which there is a divergence of opinion or understanding among evangelicals.

Letters and story ideas from members are welcome, and will be considered by the editorial board, which reserves the right to edit letters and stories for length and style. We regret that we are unable to engage in personal correspondence. Unsolicited material will only be returned if accompanied by a stamped, selfaddressed envelope.

idea accepts advertisements and inserts to offset printing costs. Advertising in idea does not imply editorial endorsement. The Alliance reserves the right to accept or refuse advertisements at its discretion.

Articles may be reproduced only with permission from the editor.

Dr J Matthews, Wareham IDEA MAGAZINE / 37

LAST WORD

Steve Clifford the general director, writes…

A better way?

Having passed the bus station in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, just minutes before the bomb went off killing 88 people and injuring more than 200, it caused me to ask the ‘what if?’ question.

Not so much ‘what if?’ my family and I had left a little later that morning, although that had crossed my mind, but ‘what if’ on a global scale.

As we watch and read the news, one can’t help but be struck by the worldwide impact of radical violent Islam - Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, I could go on – and of course, closer to home, New York, London, Woolwich. Radical Muslim groups are now part of our daily news diet. Al Qaeda, Boko Haram and Isis, vie with each other in their war, not only in the West but also with fellow Muslims as Sunnis and Shias embark upon what increasing looks like an Islamic civil war. Hundreds of thousands have died – mainly civilians - millions have been displaced, living in makeshift camps and hoping for safety.

Way back on 11 September 2001, two planes were flown into the World Trade Centre (a total of four planes were crashed that day) and almost four years later, four bombs went off in the London transport system.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in these two attacks. So back to the ‘what if’ question.

What if president George Bush and prime Minister Tony Blair, rather than declaring a war on terror, had found it in their hearts not to re-pay evil with evil? What if they had brought a leadership modelled on the life and teaching of Jesus and ‘turned the other cheek’? What if, at these key moments of history, they had reached out to moderate Muslim leaders, both political and religious?

Our 20s and 30s initiative threadsuk.com often asks the question – what is the better way? Through articles, interviews and events, they seek not to solely critique the Church or wider culture, but to ask: what IDEA MAGAZINE / 38

is the better way, what is the alternative?

So here I ask, could a better way have been found than the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and numerous other operations around the world which have mobilised a generation of young Muslim freedom-fighters and left us with a legacy of mistrust and conflict which could continue for decades? ‘What if’ the governments of the West, most notably the US and Britain, rather than investing billions of dollars into weapons of war, had invested in healthcare, education, vital infrastructure and good governments in some of the poorest nations and among the poorest people who are so often vulnerable to extremism?

In his book The Reason for Suffering, Tim Keller recounts the events of October 2006 when a gunman took hostages in a one room school house of an Amish community in Lancaster county Pennsylvania. The lone gunman, having shot 10 victims, five of whom died were aged seven to 13, then killed himself. Keller records: “Hours after the suicide/murders, members of the Amish community visited the killer’s parents and expressed sympathy for their loss and support for the hard days ahead.

When the gunman was buried a few days later, his young widow and three children were amazed to discover that half of those

attending the funeral were Amish, who showed nothing but support and concern for the murderer’s family… the forgiveness and love shown by the Amish community towards the shooter and his family was the talk of the entire country. The way they handled their suffering had been a powerful testimony to the truth of their faith and the grace and glory of their God.” So, ‘what if’ faced with the appalling actions of a small group of Muslim extremists, in initiating the events we now know as 9/11 and 7/7, two Christian countries had been more ‘Christian’ in their response? Could another kind of ‘war on terror’ have been fought - perhaps an effective one? Certainly the death toll would have been lower, the recruitment of Jihad fighters would’ve been reduced and I dare to suggest the world would have been a safer place.

As I write this piece, the great words of Jesus echo in my ears “blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God”. If ever there was a time for the ‘peacemakers’ it is now. Let’s pray that globally leaders will emerge who will be peacemakers in our generation, and let’s act so that in whatever sphere of influence we find ourselves, we will be known as those who look for another way – the way of the peacemakers.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

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