'Fear them!' 'Exclude them!' 'Ignore them and they'll go away!' These may have been past attitudes of churches towards adolescents. But when we try to empathize, welcome and love them, we'll find sometimes scared, sometimes angry, often bewildered nearly-adults bursting to rebel.
A young person comprises a fascinating set of contradictions, sneers and tears, changing beliefs, high adventure and risk-taking hope. Here are some principles and ideas to help engage, energise and envision young people as they start the tough journey towards adulthood.
Children's Ministry provides a wide range of resources and training for church-based children's workers, including:
- undated, activity-based, Bible-centred teaching programme
- conferences and training days
- distance learning opportunities
- books of ready-to-use ideas and wisdom from children's ministry practitioners
- children's praise and worship resources
- other supporting resources
About Andy Back:
ANDY BACK is a bestselling author and communicator in the UK and internationally. He writes full-time for the Children's Ministry Teaching Programme, drawing extensively on many years of experience working with children and young people. He is a popular speaker at Bible weeks and in training contexts, and has assisted in the leadership of the youth work at Church of Christ the King, Brighton.
