The term "youth ministries" usually creates images of high-energy activities or probing discussion and study. However, youth ministries is enriched and deepened when prayer and worship are brought into the youth program and given equal status with activities and study. Exploring prayer enhances young people's involvement in the total experience of faith as they develop their relationship and deepen their communication with God. Having young people lead and participate in worship services involves them in the total life of the community of faith.
While it is true that including prayer and worship in youth ministries helps develop a well-rounded youth program, young people will need some help and direction as they explore these topics. It is quite common to discover that many young people are illiterate in the language of faith and prayer. This is reflected in the dead silence that often follows the request for an opening prayer at a meeting or function. Since many adults share this lack of ease with public prayer, a helpful approach is to have a training program or educational series for parents that provides resources and ideas on how to engage families in prayer and worship at home. It is important to stress the value of having families express their faith together. A young person's faith development is greatly enhanced if he or she is encouraged to share and express faith at home as well as at church. The first task is to help young people become comfortable with the act and purpose of prayer.
Modeling
An easy atmosphere with prayer starts with leaders who are comfortable about praying with the group. As leaders, spend some time reflecting on your beliefs about prayer and what role prayer plays in your life. Do you feel comfortable leading in prayer, or are you constantly feeling that you never use just the right words? One of the best learning experiences I had with prayer as a teenager was listening to an adult camp counselor share a prayer in language that was natural and easy to understand and that reflected the speech of our age group. Her prayer helped me realize that God could understand my language and listen to my thoughts and not just those thoughts that were eloquently expressed by adults. Modeling ease with prayer in contemporary and natural language will encourage young people to feel relaxed about prayer.
Make sure that when the group is together, prayer and worship are an integral part of your program. Open and close youth meetings and gatherings with prayer. An example of a non-threatening approach to group prayer is to have the group hold hands in a circle and offer one word or sentence prayers. The leader starts the prayer and squeezes the hand of the person on his or her left to pass the prayer around the circle clockwise. If someone chooses not to pray, he or she simply squeezes the next person's hand to keep the prayer going until it reaches the leader, who then closes the prayer.
Another way to introduce prayer is to have the group members share their concerns so that a list can be compiled. The leader then features those concerns in a simple prayer that he or she offers for the first few weeks until a youth member feels comfortable with leading the prayer.
Retreats
Retreats provide an excellent opportunity to involve young people in worship. Each retreat should include a closing worship service that involves the young people and relies on their ideas and leadership. The relaxed atmosphere of a retreat can help young people feel comfortable with worship while still honoring its special and sacred nature. Ask for two or three group members to plan worship as part of the retreat design team. Set aside time on the retreat schedule for them to plan the service. The closing service should reflect the theme of the retreat with prayers that include the joys and concerns that were a part of the weekend or overnight. The meditation can be a simple summary of the theme, tying together the biblical passages and the issues raised during the retreat. Use skits or act out a biblical passage to enhance the message of the meditation.
One particular idea that has worked well on retreats is to have the young people draw names of "secret pals" on the first night of the retreat. During the time for the offering in the service, the young people offer to share one special quality that their secret pal brought to the retreat. In addition to sharing their observations, the secret pals can exchange handmade crosses that are constructed with materials found in the natural retreat setting. This activity brings young people together in the context of a worship service and creates an atmosphere for sharing communion, if that is a part of the retreat design.
Worship
Another valuable experience is to have young people lead and participate in worship services with the congregation. It is important for young people to learn to participate in a service and to become involved in the total life of the community of faith so that youth ministries does not become a segregated program that only does "youth stuff." Leaders should look for opportunities to involve young people in Sunday morning worship services and special services. Present your goals for youth participation in worship to the worship committee of your congregation so that the committee can support and encourage that aspect of your program.
A good way to start introducing young people in worship services is to have them read Scripture and lead prayers. It is essential whenever young people lead worship that leaders schedule practice time in the sanctuary with the congregation's public-address system. To build confidence about their role as worship leaders, participants must be well prepared. This also ensures a positive reception on the part of the congregation. The most common problem for young readers is the volume and speed of the speech. Type out the reading, mark the places to pause and slow down, and underline words for emphasis.
Youth Sunday
Have a Sunday service of worship developed, planned, and led entirely by young people. All over the country, these Youth Sundays are high points in the church year. Each year, the International Anglican Youth Network sets aside the Sunday before Advent I, as Anglican Youth Sunday, and provides resources for use in Episcopal congregations.15 But whenever your congregation chooses to celebrate Anglican Youth Sunday, young people are capable of sharing their faith in insightful and meaningful ways; it just takes some organizing and planning to tap the potential and channel the energy so that Youth Sunday can be a time to glorify God with the family of faith.
Begin preparing for a Youth Sunday by studying the meaning and structure of your worship service. If the group understands the purpose of the different elements of the service, it will enhance their learning experience as well as add depth and insight to what they design and create. It would also be helpful if the pastor or worship committee explained the particular order and elements of your congregation's worship.
The actual planning for the youth service starts with developing a theme. Themes may come out of the church year calendars or the weekly readings, called a lectionary, or they may be determined by the group. Specific issues such as world hunger or peacemaking can provide meaningful themes. Another way to generate your theme is to consider a more general topic, such as the congregation as a caring community of faith. Biblical passages could also lead to focusing on a central theme. For example, if the New Testament lesson was the parable of the prodigal son, the theme could be on receiving and sharing forgiveness.
After the theme is in place, the entire group can begin to work on the different parts of the service. This process provides an excellent opportunity to involve all the members of your group. There are many different types of tasks, so that if someone is uncomfortable speaking, he or she might design a bulletin cover or banner or choose hymns and participate in the music portion of the service. Encourage the young people to be creative. Instead of having one speaker deliver a fifteen- or twenty-minute sermon, that portion of the service could feature three speakers reflecting on different parts of the theme, or a skit or dramatic reading, or a dance and clowning. These forms are creative approaches that still respect the dignity and sacred nature of worship.
One of the most important aspects of exploring prayer and worship with young people is to enjoy the process! It is indeed a joy and a blessing to share and grow with them as they express their faith. Though there are details and arrangements that will need your attention, there will also surely be profound moments when you will be touched and moved by their insight and depth.
Adapted from an article by Nancy Hutchinson.
15. For additional information on Anglican Youth Sunday, contact the Youth Ministries Office at the Episcopal Church Center; 800/334-7626.
© 1996 The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society PECUSAThis article is from Handbook for Ministries with Older Adolescents, a publication of the Ministries with Young People Cluster of the Episcopal Church Center, New York, NY. Permission is granted for congregational use and use by diocesan youth coordinators. You may order this resource from Episcopal Parish Services.
