Where is the next generation of leaders?
Numbers are down. This is a nationwide observation about people applying for ministry apprenticeships, training courses, and responses to church job adverts. The question is frequently asked: ‘Where are the next generation of leaders for the church in the UK?’
We have never had more access to gospel resources: courses, online teaching, excellent conferences, and sermons downloadable at the touch of a button, so why are we not producing disciples who are ready to take on more responsibility, try new ministries, or move to other parts of the country to spread the gospel? Why do so many want to stay in the safety of their known church family and not have the confidence to consider more radical alternatives?
When I was five, I walked to school on my own. It was a 15-minute walk involving crossing roads, including one major road (there was a lollipop man at that crossing!). Sometimes, I cycled the route. It was not considered inappropriate – my parents were working, and there was no other option. Today social services would be called, but developing early independence was normal back then. I played outside with friends, explored the local coastline, and walked the dog without adult supervision. Adults largely left children to get on with things. Modern childhood is very different: parents are much more present, but parenting is a daunting task today. There is conflicting advice and pressure for perfection from pregnancy onwards. Every aspect of a child’s life is analysed, organised and documented from day one. Timetables are very full – adults very present. Yet ironically, these cosseted kids are not thriving, and levels of anxiety in our pre-teens and teenagers continue to rise. They have the strange experience of the hyper-involved protection from their parents alongside the invasive presence of the internet with all its attendant ugliness existing side by side in the spaces where they should feel safest: it is not surprising many feel insecure. The work of psychologists such as Jonathan Haidt in The Coddling of the American Mind has shown how our parenting has not helped children learn to be resilient. Stella O’Malley, the author of, among other things, Cotton Wool Kids, describes our culture as having a type of ‘toxic empathy’ – young people are encouraged to pathologise their distress at the harshness of this world. Growing up in today’s world is complex, despite myriads of advice, books and websites.
How do we help our young people grow in maturity? The gospel offers security and peace beyond understanding. In Christ, we have so much. He has all authority in heaven and earth. He is with us even to the end of the age. These great truths can inspire us not only to face the difficulties life throws at us, but were given as the backdrop to Jesus’ Great Commission: ‘Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Despite all the resources at our fingertips, why are there not more disciples ready to risk serving Christ? Do we believe Christ has all authority? Do we encourage one another with that truth? Or are we like parents who hover over our children, frightened of the world outside of the nest?
Our courses are in danger of filling up our calendars but not helping young Christians learn to serve outside of their comfort zone. Do the many courses, and books we can read, equip us or de-skill? Do these things create pressure for perfection and that other horrible word which is popular in Church circles at the moment – effectiveness? A large staff team in a church, rather than enabling maturity in the congregation, has to work to avoid keeping everyone as infants – providing all the ministry professionally can hinder every-member ministry. Full-time paid ministry workers can unintentionally intimidate those starting out, so younger Christians think ministry is not for them. Disciples need the opportunity to serve (and sometimes fail) in order to find their voices without the experts around. Maybe we are overprotective and fail to encourage younger believers to take risks as they serve Christ. They need to exercise and develop ministry muscles.
If we want future leaders, we need to nurture young disciples; not by emulating modern cotton-wool parenting with its toxic empathy, but by urging and spurring one another on to love and good deeds. After all, Christ is with us; we need not fear or lose hope.
Karen Soole is the women’s worker at Trinity Church, Lancaster and the Women’s Ministry Director for Anglican Mission in England.
See also Comment article here
