Which brand of ice lolly can resist melting the for the longest time? You might want to run an experiment with your group! Buy a variety of ice lollies. Ask the group to make a guess before you start the activity as to which lolly will stay on its stick the longest. Distribute the lollies (one per group member) and ask them to remove the wrapper and hold the lolly by the stick.* Set a timer. Which lolly will stay on the stick longest before it melts away or collapses? Spoiler: Magnums usually come out on top.
Research suggests that up to two thirds of young people who are actively involved with church youth groups and would call themselves Christians, see their faith melt away when they move on to higher education or into the workplace. About a third may pick up their faith again at a later date but that still suggests that a substantial number of young people walk away from the Christian faith and never return. Why?
Without stretching the analogy beyond it’s point of breaking (melting!) the ice lolly that survives longest is likely to be the one that has not only been kept in the right environment (i.e. a freezer) but also one that has been constructed so that it resists melting for as long as possible. Magnums usually come out on top because of their outer shell, which gives them some protection from the change of environment.
Our youth groups (hopefully) provide the right environments for young people to develop their own personal faith but, if the research is correct, it would seem that faith isn’t developed or ‘constructed’ in a way that may be resilient to a change of environment. Faith that is ‘worn’ by our young people when they are part of our groups seems all to easily to be slipped off, like a jacket, when they leave us.
The reasons for this will vary but the evidence suggest that there can be a superficiality about how young people engage with faith in our groups that is not preparing then to withstand a change in environment. That’s why, in our Spaces groups, we are seeking to encourage the development of spiritual disciplines and an intentionality in our conversations that will go beyond the superficial so as to better prepare our young people for what lies ahead.
Of course, we want young people’s faith to last even longer than a Magnum ice cream but we do want them to develop magnum faith. The literal translation of ‘magnum’ is ‘great’ and it’s faith at this level which will better prepare them to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2
*best done outside or with suitable floor protection!
For further reflections on how we prepare our young people for life beyond our groups, check out: