{"id":86598,"date":"2019-11-15T09:00:30","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T14:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=86598"},"modified":"2019-11-15T17:50:02","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T22:50:02","slug":"church-times-interview-martin-saunders-deputy-chief-executive-youthscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=86598","title":{"rendered":"(Church Times) Interview: Martin Saunders, deputy chief executive, Youthscape"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good youth work<\/a> is always about really listening to, truly caring about,<\/strong> and being there for the long haul for young people as they go through the most complex and fast-moving period of human life. Everything else is secondary to that. The statutory youth-work sector was decimated at the start of the recession; so, really, the voluntary sector now bears a lot of the responsibility. Churches are at the forefront of that.<\/p>\n

We did some research at Youthscape, which discovered that only about 25 per cent of all churches actually did any formal work with young people.<\/strong> So there are pockets of great practice, but we\u2019ve got a lot of work to do.<\/p>\n

What young people desperately need are authentic, kind role-models who care. <\/strong>They don\u2019t especially need someone who can speak their language or knows about the latest Netflix smash; so, in a sense, age is irrelevant. They need friends and role-models of all ages. The stereotype of the hip twenty-something, hoodie-wearing youth-worker needs to die.<\/p>\n

Most Christian youth work is still really oriented towards helping young people to discover and then keep faith:<\/strong> the traditional Bible-study and social model is alive and well. There\u2019s a big question around whether that\u2019s still the best model, even for churches. The Scouting movement is seeing a huge increase in numbers. I think that they get a lot right.<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Interview: Martin Saunders, deputy chief executive, Youthscape<\/p>\n

\u2018The stereotype of the hip twenty-something, hoodie-wearing youth worker needs to die\u2019https:\/\/t.co\/6iAMOfGmZf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 15, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n