Deeper Than Just Community
This week on The Shock Absorber podcast
Relationships may be the front door of a shock absorber approach to ministry, but you need more than relational community to build an effective youth group.
In this week’s episode of The Shock Absorber podcast, Stuart Crawshaw takes Joel McMaster and me through the second theme that has emerged from his PhD research into the story of Soul Revival: Christian identity formation through conversion and biblical discipleship.
A significant factor in many of the interviewees’ stories that Stu and I conducted for his research was the power of an authentic Christian witness by the leaders and other teenagers in the group. At the weekly Soul Revival youth groups, the Bible talk was an unapologetic part of the evening. Most importantly, there was no hard line demarcating the joy of the night’s frivolities from the sobriety of opening up God’s Word. Rather, sober joy reflected the entire night’s culture as well as the lives of the leaders and kids.
Likewise, Christian identity was fostered outside of the youth group. You were just as likely to find teenagers reading the Bible after a quick surf, or praying before heading into the movies, as you were to see these overt faith expressions within the walls of the church building. Being a “Sunday Christian” was something that was named and actively spoken against. Following Jesus was for every moment.
Listen in to hear about:
the hip hop event the night before the Cronulla riots,
people who experienced churches that minimised the Jesus bit because it was daggy,
and why the teen girl interested in opera didn't get paid out in a community built around grunge.
Catch the full conversation in the links below or on your favourite podcast app.