"I am in fact not very confident that we have it in ourselves to re-engage in the near future to any substantial degree with children, young people and people in the 20-45 age range, but would always be glad to be surprised on this one"
David Deeks, General Secretary of the Methodist Church
Woooa, that's a quote! Scary, honest? defeated? Reading the related article in Youthwork magazine it's clear that the Methodist Church do care about young people but are struggling with vision and resources. I believe that Methodist churches can (and in some cases are) ENGAGE. I hope and pray that mission and young people become a bigger priority not a lesser priority in light of the challenges faced.
*Please note the photo is of Wesley, not of David Deeks (More confusingly the first picture of Wesley I found was of Wesley Snipes!)
Dear Mr. Deeks, "Boo!"
Perhaps Mr Deeks, and others, might like to see how Kingston Wesley Methodist Church in Hull is engaging with over 100 young people a week as part of its mission strategy. www.maximumlife.org.uk
My advice? Embrace partnership. Listen to needs and act, rather than prescribe. Chill out, loosen up and get stuck in.
Jerome - Youth Development Worker, Max Life Youth Project
Jerome, I agree!
Wesley is often quoted as saying, "do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as ever you can"
BUT
Maybe you've just come up with a 21st Century Methodist creed, "Chill out, loosen up and get stuck in!"
I think I'm going to be quoting you
Thanks for calling into the blog
To be honest I don't think he's far wrong (and for all denominations)... of course there are exceptions to the 'rule'... and he does say "to any substantial degree"... but lets be honest about this, when you look at all of the stats, and you take a good look at the big picture it becomes blatantly obvious that even with all the resources being pumped in to Youth Ministry etc. we are only scratching the surface, and I'm not sure we are in a significantly different place than we were when I began full-time youth ministry in 1994!... so I say Hooray to Mr Deeks for being honest and "telling it like it is"... but let's see it as a challenge not just a criticism.
Maybe the solution is to make the church more like Wesley Snipes...