One of our sister churches in Great Britain is undertaking a very expensive project to encourage youth participation in the Church, in an attempt to turn around some of the negative trends it has experienced since the 1960s. By the time the project concludes, that church will have spent significant resources on what it is calling the ‘Youth Participation Strategy’.

Similar trends have long been identified in Australia, amongst the mainstream Christian denominations. However, the Uniting Church response to concern about the participation of younger generations will not focus on structural changes, like changing the staffing and regulations – it is about harnessing the wisdom of all generations and promoting inter-generational conversations, encounters and activities, and about publishing what is happening for the benefit of all who are interested.

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Does this relate to the Spirit of Gen Y study?
What have we learned from the 2004-2006 research into the Spirituality of Gen Y?
The Gen Y study also revealed...
Next Gens Project partners
Some items of interest

Does this relate to the Spirit of Gen Y study?

Yes, and it seeks to move on, using what has been learned and building on that base more broadly and locally.

What have we learned from the 2004-2006 research into the Spirituality of Gen Y?

Through the Australian wide study of the spirituality of Generation Y, (roughly those persons now aged between 18 and 28) young people from all walks of life and all parts of the population took part in interviews and answered questions about their lives. These questions concerned their beliefs, values, activities, priorities, practices and relationships.

Among the many things learned from the study were insights that the churches have heard from culturally alert and socially aware youth leaders, school chaplains, children’s group coordinators, ministers, Christian parents and grandparents for years:

• That those young people who are nurtured in faith as children are more likely to retain spiritual orientation.
• Denominational labels mean even less to Gen Y than to their parent or grandparent generations.
• That young people who identify with faith communities are more likely to show social concern and act for others’ benefit.
• The spiritual values, faith stories and testimony of lived experience are resources for the nurture of young faith.
• If there is any notion of transcendence for this generation, it is found in the quality, tragedy, beauty, enjoyment and danger of relationship formation.

The Gen Y study also revealed:

• High levels of eclectic individual choice in what one believes/does not believe, yet low levels of what may be called ‘spiritual experimentation’.
• Little significant gender difference across the range of beliefs and practices.
• That most young people are unmoved by insistent dogmatism and authoritarian teaching. They are critical of rigid values.

The Next Gens Project invites your participation so that Uniting Church Congregations, Faith Communities, Councils, Schools, Agencies, groups, associations and ministries of all kinds may draw upon genuine experience, wisdom, insight and ongoing study for the benefit of everyone.
A number of key leaders in our Church have already indicated how they wish to be part of this project. Proposals are currently being received from Queensland, New South Wales / Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

These are people who choose not to be fatalistic or passive in response to the statistics and trends portrayed by the social sciences. They want to take hold of what can be learned from research like the Spirit of Gen Y, understand what is going on within and beyond the churches, and act intentionally.

The Next Gens Project will publish the contributions of those who join, and share them as widely as possible. It is not about turning individual and group efforts into one huge study, but creating links and mutual learning opportunities for a host of smaller and larger initiatives – and to help them happen.

You are invited to join their number with a partnership that may be negotiated with the UCA Assembly, using the contact below. Here are some questions that may help you discern whether this project is for you or your group:

• Do you belong to a church body or group that is engaging with younger generations or has plans to do so?
• Are you involved in research or studies that have to do with relationships amongst the generations of life in faith?
• Have you undertaken inter-generational initiatives that have to do with encouraging life-long faith?
• Are you embarking upon a project to build contact with young people in your context?

If your answer to any of these questions is “Yes,” and you would like to broaden the scope of your work in partnership with the Uniting Church National Assembly, please be in touch.

Contact: Craig Mitchell, Christian Education Research Fellow -  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it