Youthology - How do we get more young people into church?

We are so excited that we are joined by a young person this week! Lucy has just finished at school, and we wanted to reflect with her on all the ideas that we have been discussing throughout the series. We asked Lucy why she thought she was still involved whilst many of her friends weren't and Lucy even asked her friends why they had left. Often moving and challenging, this episode was vital to us - hearing direct from young people is always challenging as well as encouraging. Lucy is on twitter and insta as @lucygrace147.

This is our last episode in series one (sniff!) but fear not we have plans for series 2 later in the year... watch this space!

This episode mixes it all up with a view from the Pentecostal tradition. Are there the same pressures to get more young people into church that we hear in other denominations? What does the black majority church have to teach us about what we do and who we are?

Jordan (who raps under the name J Vessel, @realjvessel) has a background in schools work, using his music to bring faith relevantly into schools, reflects in his experience and beliefs, and how the theology found in his tradition speaks across the divide he now finds himself in as he works in affluent suburbia.

Why not check out his work online - Google JVessel, to find him on Youtube and social media?

This time Sarah Brush (@docbrush) explores the world of Church and Young People, thinking about what makes young people amazing, and how they have so much to offer us as a church, and how much the church has to offer them. We cover all kinds of ideas, but using the metaphor of the Lego Mini-figure to understand Young People left a profound impressing on us as hosts. Download to find out more!

As ever feedback online via @youthologypod on twitter or insta is very welcome - particularly as we are now over half way through the first series!

This week we are joined by Rev Canon Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London and author of multiple books. We explore his ideas about 'being with' and how this shapes our understanding of church. How can we help young people be a part of something life giving and life changing, without the institution putting them off? *we are working on the audio issues. Please bear with us!!*

Chloe Combi (@WriteClubUK) joins Sarah and Dave. Chloe is a writer, speaker and consultant who has worked with more than 10,000 members of generation Z, and shares some of her research findings on the spirituality and faith of this generation. Talking about why young people like some churches and not others, what puts them off, and what they love about church and leaders of church gives us a lot to think about this week.

Sarah and Dave end the podcast reflecting on what we can do about what we've heard, and how we can make a difference in this generation.

Let us know how we're doing - @youthologypod on Insta, Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Root (@rootandrew)joins Sarah and Dave to think about 'how do we get more young people into church?'. The conversation takes in ideas from 'Faith Formation in a Secular Age' and 'the Pastor in a secular age', his latest work. We talk about institutional anxiety, contemporary society and what on earth a church the young people might want to join could look like.

Sarah and Dave then reflect on what all of this might mean for us today.

Sarah and Dave talk about the Youthology Podcast project, and give a preview of the first 6 part series... launching Sept 2019!!

We are really excited to get this project off the ground, please let us know what you think as the series unfolds. Find us on social media - we are @youthologypod on twitter/facebook/insta.

Delighted to be interviewing Andrew Root, Sam Wells, Chloe Combi, Sarah Brush, Jordan Amardi-Myers (J Vessel) and Lucy, a Young Person.