Young people have a vision of:

• a church that both reflects and teaches Christ's mission and ministry
• a church based on community - relationships, being vulnerable, supportive, non-judgemental, welcoming, inclusive, encouraging.
• a church that is visible and active in the world because it is intrinsically linked with the world.
• a church where worship is vigorous and calls us to give worth to God within the world and time in which we live.
• a church that works together to move us forward as the body of Christ.

The key issues for young people within the church: worship; spiritualty; the role of the church, cannot be isolated from the general issues that we are facing. When young people are in worship on Sunday morning, or involved in a church working bee, or a member of a bible study, the issues of life that we are facing are directly impacting upon our appreciation of the gospel and our growth in faith.

"What can my local church offer to me to assist me with this time of sorting out my life?"

Young people who are involved with the church want a church which acknowledges these struggles and takes our world and life experiences seriously.

One of the key issues is the need to help older people in the church realise that the world-view of young people is different from their own, both now and when they were younger, and that young people in the church are seeking encouragement and skills for negotiating the reality of living with the guidance of Christian values.

"we are not afraid of you - and we want to grow in faith together!"

"We don't have significant contacts in the church - important issues for young people are often frightening for adults"

Young people see that the church can be a place where we learn about faith, God, Jesus and spirituality but, for the most part, we do not currently feel that it meets that need.

Church can be a place where people share their faith journeys,

Church can also be a place which prepares young people for living out that faith and spirituality in our daily lives. Young people feel that a key role of the church is to teach people how to live a Christian lifestyle.

The church as it currently exists is often meaningless for us and unrelated to the rest of our lives.

The change we are asking for is not change for it's own sake, but rather change that will make our experience of church more meaningful.

Young people are positive towards the Christian faith and look forward to sharing in the development of a vibrant, active and living church. Many young people are keen to get past the segregation of young people into a separate category, and recognise the need for young people and all people to be integrated into the whole life of the church.

"A place for intergenerational contact - something which doesn't happen much outside (the church)"

"tradition is only useful if it is meaningful to the people, and we either don't understand a lot of it or it isn't relevant to our lives"

"Learning, sharing, teaching, growing, questioning, discovery: we are not taught by rote and rules, we learn through discovery."

Young people want to learn about Bible study, stages of faith, history of the church, theological perspectives, ecumenism.

"The Student Christian Movement and the youth camps showed me that you can be a Christian without turning your brain off - and they challenge me more than my own congregation ever does"

"I feel I don't belong at my church anymore. The problem is that between youth camps and rallies I lose my involvement and the enthusiasm to grow in my faith"

"I think my faith in God and hope for human kind will keep me coming back to church"

Conclusion

In a world where young people have so many options to choose from, when young people choose to stay with the church it is because we are serious about ourr faith. What we are asking for is that we and our faith be respected and nurtured within the church.

We suggesting change not for it's own sake but because we want the church to be a place where we can engage in meaningful exploration of our Christian faith and of the issues we deal with in our everyday lives.

It is ironic that the church seems so slow to change when change is something we all deal with in our lives. Most of us even look forward to change, whether it be changing jobs or changing where we live, and we plan accordingly. The church needs to plan for it's future and we all need to participate in making this future a reality. Part of this planning needs to be training and guidance in dynamic and contemporary models of church life and participation.

From "The Year of Listening to Young People" in 1995 in Victoria, Australia. Developing a long term vision for ministry with young and contemporary people. (12-25 years old)