Day 3
Young people are more open to faith – But where are the youth leaders? – CIYD Report
An increased warmth and openness to faith, particularly amongst young people was noted by the Church of Ireland Youth Department at General Synod meeting online this evening (Tuesday May 13). Proposing CIYD’s report, full time youth worker Andrew Watson, highlighted research in the UK by the Bible Society. Their ‘Quiet Revival’ report found that in 2018 just 4% of 18–24 year olds regularly attended church. That number is now up to 16%.
The report says that Gen Z are more likely to be spiritually open, searching for community, purpose and answers in a world that looks increasingly hopeless, confused and chaotic. They are finding these in church, the report says.
Mr Watson, a member of CIYD’s central board, said his own story of faith bore this out. He has been a full time youth worker since 2018 and as someone who came from a non–Christian family he highlighted the impact of Sunday School leaders, youth fellowship leaders and others on his journey of faith.
“Stories like mine – someone from a non–Christian family who started coming to church as a teenager – are becoming increasingly common of late. Many social commentators have observed what’s being referred to as a ‘vibe–shift’ in the cultural posture towards faith, particularly amongst younger people. There is an increased warmth and openness to faith, which has led many to develop a vibrant and passionate faith; and crucially, many of these young people are coming from non–Christian homes, so discipleship is not happening at home – it’s happening in peer groups and in youth ministries,” he said.
CIYD recently released the findings of its Youth Ministry Audit Survey which was conducted in 2024 to glean information about young people and youth work in parishes and dioceses across Ireland.
It is estimated that over 15,000 young people are served by youth ministry across the Church of Ireland. This number increases to 25,000 when the work of uniformed youth organisations in parishes is included.
However, Mr Watson said the challenge was the significant drop in the number of parishes offering youth work. There was a 44% reduction in the number of volunteers since the last CIYD audit in 2008.
“The young people are still there, the workload hasn’t decreased, young people are more willing than ever to engage with the Church, but the volunteers are simply not there. As a wise man once said, ‘the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few’,” he stated.
He recommended ‘praying to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers in his harvest field’ and urged members of Synod to talk to their Diocesan Youth Officer as well as Simon and Luke at CIYD to avail of their expertise.
He said youth ministry needed continual advocacy, diocesan support and financial investment. He said that if the church wanted youth workers to stay long enough that they could raise up volunteers, develop a programme and create a culture of discipleship for young people, it was going to take money.
He recognised that everyone was asking for money but he also recognised that the stories and statistics told of a generation of young people who were more open than ever to faith and called all with influence to action.
Between the proposing and seconding speeches, Synod members watched a video which included testimonies of faith from young people across the island at this year’s CIYD National Youth Forum, which took place in Newry in January.
Seconding the report, Bishop Pat Storey noted that the Archbishop said in his Presidential Address that leadership mattered so she thanked the staff and 1,851 youth work volunteers throughout Ireland.
This year CIYD had a Pobal report which Bishop Storey said was very challenging and she thanked Brigid Barrett and Ed Hardy to supported that. She said that without the myriad of people throughout the Church of Ireland supporting youth ministry, they would be at a loss. “I am so grateful for their energy,” she said.
Simon Henry, National Youth Officer, echoed what was said by the proposer and seconder. “God is on the move with young people,” he stated. “Young people crave hope and certainty and they are getting it from God and from Jesus.” He said that he saw over 200 young people come to faith at Summer Madness last year and appealed to dioceses and Allocations to do more. He thanked everyone for filling in the survey so that CIYD had an overview of what was happening throughout the island.
Mr Henry expressed his gratitude to his colleagues Barbara Swan and Luke Hawkins who he said had hit the ground running since taking up the role of Southern Youth Development Officer last August. He urged the Church to stay focused on youth ministry and not to let it slide off the agenda. He also thanked the volunteers who did the vast majority of the work and the staff of the RCB for their support.
Canon Nicola Halford (Cashel, Ferns and Ossory) thanked CIYD for all they did for young people. The youth forum had been extremely beneficial to the young people from her own diocese who have attended for the last number of years, she reported. “The opportunity for young people to spend time with other young Christians is immense,” she stated.
She said that residential camps, such as pre–confirmation camps and diocesan summer camps, had been very beneficial for the faith formation of young people. However, she flagged a huge rise in rates for residential camps. She said her diocese subsidises these retreats but they are at risk of being priced out of it. She asked if more consideration could be given to helping dioceses run residential events with additional funding amid the cost of living crisis. She asked CIYD to gather information across the island for good value venues for residentials.
Mr Watson echoed contributions of the speakers and said that with young people there was just an explosion of uptake. He reemphasised the importance of residentials. He said additional financial support would make a difference.
Archbishop McDowell suggested that there was scope for a specific ask from a source of funding to support residentials. He thanked CIYD for bringing Synod almost to its conclusion on a very positive note.