First Word

Posted on August 03, 2015

The first word in engaging and empowering young people is “agency”. Agency can be defined as the state of or means “of exerting power or influence”. In short, the power to choose.

Often when adults seek to engage young people, we have an agenda. Young people learn the school’s curriculum through the teacher’s methods. Young people pay taxes so government officials can spend it the way they see fit. Young people are taught the church’s teachings through the church’s form of spiritual formation. In all these areas, the adults make the decisions for the young people because the adults “know better” than the young people. But is this assumption really true?

While I do believe adults should mentor students through the “what” (e.g. curriculum, doctrine, etc.), we need to give them choices as to the “how” (e.g. methods, spiritual practices, etc.). Many times, the methods used by adults to engage young people reflect the education and /or discipleship of their own development years. Unfortunately, times and methods change. However, the need to adapt our practices is not simply about adopting the latest trends or technology. The issue is something far more important: ownership.

Until young people come to “own” their education, their money and/or their discipleship, they will always see it as their leader’s ideas or beliefs. Which begs the all important question: How do we let them own these areas?

Simple: Agency - we give them options.

I have for the last 15+ years been letting students make choices in the youth ministries I have served. I let them choose our logos, our message topics, our worship songs, our room design and furniture, and our small groups. I even let them choose our summer trips (as well as our method of transportation to get there - it was one long train ride ;-). Did it always go perfectly? No...but if you know anything about teaching/learning it rarely does.

To be clear, I never gave them unlimited options, I gave them simple options at the beginning and increased their agency (ability to choose) as time went on. Throughout all of these “experiments”: I noticed a significant trend: when I let them choose, I never had to worry about boredom. They were almost always engaged. They even went the extra mile in owning these areas because it was their life.

So how do you get started? Again the answer is fairly simple:
1. Ask them what they would change about your group.
2. Listen to their ideas
3. Take the best of their ideas and help them make the ideas happen (Don’t do it for them).

If we don’t give them agency, they will find it elsewhere. In fact, many already have. The numbers we all hear about students leaving church is proof that young people don’t “own” it.

Give them agency and watch your group engage in ways you never thought possible.

If you have questions about how to make this happen in your group, leave me a comment and I will respond as soon as I can.