Here's another new(ish) resource from the other end of the age spectrum - the Christian Student Guide is an initiative of the Student Christian Movement, as part of a suite of projects they're doing around student discipleship. Take a look here.
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It's been a while since we've posted on this blog, and it's gratifying to see that although the Through Life Discipleship project is currently dormant, this website still attracts a couple of dozen visitors every week.
Here's the latest new resource to share - the Faith in Later Life website, which is a one-stop online resource of ideas and good practice for the churches' work with older adults. It's supported by a number of Christian charities working in this area. Take a look! Do you hope that your children will share the same faith position as you (whatever that happens to be)? Where is the line between what is appropriate and inappropriate in fostering a particular outlook (of any kind) in one's own children?
A new report by Olwyn Mark for Theos, Passing on Faith explores these very issues. One striking headline statistic is that of over 1000 people surveyed in a ComRes poll in 2016, around two-thirds did not feel it was important to them that their children would grow up to share the same faith or belief position as themselves, and about the same proportion thought that children should 'make up their own minds independently of their parents'. Even where parents did hope that children would share their beliefs, and were confident that they could talk to their children about faith without being coercive, many also felt that their contribution was likely to be less influential than peers or social media (1) Back in the late 1960s, the US anthropologist Margaret Mead argued that one of the most significant cultural changes of the century was the shift from a 'co-figurative' society (which expects parents to pass on norms, values and wisdom to their children whilst also learning from their children) to a 'pre-figurative' society (in which elders do not expect to have any useful wisdom or values to pass on to their children (1). A fully 'prefigurative' society has not really materialised (we still learn from our elders in all sorts of different ways, and the idea of a society where norms and values are primarily forged by each successive generation of young adults now seems as much a product of a particular moment of youth revolt as it does anything else), but it remains the case that a significant shift took place in post-war Britain towards a more laissez-faire attitude towards the transmission of norms and values to succeeding generations (2). The report, which reviews a wide range of literature on the transmission of faith raises a number of interesting and important questions: what counts as a morally legitimate contribution towards the shaping of young people's norms and values, and what counts as problematic coercion? As a society, are we consistent on the degree to which we are happy to influence our children or to leave them to make up their own minds? (what would it mean to apply to advertising or to aspects of schooling the same ethical criteria that we apply to religious or philosophical belief)? Does the problem of passing on faith, norms and values look different for a cultural or religious minority than it does for the majority whose norms and values tend to hold sway within society anyway? Are 'passing on faith' and 'letting them decide for themselves' mutually exclusive positions or is it possible to do both at the same time? For those who do hope that their children will come to share their values, the report concludes with a review of research findings into what does actually tend to lead children to adopt a particular position or tradition which is also shared by their parents. This report will be helpful reading for anyone who wants to think about 'through-life discipleship' in a way which is generous and invitational rather than coercive. Notes: (1) Olwyn Mark, Passing on Faith (Theos 2016) (2) Margaret Mead, Culture and Commitment: A Study of the Generation Gap (1967) (3) Ian Jones, The Local Church and Generational Change in Birmingham 1954-2000 (Boydell and Brewer/Royal Historical Society, 2012) We've recently seen two good new resources for younger Christians managing the transition through life.
The first has been developed with a bit of funding from us, by the Student Christian Movement - their 'Going to University Guide' is out soon. SCM also have a page of resources about managing time at university and life after university - see here. For the guide, contact SCM here. The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity are also running the first of an innovative residential specifically to reflect on Christian discipleship in the first year of starting work. Called Changing Light, it's a camping weekend running from 9 to 11 September 2016 at Latimer Minster, Buckinghamshire. You can find more details here: http://www.licc.org.uk/changinglight/index.html Within the Church of England, there's a lot of thinking going on about funerals, bereavement care and end of life issues at present. You might want to take a look at the C of E's new funerals website, and share it with anyone you know who might find it useful.
In association with this, there are also a number of training events for those who take funerals, taking place around the country. Here at St Peter's Saltley Trust we're doing a small piece of research on clergy and congregations' confidence in funeral/bereavement/end of life ministry, in partnership with the Transforming Communities Department in the Diocese of Lichfield. Watch this space for further details!
https://bcofe.wufoo.eu/forms/dementia-matters/
Yesterday's Faith in Research 2015 event highlighted some useful recent research on baptisms and funerals by the Church of England. On christenings, key findings included that most parents bringing their children for baptism were on a faith journey themselves, and two in ten started attending church regularly following the christening. There also seems to be several things that churches could do to build upon this: nine out of ten parents were happy for the church to keep in touch with them following the christening, but only three in ten expected the church to do so. One church I know built a very strong community of young families through very deliberately keeping up with those who came for baptism - not with a hard sell but simply with invitations to attend events throughout the year, a party to mark the anniversary of their child's baptism and such like. On the other hand, there was also a clear message that churches could do more to make their environments friendly for small children, and encouraging parents that they need not try (as if it was possible!) to keep their children quiet during the service.
You can find the articles on baptisms and christenings here and on funerals here - in each case, scroll down to find the relevant research summary. Long time, no post (things have been so busy!) but news of a dementia training day for churches later this year has spurred me back into action. The day will take place at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. The day is organised by a number of people connected with some of the larger denominations in the WM region, but is open to all. Contributors and a few workshop themes shortly to be announced - more details will be posted here in due course.
We don't often feature job vacancies on this page, but our friends at the Church of England Birmingham are advertising for a 'Growing Younger Programme Director' at present, to lead a project aimed at developing the church's engagement with young people and families. Take a look at the website for more details.
There's an interesting short video on the millennial generation and social responsibility on the Mustard Seed Associates web-page here. See what you think. Does this ring true with your experience of today's 18-33s?
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AuthorsIan Jones is Director of St Peter's Saltley Trust. Archives
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