This is the third post in a series of posts related to Youth Groups (or the lack thereof) and New City Church. In the first post I attempted to demonstrate the fallacy of the notion that students need more time with their peers. In the second post I wanted to show that studies show there are numerous benefits to intergenerational learning and in the context of community intergenerational learning may actually be superior to peer group learning. In this post I want to pose the question: Who is the Church?At what point does a believer become a member of the local body? I don't mean here member in the technical sense of "membership" or "partnership", but rather at what point does one become a part of the body. Are believing youth/students a part of the body of the church?
OR - Is there an age at which believing students become a part of the body?
Most people define the Church in two ways - the VISIBLE Church which is made up of all professing believers - those who say they are followers of Christ and are seen in their various assemblies (local bodies). The INVISIBLE church is made up of those who are truly believers. Jesus taught that there would be tares mixed with the wheat (unbelievers with believers) until judgment, when He will separate the two. In both, make up is determined by belief - either professing belief or true, genuine belief. If we apply that definition to New City Church, then we would say that NCCd is made up of believers... all believers... believers of all ages.
Youth Groups typically segregate congregations. There is the Youth Group and the adults. The Youth Group learns with the Youth Group, participates in fun activities with the Youth Group, takes mission trips with the Youth Group, hangs out with The Youth Group, travels with the Youth Group, and on and on and on.
If a group of believers is segregated from the rest of the body that is the church, both the group and the body suffer. In I Corinthians 12, Paul writes about spiritual gifts and explains that every member of the body is given a spiritual gift - (7) Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. Notice that last phrase - the gift, which is the manifestation of the Spirit's presence in a believers life is given for what? for the common good of the body. In Ephesians 4 Paul again talks about the functioning of the local body of believers where he writes, From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Every member in the body does its work and together the members build up the body in love.
Are youth/students members of the body or not?
If so, how or where do they contribute to the good of the whole body by being segregated into a youth group? Some may respond by saying that they use their gift for serving and building up the youth group, which in turn is good for the whole body. The problem with that is that segregation in the body really creates a church within a church. They may in fact work for the good of the youth group, but that is not the same as the common good of the whole body.
So, how and where can youth/students serve the New City Body as they are incorporated into the body? At least a couple of our youth/students play fairly regularly in our bands, some are aids to those teaching the younger kids on Sunday mornings, some help with set-up and tear-down every week, some help serve at the donut and coffee bar, some have helped watch the littlest ones during MC gatherings, a few have attended and participated in MC discussions and even more are regulars at MC fun nights, one of our young guys often helps with sound and has run our Sunday morning sound by himself more than once (and does a great job). Our MCs also are to have quarterly service projects throughout the city - those projects are to be set up so that nccders of all ages can serve the city. In short, at New City, we are structured through MCs so that youth/students can serve the body (the entire body), for the common good of the body anywhere they are gifted and able. Because we do not segregate the youth/students from the rest of the body, they can be genuine contributors to the whole body.
We believe that there will be other benefits as well. Such as:
Young people will see and learn life from parents and other adults
Young people will develop gospel-centered relationships with adults (young and old) that they can utilize for all areas of life (school, future employment, marriage, family...) for as long as they live,
Young people will grow up serving and contributing to the body
Because young people are a part of the whole body, they will be less likely to feel "lost" when they graduate from student ministry and therefore are more likely to continue as a part of the body as opposed to disappearing from church life until having children of his/her own (as an estimated 80-90% do)
