HALF of all churches NEVER talk about relationships and sex with their young people, yet the topic was the 3rd highest priority for young people (1).
Christian youth workers hold a unique position in many young people's lives. Many young people trust and rely on their youth workers to help them navigate the pressures of school, culture, and more.
Working in partnership with the wider family, youth workers could be catalysts for a revolution in young people’s thinking on relationships and sex. Working with young people in a church context can create specific challenges but also brilliant opportunities.
We would love to help you take advantage of those opportunities and engage confidently and knowledgeably with young people!
Young people have many questions, and the Fullness course is designed to help you start responding to these in practical, dynamic, and life-giving ways that will help young people bring their faith and their views on sex and relationships together in an authentic way.
Check out our upcoming public courses or contact us to arrange a training course for you and your team.
The Fullness course will:
- Provide a Biblical foundation for why Christians should be talking about relationships and sex
- Update you on how changes in Relationships and Sex education in schools are impacting young people
- Equip you to run small group sessions that help young people make sense of their questions around relationships and sex
- Empower you to be proactive in informal conversations with young people about relationships and sex
- Be a safe place to ask difficult questions and hear different ideas on how to approach topics
- Help you change cultures of silence around relationships and sex that cause young people to struggle in isolation.
The results of a recent survey with 318 Christian youth leaders show that 57% report that their church's approach to talking about sex has had a negative impact, 22% a positive impact, and 21% a mixed, neutral, or unknown impact (2). The responses suggest that in many churches conversations about sex are a mixture of shamefulness, silence, and harm, and are driving young people away.
You can help us do better!
1 Youthscape (2016) Losing heart (https://www.youthscape.co.uk/research/losing-heart)
2 Gardner, R. (2021, October). The Sex Thing: Reimagining conversations with young people about sex. (https://amzn.to/3oeHCo5)