What’s the point of ministry amongst children, youth and families? Examination of aims and activities from different perspectives

Holmes, Sarah E and Drew, E What’s the point of ministry amongst children, youth and families? Examination of aims and activities from different perspectives. British Journal of Religious Education. ISSN 0141-6200

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Abstract

This phenomenological exploration of the aims and activities of ministry amongst children, young people and families captured data from a range of stakeholders using an online survey. Responses from paid (n=325) and voluntary team members (n=312), parents (n=298), church leaders (n=216) and young people (n=33) were considered through a comparative analysis to establish the extent to which their perspectives aligned. Whilst there were some differences regarding the role and support of parents in their role of faith formation, there was marked unity and clarity of overall purpose across all stakeholders, revealing the significant opportunities which are apparent for greater communication and collaboration since all parties appear to desire this. Indeed, all saw the value and mutual benefit for including and collaborating with CYF. This will undoubtedly be challenging and require a revised vision and strategy, but intentional effort to evaluate and revise the agenda will enhance faith formation amongst children young people and families.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	© 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Education
Depositing User:	Sarah Holmes
Date Deposited:	13 Jun 2025 12:53
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2025 15:00
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4680

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