Youth in the Churches

Section A: Theoretical Study (70%)

1. Young people, their place and role in the life of the churches, their rituals and liturgy, including nurture/conversion tensions, baptism/confirmation, worship participation, music, witness and pastoral care.
2. Christian education for the adolescent in various contexts: Sunday school, home groups, catechesis, church youth groups, secondary school religious education and voluntary groups, Christian camps; methods and models of Christian discipleship in youth ministry.
3. Youth leadership: biblical imperatives for nurture and discipleship; tasks and roles; the youth pastor; youth leaders; team building and dynamics; organisational structures; relationships with other church ministries; burnout.
4. The content and planning of a balanced youth programme: strategies, aims and objectives; methods and evaluation of appropriate social, educational, liturgical, counselling and empowering strategies; syllabi, themes, literature, resources.
5. The evaluation of an existing substantial youth programme in a Christian church.

Section B: Ministry with Youth (30%)

1. Christian ministry among adolescents in a particular church, including a minimum of 20 hours field work. Of this, at least 5 hours are to be spent in observation, at least 8 hours in ministry by the candidate, and at least 5 hours in supervised reflection upon observation and teaching. (These hours exclude preparation and writing up time.)
2. In addition to and distinctively different from Section 6, candidates are required to participate in one of the following:
   1. The planning, preparation and leadership of a camp of at least 40 hours duration, for a Christian group;
   2. The planning and conduct of a one-off youth event;
   3. The organising and conduct of a youth leadership training programme.

OR, as an alternative to 6 and 7:

1. Christian Ministry among adolescents including a minimum of 30 hours of fieldwork. Of this at least 7 hours are to be spent in observation, at least 12 hours in ministry by the candidate, and at least 7 hours in supervised reflection upon observation and teaching (these hours exclude preparation and writing up time).

This unit expects 150 hours of work from you in total, or around 10-12 hours each week over the semester. This volume of learning includes working through the learning materials and required learning tasks, additional reading and self-directed study, and working on assessment items, and for online units this includes participation in any online forums.

DE011 is available at level 9 as DE206-912: Specialised Studies in Developmental and Educational Ministry – Youth in the Churches which is a Category C (advanced unit).