Evangelical Youth Groups Require Evaluation
The first time I remember intrusive, conservative Christianity, I was in 7th grade, in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, and my coaches tried to guilt us into going to a “big” event sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I made the basketball team, and it felt like they expected me to attend the “voluntary” event. When I told my mother the expectation, she sat me down and tried to explain that there were different forms of Christianity. She tried to be respectful, so she didn’t say much, but I got the idea that they didn’t think our faith was acceptable. She told me I couldn’t attend. I didn’t lose my place on the team, but I felt left out when the coaches kept bringing up the event I wasn’t in on.
Since that time, I cannot count the number of times I’ve personally experienced evangelical protestant churches use any number of ploys to lead young people into their programming. So, when I read Tyler Huckabee’s article in Sojourners magazine, I empathized. His article “The Party’s Over” included a subheading, “Evangelical Youth Groups Prioritized Fun and Entertainment but Left Many with Shame and Existential Dread. Church Kids Deserve Better.”
The article quotes Liz Moore, the assistant director for the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary. Moore said, “If you trace youth group history, most of these groups are about social control.” Many of these evangelical churches focused primarily on controlling the teenage libido, as if that were the only issue worthy of focus. Further, evangelical youth groups often try to control social interactions and friendships. Painfully, with the threat of damnation, youth can easily begin to dehumanize those who do not fit their church’s narrow view of who is “saved” and who is “damned.”
Too often, parents believe that if their teen is in a church youth group, they are getting supportive faith and proper guidance. When you scratch below the fun and games, there might be religious narcissism and shame. I appreciate the Presbyterian Church USA’s Princeton Theological Seminary addressing the serious concern of the long-term effects of some Evangelical Church youth groups. Parents should review a church’s website. If their Mission isn’t clear, parents should ask questions. Parents often struggle when their children's church youth group’s beliefs and values conflict with their own. Most of all, when parents share their values and why their faith is vital, their teen will have a strong model and better tools for their self-reflection.