YOUTH AND THE CHURCHES

By THEODORE BARKER

0 NE of the most noteworthy symptoms of the last few years has been the growing interest in religion among young people, and the failure of the churches to satisfy this interest. It is estimated that only to to 15 per cent. of.the people.of this country attend church

with any regularity. Since most congregations are evidently made up in the main of the middle-aged and elderly, it seems reasonable to suppose that the percentage of men and women under thirty is considerably less—probably not more than 5 per cent, of those age- groups. This means not only that the numbers of churchpeople will continue to decline steadily in the future, but also that the churches today lack the lively enthusiasm and originality which youth both provides and expects. I am a church member, and am convinced that a firm religious faith alone gives our lives purpose in these days when it is so easy to drift. But I am also in my early twenties, and am not in the least surprised that the majority of churches today fail to have any attraction at all for my generation, who sense from outside the churches what some of us feel from inside, that so often churchgoing does not ring true. For many it is a social function rather than an act of worship.

Yet, in spite of the conditions in which we have grown up—for the most part conducive to a materialist outlook—I know that my genera- tion has a very keen interest in living a better life. Moreover, many appreciate that a firm faith is essential, and not merely an ethical code. They sense—though they often cannot explain why—that a religious approach alone provides the key to our many problems on whatever plane they be. This may surprise some of our elders, who look on us as rather irresponsible beings who do not (in , the words of the recent Commission on Evangelism) "possess the faculty for apprehending the realms of the spirit." My own experience among friends convinces me that we are misjudged in this respect. This conviction is supported by Dr. Macalister Brew, who has written of her visits to a hundred public-houses in one of our cities on a hundred nights. There she mixed with young people, and, without leading the conversation, listened to what they had to say. She found that living a better life was more frequently discussed than the cinema or dancing. But she also found that these same people had little time for the churches because they saw too often the yawn- ing gulf between the respectability of Sunday, and the mediocrity of the other six days. As a canon recently put it : "So often good churchpeople seem less nice, less loving, less Christ- like than those outside the church. Often the latter are not materialist ; they have a genuine reverence for things not seen and eternal."

I feel sure that the churches will fail to attract young people until they spend far more time showing that there is a practical value in Christian worship which has a very definite resultant effect in daily life. It will not be sufficient to tinker about with the surface trap- pings—to make the sermons shorter, to introduce modem hymns and the like—and certainly it would, be very unwise to launch a great propaganda campaign until a real change has taken place inside the churches. We who make up the church need first a real faith in God which will impel us to do good and to fight evil and injustice.

There are two separate and clearly-defined stages in gaming sup- port for any cause : first, confidence must be won, and, secondly, the cause must be explained clearly and reasonably. This is true of Christianity. But today the churches, grinding along without much show of .enthusiasm in a high-speed world, do not inspire mucl• confidence, and their, teaching often consists of little more than a feu

personal ideas on some trivial issue, hastily scraped together by souk well-meaning preacher, and hitched on to a verse of Scripture t, add weight. Those outside are not interested, and the few who clk.. go to church to find what it is all about are befogged.

The churches will win confidence if they reduce the application of Christian teaching from abstract generalities to concrete conditions of life. C. S. Lewis's Screwtape showed truly diabolical cunning

when he instructed his earthly lieutenant to keep the mind of their intended victim "off the most elementary duties by directing it to the most advanced spiritual ones." There were certain parts of Christ's teaching which apply immediately to our lives in society today. For instance, it is wrong that a man should earn more than enough of this world's wealth when his neighbour is in want. It is equally wrong that political power should be wielded by any person at another's expense. That Archbishop Temple, who was fearless in his denunciation of economic injustices, had the confident interest oT so many outside the churches—particularly the young—is not sur- prising. Nor is it surprising that so few churchpeople rose up to

support him. It may well be that the great, underlying conflict of our time between the individual economic unit, increasing con- tinuously in size, and national control of industry can only be met if there is a change of heart on the part of those concerned which will go at least some way to eliminating the innate desire for exces- sive wealth or extreme political power.

But it will be of little avail gaining interest by showing the result, of Christian teaching in everyday affairs in such a way that it appeals to the sense of values, if there is no clear-cut exposition of the tenets of the Christian faith with which to follow up the interest aroused. There has been much clarification of Bible teaching in this century. It is right that advantage be taken of this to lay before us the suggested answers to the problems in Scripture which at the moment puzzle and perplex. Although Christianity is essen- tially a matter of faith—that is, its efficacy can be experienced rather than explained—there is a small part at the worldly end of the spiritual road, so to speak, which, when examined, shows that it is

not an unreasonable faith. If attention could be drawn to this initial highway the churcnes would be showing the direction of

further spiritual progress which every individual person has then to make himself with God's help and the companionship of others in the church who are striving for the same Christian ideals. Above all, we should have an answer for the man, frequently encountered today, who asks why it is not sufficient to live a good life according to his own ideals. The answer would seem to be that communion with God through prayer gives that extra help and direction to our lives which makes all the difference between success and failure in attaining a certain level of conduct. And the activity which follows confirms that faith in God.

If any further support is required, we need only look at the world around us. At all levels and in all places we are confronted with material achievement and moral failure. Underlying (and underlining) all discussion on the atomic bomb is the constantly recurring idea that we have advanced farther scientifically and materially than we have morally and spiritually. The years 1919- 1939, dominated by fear and insecurity, stand on permanent record as the decades of humanism. Only a firm religious belief and the realisation that an ethical code is not sufficient will enable us in the future to catch up on this material lead, to turn our great scientific achievements to good purpose instead of to our own earthly destruc- tion. As Field-Marshal Montgomery said on VJ Day:

"I firmly believe that every enterprise which man undertakes, if it is to achieve any lasting success, must have a strong spiritual basis. If we attempt any great thing for solely material reasons, the results cannot be good.'

In any attempt to build on this strong, spiritual basis, it is reason- able to join a church, by which is meant a group of people who have a real faith in God and the teachings of Christ which they do their best to translate into action.

Young people are, I believe, ready fot a lead. One thing is

certain: without youth, no regeneration can take place inside the churches as now constituted.