By Amanda Wells
The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand’s new Youth Ministry Development Leader says faith communities are still very important to young people, even if they become disillusioned by their experiences with churches.
Carlton Johnstone has just finished a PhD looking at why Generations X and Y go to church, why they change churches, and how life experience and their own faith journey affects these choices.
“People are looking for a community to belong to; one that they connect with and relate to. Relationships are very important.”
Conversely, denominations become less meaningful and aren’t seen as a strong source of identity, he says “because people don’t appreciate the distinctions”.
“This is something that’s been lost that could be regained and add some strength.”
Young people aren’t just after a spiritual experience, Carlton says. “That’s not enough anymore for a lot of people. They want more in terms of preaching; they want theological depth.” If worship lyrics don’t reflect their reality, after a while they will begin to disconnect from worship.
Carlton, who’s 37, says when he started the job in April he knew virtually nothing about Presbyterianism, but is now starting to appreciate its points of difference.
It’s been a while since a full-time youth ministry person has been based in Wellington. For the past couple of years, there’s been a team approach, with Stephanie Redhead in Gore coordinating PYM work. Steph is now working for the Synod of Otago and Southland, and the Church is looking for someone to fill the vital coordination role that she played.
Carlton’s newly created role has a more strategic focus, which he describes as “thinking about how we do what we do and how we might be able to do it better”. Like Kids Friendly's Jill Kayser, Carlton will be working with churches to help them attract a particular, missing age group.
Apart from Assembly Office’s proximity to the cafes of Cuba Street, Carlton says he was attracted to the role because it’s a good fit with his skills and training, as well as because of its strategic potential.
“I have a heart to serve and strengthen the Church. It’s quite an exciting role in terms of some of the possibilities.”
Obvious challenges facing the Presbyterian Church include its lack of youth, Carlton says. “Another challenge is increasing the viability of youth ministry as a career option.” Youth ministers and workers need to be appropriately valued and trained, he says.
The focus of his first few months in the job will be meeting and talking to people, “to gain an evaluation of the current situation on a national level and see where culture change is required”.
Carlton’s role will involve working with sessions, churches and presbyteries; he’ll work closely with the national youth coordinator, whose role is more about maintaining the existing youth ministry structure, when someone is employed in this role.
During his first two months, Carlton’s visited Auckland, Whakatane, Tauranga, Rotorua, Dunedin, Southland, and Christchurch, as well as spending time at his Wellington base. Along with his wife Sarah, an environmental engineer, Carlton relocated from Auckland to take up the new role.
As well as his studies, which include a Masters degree in Sociology, Carlton has worked as a youth pastor at Mt Albert Baptist Church in Auckland, and spent a year in North Africa with Operation Mobilisation, which is an interdenominational mission organisation that focuses on parts of the world that have not encountered the Gospel. Prior to this he’d completed theological training at the Baptist Church’s Carey College.
Carlton has also spent some time as a full-time competitive cyclist, but says his biking these days is more about fitness
than racing.