Youthscape Presentation - an advance preview of their ground-breaking research 'Translating God'

In every generation, culture and sub-culture, there is a translation task to be done.

In Acts 17, we see the apostle Paul reading his Athenian audience. He uses their poetry, and his knowledge of their spiritual practices, to start a conversation linking their ‘grave to an unknown God’ with the God he knows. Just as Paul looked for some bridge to build between the Athenians’ experience and the gospel of Jesus Christ, so we find ourselves part of the great translation task with young people today.

First there is the listening, the watching, the getting to know those we are alongside. How do we as adults in the Church pay attention to the lives of young people? The wonder of their worlds and the problems facing them. The language they use and the lenses they look through.

And when we are beginning to grasp how the world might look through their eyes, where do we start in introducing them to this faith, that we believe holds transformative possibilities and a radical, life-changing love?

The Translating God research project is an attempt to wrestle with this challenge – to help those in the church to see and understand the worlds teenagers inhabit, and reflect on how to translate the good news to this generation.

The first report - published in November 2023 - addressed the question of what is actually different about young people’s culture today. The findings can be accessed at translating-god.com

The second and third reports - about to be published - explore in detail how young people respond to the Christian message and the Bible - and make suggestions for how this might impact the task of discipleship and mission.

From the engagement of youth ministry organisations so far, it seems this research will profoundly influence how we go about the challenge of sharing faith with young people.

The project is fully funded so we are not sharing it with funders to seek a grant. However funders may find a presentation really helpful in thinking about what projects and programmes will be most impactful in the coming decade.