Later this month, 1000 young people and leaders from across the Presbyterian Church in Ireland will gather in Ulster University, Coleraine, for the denominations 20th MAD weekend. Running such a big event requires careful thought about its purpose; MAD is intentionally run for any young person aged 11-18 who comes with their PCI youth group. That sounds great, but it is also a major challenge - ensuring such a huge event is engaging and inclusive of a wide age range of young people with an even wider range of backgrounds and spiritual maturity.
This core value - to aspire to be welcoming and inclusive of every young person who comes - is a work in progress, but is reflected in the activities, seminars and other options which aim to create a place where everyone can connect, most of all with Jesus. This includes being mindful of those with different physical and intellectual needs, and those who may even find an event of this size very challenging.
Though not a perfect model of inclusion, MAD has been on a journey of increased inclusiveness which hopefully encourages the groups that attend to follow the same principles and values. But it is very challenging to actually be inclusive within our youth groups and churches. Even if we are fully committed to making our groups welcoming and open to every young person, it can be overwhelming. How do we truly make young people feel equally at home if they have ASD, or are from different social backgrounds? If they are more introverted among more lively teenagers, or have a physical disability?
The questions seem so big we may opt not to think about them. Yet we know this is not an option as we remember the instructions in James 2 to not show favouritism, or remember especially the way Jesus that dealt with people: “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37). Do we end up driving people away because we have failed to think about how we can include them? Perhaps the solution may be to work out where we are and then start there, with small steps and a clear direction.
Some years ago, our youth group wanted to enable a young man to join us - we’ll call him Neil. It was important to ensure Neil and the other young people had a positive experience as he had special needs. We talked carefully with Neil’s mum and, on her advice, prepared the other young people in advance of Neil coming along, explaining what we needed from them to make our new member feel at home. Despite numerous challenges, this became a good experience both for Neil and for the other young people, who gained so much by having him as part of their group, not least by learning how to be inclusive and welcoming to others.
In contrast, I also remember two lads who came from a very different social background to the other young people. I’m sad to say that, perhaps because we were much less intentional in trying to integrate them into our group, they always felt like fish out of water and eventually stopped coming.
Perhaps we all should be honest and think about where we are on the journey of inclusion and make steps to improve the experience for all our young people. We should not give up because the end point seems out of reach. We can always do something to make our youth groups and churches more inclusive simply by looking through the eyes of the people who come… and certainly through those who could, but do not. It won’t be achieved overnight, but we can all take small steps to follow the call to “welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you” (Romans 15:7).
Please pray for the MAD weekend, 26-28 October, that it will be a place where every young person feels at home and meets with Jesus.
Graeme Thompson is the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s Youth Development Officer.
You can find out more about the work of PCI's youth and children's department here.