Find a group of adolescent girls and ask about Twilight. You immediately will be bombarded with comments regarding who they love more: Edward or Jacob. It is fascinating to see how one series has appealed to so many tweens, teens and young women. As a youth worker, I wonder if there is anything I and other youth workers can learn from the appeal of this series/movie and apply to our own ministries.
Twilight, along with many other trends in popular culture, seems to have a better understanding of youth than the church. This is evidenced in the number of youth who can engage in in-depth conversations about these trends versus the number who can engage in thoughtful conversation about their faith/the Bible. How can this be remedied, or should the church simply take a backseat to the formation of our youth? I hope that with open minds and willing hearts we will not ignore pop culture, but instead learn from it.
Through the success of Twilight and other popular trends, we are given insight into the minds of adolescent girls. What is it that makes girls want to keep reading these long books (the shortest is 544 pages)? Why is there such a large following? According to the article “Vampires, Desire, Girls and God: Twilight and the Spiritualties of Adolescent Girls” the core of Twilight “is a story of yearning for intimate relationship, the working out of desire, situated within a particular cosmology in which supernatural and natural worlds intersect” (Mercer, 2011, p. 272).
More than that, there is an aspect of community among the readers. The girls find enjoyment in reading the books on their own, but this enjoyment is enhanced by the Twilight culture that surrounds them at school. They form groups based on their shared experience of reading the book and even have inside jokes that leaves the non-readers out of the loop. My question is, “Could we use this knowledge of what draws the interest of our youth to help them mature in their faith? I believe we can. I believe the core of the story is ultimately what God offers; it simply is not what youth ministries tend to focus on. Instead of acknowledging the mystery and intimacy of God, we focus on rules and practicality.
If we were to include the wonder and fascination of God, as well as His desire to be in intimate relationship with each of us, we may see increased interest our students. Unfortunately, the mystery and wonderful aspects of God often is lost in the way we present Him to our students. They begin to see God and Christianity as boring, as well as feel as if youth group is only a place where they are told how to live their lives. This is not how I believe God has called us to interact with students. With
According to Kendra Dean, adolescents long “for true love, for ecstatic experiences and for self-sacrificial faithfulness to worthy causes and worthy people.” She goes on to say that “such passion witnesses to the pathos of God…It is this passion revealed in Jesus Christ that provides the foundation for and gives direction to subsequent human passions” (Lanti, 2007, p. 4). Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that by neglecting passion, popular culture gains the upper hand. So, how do we engage the passions of adolescent girls? What is it they are passionate about that can relate to ministry? Throughout the past century, there has been a trend among mainline Protestantism to adopt “a rational faith that denies mystery, transcendence and spiritual experience” (Lanti, 2007, p. 4). On the other hand, “Evangelical churches used gimics to convert teens,” looking at teens more as “objects rather than subjects in relation to God and others” (Lanti, 2007, p. 4). Neither of these approaches allow for students to fill the passions our youth desire to express. Again, we are back to the question: “How do we provide space for students to express their passions in the context of a relationship with God?” I propose the obvious answer: Ask your students.
By including students in their own ministry, they begin to feel empowered and valued. In the church, there has been a continuing movement of disconnecting youth and young adults rather than integrating them into the church body. It is vital to understand “young people are not only the future of the church: They are an integral part of it” (Glassford, 2007, p. 5). It may seem that by integrating youth into the larger church body, youth workers will be out of a job. I disagree. As youth workers, we simply need to adjust the way we do ministry. Instead of creating more programs and activities that are youth-specific, include the entire church and allow for youth to take the spotlight. By integrating the entire church in the lives of youth and giving them an outlet for their passions to shine, we are able to integrate what Twilight has been marketing successfully to our youth. We give them responsibility and illustrate to them that adults desire to be a collaborative part of their lives rather than simply control them.
Bibliography
Mercer, J. A. (2011). “Vampires, Desire, Girls and God: Twilight and the Spiritualities of Adolescent Girls.” Pastoral Psychology, 60, 263-278. doi: 10.1007/s11089-010-0322-7.
Lantini, T. F. (2007). “Adolescent Passion: A Connection Between Church and Culture.” Perspectives, 22(7), 3-4.
Glassford, D. K. (2007). “Reconnecting Young People with the Disconnected Church.” Perspectives, 22(7). 5-10.
