The gap between the church and the classroom seems bigger each day. Thousands of teenagers go through life with little or no contact with church-based youth ministries.

For this reason, several so-called ‘parachurch’ youth organisations have sought to bridge this gap by developing ‘contact’ programs. Using fun and humour as their tools, they organise events that reach large numbers of teenagers in order to connect with the youth. The intention is then to transition these unchurched youth into the life of the local church.

There is no doubt that this tactic has the ability to reach many non-Christian teenagers. Yet as a strategy, it must be judged on its ability to help youths make the jump from the contact group to the church. Sadly, it is in this area that it often fails.

Yet, this is not the only problem with this contact model of mission. Due to the inherent desire to blend with the youth culture, the gospel message is often silenced. In an attempt to avoid “Bible bashing”, the confronting gospel of Jesus is often concealed. Some groups even tell their leaders not to open a Bible unless a teenager specifically requests it.

For this reason, we must be careful not to confuse relationship building with evangelism. For, evangelism involves the specific act of speaking the gospel. Relationship building is valuable, but only through the hearing of the word can a person know God and flee his coming judgement.

This reluctance to speak the gospel can often communicate an unfortunate message to the teenagers. When people hesitate to confront the youths with the counter-cultural message of the crucified Christ, it demonstrates a lack of confidence in that gospel.

If we really believe that it is by the hearing of the word that a person can be saved, then we will put more energy into word school ministries. I cannot think of any better opportunity than that of High School scripture teaching (SRE). There is no better way to make contact with a student than to weekly present them with the whole counsel of God over thirteen years. It is a tragedy to see teams of youth leaders making ‘contact’ by cooking pancakes at the bus stop, when scripture classes remain without teachers to share the gospel.

Another drawback with the ‘contact’ groups is their capacity to undermine the word ministry of many existing ISCF and Crusaders lunchtime groups. When a parachurch youth organisation chooses to organise a competing fun and games ‘outreach’ group, then the mission focus of the existing lunchtime group is lost. The ISCF group becomes solely focused on Christian nurture, and the ‘contact’ group becomes focused on mission. Yet, unlike the ISCF group, the games group lacks the gospel. Furthermore, if the ‘mission’ group is focused on fun, then the ‘nurture’ group will, by inference, be seen as boring.

The future of the church is not to be found in fun and games ‘contact’ events. It is to be found in the bold proclamation of the word of God. For this reason, we must put our energy into making SRE work. This is the ultimate form of school ‘contact’ available. Let us not lose sight of the importance of word ministry in the schools.

Jodie McNeill is a youth ministry trainer with Anglican Youthworks. Contact him at