Faith-Based Youth Work: Holding Belief and Practice in Balance

I grew up in church and started helping when I was still young myself. By 16, I was leading the children’s provision in our small community church in Loughborough. People come into this work through family, community and lived experience, and I have never left faith-based youth work. 

When I talk about faith-based youth work, I mean youth work that helps young people explore faith, identity, values and belonging. The faith lens matters, but it is not the whole story. It’s also about school, family, citizenship, social action and how young people become who they want to be. Although rooted in a faith context, it is founded on the same values and ethical principles as all youth work: participation, voice, relationship building, inclusion and choice. 

What makes faith-based youth work distinctive is the community around it. A young person may know the adults in that space not only from a weekly session, but from other parts of community life too. 

In recent years, I have seen more young people come to church actively looking for somewhere to ask big questions. Sometimes they are exploring faith they have grown up with. Sometimes they are encountering it for the first time. Sometimes they are trying to make sense of a world that feels frightening, unstable or overwhelming. Faith-based youth work can offer space for that exploration, but only if it is led well. For me, faith-based youth work is only as strong as its youth work practice. 

Safeguarding trumps everything 

I work with brilliant volunteers from all walks of life at my church, Trent Vineyard in Nottingham. As a co-ordinator for Trent Youth, we work with young people aged 11–18, providing activities, mentoring and wellbeing support. The volunteers bring warmth, wisdom and commitment. But goodwill is not enough. If you are working with young people, you need formal safeguarding training, an understanding of professional boundaries and youth work skills. Safeguarding trumps everything, and those working with young people in faith settings should be held to a particularly high standard because young people and families often bring the most sensitive parts of themselves into these spaces. 

Keeping the young person at the centre  

My background in education and qualifications in mental health have enabled me to support many young people exploring their identity, gender and sense of belonging. My role is to listen, ensure they feel safe and respected, know my boundaries, seek support when needed and keep the young person at the centre. 

One young person I supported had been attending the ministry since they were 11 or 12. As they grew older, conversations about identity developed into questions rooted in gender dysphoria and what it meant for them to work out who they were. Later, they asked to move from the girls’ session to the boys’ session because that reflected the direction they wanted to take. 

I supported them practically and pastorally, helping them to access wider services and mental health support. What proved more challenging was navigating that journey within a faith setting whose structures had not previously encountered a young person at the start of their transition journey. 

That experience prompted important conversations within our church community. It highlighted tensions that had long existed and challenged us to think differently. The process was not easy, but I believe it has led to a more positive experience for other young people accessing our youth services since then. 

Citizenship and social action 

My background in education and qualifications in mental health have enabled me to support many young people exploring their identity, gender and sense of belonging. My role is to listen, ensure they feel safe and respected, know my boundaries, seek support when needed and keep the young person at the centre. 

One young person I supported had been attending the ministry since they were 11 or 12. As they grew older, conversations about identity developed into questions rooted in gender dysphoria and what it meant for them to work out who they were. Later, they asked to move from the girls’ session to the boys’ session because that reflected the direction they wanted to take. 

I supported them practically and pastorally, helping them to access wider services and mental health support. What proved more challenging was navigating that journey within a faith setting whose structures had not previously encountered a young person at the start of their transition journey. 

That experience prompted important conversations within our church community. It highlighted tensions that had long existed and challenged us to think differently. The process was not easy, but I believe it has led to a more positive experience for other young people accessing our youth services since then. 

For me, the future of faith-based youth work depends on us being brave enough to keep asking difficult questions, holding tension thoughtfully and translating that into meaningful support for young people within increasingly diverse and multi-faith communities.