An Assesment on the Benefits of Youth Inclusion in the Church Ministry: A Case Study of Lira Urban Archdeaconry, Lango Diocese

Abstract

The study investigated the benefits of youth inclusion in the church ministry within Lira Urban archdeaconry, Diocese of Lango. This study was conducted under the following objectives; Examining the Christians’ view towards involving youth in church ministry in Lira urban Archdeaconry. Establishing the impact of involvement of youth in church growth and management and establishing the reasons for low participation of youth in general church ministry in the Lira Urban Archdeaconry. The descriptive and evaluative research design were employed during this research to study 100 out of 150 projected respondents, the sampling was done through random sampling. Both structured and semi structured questions were used to help the researcher to get answers and relevant information from respondents. The results of the study indicate that the youth, spiritual and lay leaders believe that the involvement of youth in general church programming is of benefit for church development. The study also shows that majority of the youth satisfied that they are being included in the church ministry though they have some areas lacking their involvement. The study revealed several reasons for low participation of youth in the church ministry and among reasons were low self esteem, ignorance, peer pressure and money minded pastors who scare unemployed youth away from church. The study concluded that much as there is moderate inclusion of the youth in church ministry, there are still gaps that need to be filled for better inclusion. Lastly the study recommended that the youth department from the Diocese down to sub-parishes be strengthened and youth friendly programs well regulated and guided be put in place so that youth are recruited and retained in church through mentorship, guidance and counseling and discipleship as guarantor for ministry sustainability and continuity.