The argument goes a little like this.
Why would the church, in its fulfilling of the Jesus agenda of loving our neighbour, fighting injustice and restoring a fractured world, that now operates in a society facing sometimes severe austerity, look to work more closely with students? The same students who are often perceived as privileged, sometimes hedonistic and narcissistic, that surely do not deserve even more attention.
It is, on the face of it, a pretty strange focus for the church.
Surely there are better areas for the church to focus its attentions? The poor, the homeless, the broken – the very people that Jesus meets in the Gospels. But the church has almost systematically overlooked this group because of the assumptions that underpin the prioritisation of its limited resources.
Strategically this is short-sighted. It is one of the few definable demographic groups, geographically concentrated, largely definable by age and engaged through media and interest groups like few others.
To pass over a group that is often at its most idealistic, malleable and available seems myopic at best.
Nor is it an 'either-or' question. At root the church has a role to play in helping individuals in the transition from home life to independent life, rooting our children in their new community to support and frame the years that are most likely to be both their freest and most challenging. Providing succour in times of heightened pressure on individuals and increasing occurrences of mental health issues across campuses.
Short-sighted in missing the chance to encourage and shape the influencers and leaders of tomorrow. The mothers and fathers who shape the next generation and provide the woven strength to the fabric of society, those who will make decisions on investment, loans, surgery, policies, media, housing and areas of technology not yet imagined.
And missing the opportunity to tap into the energy and freedom that thousands of young people can bring in to the church today. To serve our community in many ways. The very community that desperately needs more workers.
The very community facing pressure in serving the Jesus agenda now and into the distant future.
