Title: Youth Survey in Taiwan Finds Young Christians “Hot for Music, Cold for Mission”
Taiwan Church News 2858 4-10 December 2006
Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong. Written by David Alexander
“Consider both “What Would Jesus Do?” and “How Do I Live?” The 2006 joint youth assembly held by the Taipei and Seven Stars Presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) gathered under this theme on December 2nd at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei. 300 youth of high school and college age showed up, and 70 leaders took part in presentation of a single day programme rich with plenary sessions and small group presentations on a host of topics. Sadly, the sessions dealing with mission and social concern were undersubscribed, so were cancelled.
Cheng Kun-ping, a campus minister and youth worker in suburban Tam-sui, said, “Young people are not encouraged to develop mission eyes in the churches, and the mass media are filled with violence. The result is that when we bring up the topic of social issues, people would rather not discuss them. Additionally, the celebratory style of much of the worship music we have had over the past years inclines people more to street dancing than action in the streets. We have become lightweights at mission work.”
The assembly was sponsored by the Taipei United Campus Ministry of the PCT, the youth committees of the two presbyteries, and individual congregations. Prominent speackers were engaged for the plenary sessions, and the elective workshops were planned with care to cover the topics of mission, service, and social issues. Those who planned to attend were given registration cards in advance and encouraged to sign up for the particular topics that attracted them.
The submitted cards told a story of the mindset and interest of the youth of the Taipei area PCT churches. Music leadership was strongly oversubscribed, but topics like “Campus Mission”, “Rural Mission”, “Youth Mission”, “Social Issues” and “Youth Discuss Youth” had no registrants.
One volunteer leader, Ms. Huang, said, “We weren’t able to offer the workshops on mission, but the ones on pop music worship leading were packed. This is the fruit of what we have offered in churches. Our young people are brought to some head-knowledge and baptism, but many haven’t the faintest idea of what it means to grow in mission. If we treat the mission of the church and social issues so lightly, and put our energy only on what entertains the young people at this point in their lives, the church is going to face a crisis.”
For more information: Seven Stars Presbytery http://sevenstar.disciple.com.tw
Taipei Presbytery http://www. Tppct.org.tw
Cheng Kun-ping kppan@mail.pctedu.org