PHILADELPHIA (October 2000) - Church historian Jon Pahl feels so strongly that youth have not been part of the story of Christian history that he wrote a book. He recently joined the faculty of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia as Associate Professor of Church History.

Entitled, appropriately enough, Youth Ministry in Modern America - 1930 to the Present (Hendrickson Publishers, 2000) his volume explores the strengths and weaknesses of four Christian movements for youth. Chapters discuss the Walther League (1930-77), the Young Christian Workers, a Roman Catholic movement (1938-68), Youth for Christ (1945 to the present) and African American Youth Ministries (1945 to the present).

"Each of the four movements has made a significant contribution and each has missed the mark," says Pahl, who maintains that a major motivation behind the new volume has been to affirm youth ministers from all kinds of traditions. "They don't need to reinvent the wheel to make a difference in this culture," Pahl says, "and I hope they may find the courage to remain true to the depths of their respective traditions." He says he learned from writing the book that no one dominant program or model is likely to succeed today across a culture that is so diffused.

"A historian is supposed to be objective," Pahl says, noting that he has gone a step beyond to be both a critic and an advocate on behalf of youth. He recommends three ideas:

"First of all we need to take seriously the intellects of our young people," Pahl says. "We underestimate their critical insights. We can do better. They ask excellent questions and are open to engagement, but if we do not take the questions seriously, they will go unanswered and we will lose our youth as a resource.

Secondly "we need to recreate rites of passage that help youth make the journey from childhood to adulthood." These "rites" will vary from tradition to tradition, Pahl says. "But we have not maintained such rites very well."

Third, Pahl says the church can be a "signal place" for encouraging non-violent solutions in an increasingly violent culture. "We tend to make youth scapegoats for instances of violence, such as what happened at Columbine High School," he says. "Adults are frequently blind or hypocritical in their own behaviors regarding violence. Youth are good imitators of what they learn from adults around them."

A new Seminary initiative, Theological Education with Youth with its summer scholars program, "is promising," Pahl says, "because it creates an environment for an extended rite of passage which takes the ideas and questions of youth seriously and intensely. Through TEY, youth get to deal with the issues of their changing lives and can practice vocational and spiritual discernment."

What can congregations do to support youth in their journey? "I think it's critical to invite young people to help lead the worship experience in their congregation," he says. "I think it important to involve them in the governance of the church, such as serving on a Congregation Council. And I think it is critical to involve them in service. Having youth participate in Habitat for Humanity, or the Appalachian Service Project gives them ways to serve others creatively. It also awakens them to the deepest problems and challenges of our culture. When they work with adults in such projects they discover first hand that being a Christian takes a lot of work. It isn't easy. But they also can experience the deepest joys faith has to offer."

Pahl ends his remarks on a high note.

"I don't see decline as a dominant feature of this young generation," he says. "It is a time of great change. We may not see the positives in terms of numbers, but we will increasingly see in the youth of today dramatic clarity, focus, intensity and commitment."

Pahl's current research is in three concentrations - violence and religion in the United States, sacred places in American culture, and young people in American religious history. He's taught 12 years at Valparaiso University and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Divinity School (American Religious History; the History of Christianity).