Why the Church Needs Teens and Teens Need the Church

Your Teenagers Have Something to Offer

I think the church has done a little bit of a disservice to teenagers by not defining for them what their role is in the church. A lot of teenagers—even those that are Christians and passionate about their faith—feel almost like they're not really a part of the body of Christ.

They're in this odd limbo—they're not in children's ministry, but they're also not adults who can participate in the living, moving, active, growing community of the church. That is a big problem because, if you read the New Testament and you look at the model of the New Testament church, we’re not given exceptions for teenagers in the instructions for the church and for the community.

. . . we’re not given exceptions for teenagers in the instructions for the church and for the community.

All Christians . . . Including Young Ones

All Christians are called to live in community with God's people. All Christians are called to serve other members of God's people, to love them, to be held accountable by them, to be taught by them. And teenagers—of all God's people—need that so much. If they do not have a local body, if they don't have the freedom to participate in that community, then it can be detrimental for their faith.

We hear that as young people get into their twenties and thirties, they’re leaving the church in droves. I think a big part of that is because teenagers haven't been taught how and why to participate in the community.

This Changes Everything

Jaquelle Crowe

Written by a teenager for teenagers, This Changes Everything is a deeply theological yet practical and accessible book on how the gospel radically transforms every aspect of the teen years.

So it is a huge service to Christian teenagers to welcome them into the community of the church, serve them, and teach them how to serve the community.

Jaquelle Crowe (BA, Thomas Edison State University) is a young writer from eastern Canada. She’s the lead writer and editor-in-chief of TheRebelution.com and a contributor to the Gospel Coalition, desiringGod.org, and Unlocking the Bible. Her first book is This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years.