Emi Habel

Eldon Wright made for the tame,

PR1204: Family, Church, & Society
12 April 2019 the wild, and the in
between

DIVERSITY UNIFIED
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It is without a doubt that there is a severe increase of youths at risk in the urban core of

Ottawa. Youths face an astounding level of problems and risks, ranging from substance abuse,

unemployment, and discrimination experienced from

being a part of a minority such as being part of the

LGBTQ+, indigenous, or refugee community. This model

proposal seeks to reach out to the marginalized youths in

a collective, holistic way that takes in consideration

community, diversity, and the adversity that youths at-risk

face. Situated around

downtown Ottawa, I propose to you the formation of a “mobile

drop-in” for youths ages 13-19 in the community. The main

program running will be a “creative workshop”, in which the

diversity of persons, interests, and abilities will be celebrated by

encouraging youths to showcase their hobbies, prepare

workshops, and work in partnership with YSB Youth

Employment Services in Ottawa to provide job opportunities

within their interests and domain.

The program will run on Friday nights from 5-8PM in different places every week to

offer a variety of creative spaces. Dinner will be provided in liaison with the “Support Mom &

Dad” group, an established mentorship program of mature Christian men and women who seek
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to walk alongside youths in the community. On Wednesday nights, the church will run a multi-

generational, all-church discipleship program through which they will be able to undertake peer-

to-peer guidance and/or mentorship for those attending Diverse Alliance on Friday nights.

This model proposal will work in conjunction with a running family ministry as a

creative program and a discipleship program. It is no secret that churches have difficulty

undertaking effective outreach and retention of youths in the church/faith. DeVries described this

as the “biggest crisis in youth ministry”; the impact of youth group does not “stick” with them,

and most young people leave or “disaffiliates” from the church by the time they are sixteen years

old (DeVries) The typical model of youth ministry is not effective in leading teenagers to mature

Christian adulthood (DeVries). Youth ministry, then, sometimes tries to come up with different

programs that better suit the needs of the church and of the youths in order to compensate.

Oftentimes, however, what ends up happening is youth ministry “spreading itself too thin” in

order to “cater” to all needs. This is why I am proposing a synergic approach that brings together

different programs ran by different leaders with different strengths; a “sister” organization to the

“mother” organization that is the church and its running family ministry.

Upon my construction of this model proposal, I have been on a scavenger hunt

throughout the city to find inspiration and observe areas of influence in the lives of youths. This

led me to the doorstep of an Anglican church. Though their theological views are quite different

to the evangelical views, they play a big role in the lives of young people. Reverend Christian

Harvey, the deacon I interviewed, noticed that the regular services did not fully integrate
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everyone in the church he is serving at. As a result, he and his team added a new branch of the

service: the “Open Circle”; an alternative, informal, inclusive, and interactive worship service

(Project Builder 3). This runs in partnership with their regular service and the children’s service,

and all three services give members the opportunity to connect with one another after the

services and through weekly events.

My scavenger hunt also brought me on the doorstep of a soup kitchen, where I had the

opportunity to get some insight from the parent of a young child and a teenager over spaghetti

and garlic bread. The mother explained to me how, though she does not personally believe in the

Christian God, she realizes how valuable the morals instilled by the church are in the lives of

young people; which is why she baptized her children “just in case there is a heaven” (Project

Builder 2). She described her positive view of the church, and how she feels like she could drop

by a church anytime and they would welcome her and her family. She finds, however, that

though it is great that the government and churches support expecting mothers, a lot of this

support goes away as the children grow older. She wishes churches would provide more

opportunities where parents could just “drop-in and learn to be a parent to their growing teen”

(Project Builder 2). This model, then, will keep take inspiration from the people whose main area

of expertise lies in running the church and parenting the youths we are trying to help lead into

maturity of the faith.

Diversity Unified is not only an art program. It is for youths for have an interest in

skating, or sports, or birdwatching, photography, video games, taxidermy, papier-mâché, writing,

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or kickboxing. In the words of Mike Yaconelli, “youth ministry as an experiment has failed. If

we want to see the church survive we need to rethink youth ministry… my hunch is that if we

want to see young people have faith that lasts, then we have to completely change the way we do

youth ministry”, which is why I am proposing to you Diversity Unified (Yaconelli). Diversity

Unified will start for youths at age 13, which is a year ahead of when they begin high school, as I

want to give them an opportunity to prepare for the high school scene without shocking them

into it as they simultaneously begin high school at age 14. It will run for youths until they are 19

to allow time for transition and preparation as they either take a gap year or transition to higher

education. This model will strive to provide youths with the means to follow their passions and

interests, or to discover new ones! It will seek to provide supplies, an environment appropriate to

the interest, an audience, or simply the listening ear of someone who cares about the obscure

passion of a young person. This will ultimately lead to giving youths the responsibility and

independence of having the opportunity to run workshops for their interest/passion/skill/trade to

other youths, children, and adults. You might get exposed to something weird, so come along for

the ride!

By pulling in from the pre-existing church program “Support Moms & Dads”, it involves

parents of older children who might be experiencing loneliness and lack of feeling “needed” due

to an empty nest; or older, mature Christians who never had the opportunity to have children.

Considering the astounding numbers of youth homelessness and unemployment, I believe it is

crucial that Diversity Unified be a place where youths can be provided with dinner. Parents,

mature Christians, and adults are encouraged to be involved by being able to attend the “mobile

drop-in centre” through either helping to supply the material or venue/location needed, or

helping participate according to their skills, trade, or simply interest in the field. Some examples
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of this would be an adult being interested in writing, or a parent having experience in

photography and wanting to participate in sharing the interest of the youth. Furthermore, the

entire family unit is invited to attend the workshops hosted by the youths. This gives youths—

especially youths from the community—the opportunity to connect with parents and adults of the

church, as well as younger peers whom they will get the chance to inspire.

The discipleship group, Diverse Alliance, happening on Wednesday nights will give

youths an opportunity to deepen their faith and knowledge of the Word of God alongside young

adults, older adults, and seniors, which youths attending Diversity Unified will be encouraged to

join. All students will be put in “levels” corresponding to their spiritual maturity level and all

ages will be mixed. Though this program is to be led primarily by the lead and youth pastors,

students who have reached a level higher than 1 (young adults, adults, seniors, and youths) will

have the opportunity to lead diverse small groups. The levels are to go as follow, regardless of

age: Level A is the “entry level” which new Christians are introduced to.

This level provides foundational training such as Salvation 101 (explaining the ins and

outs of what salvation entails), Faith in Everyday Life (debunking how faith factors in daily life),

Me? (learning how to “cultivate a relationship with God” (Wright)) and Christ After Hours (the

last step; talking about how to follow Christ when it gets “tricky” such as with sin, temptation,

addictions, etc. This will lead students into Level B). Level B leads students into So Now What?

(getting them from the initial commitment to how to sustainably live in their salvation), Deep
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Cuts (going deeper into dealing with topics such as sin, temptation, addictions, etc.) and Let’s

Talk About It (how to share their faith and make new disciples—as the goal in youth/family

ministry is not simply to “get teenagers into a relationship with Jesus Christ. We are called to

make disciples—men and women who are moving toward Christian maturity and obedience” and

it is proven that by getting people to share their faith as closely to the time of their salvation as

possible makes people stronger disciples (DeVries)). These two initial levels are crucial

foundations that will move the students (again, of any age) into the next levels (C, D, E, F, and

G).

The transitional period between each level is overseen by the staff leaders; once students

are ready to move into the next level—which happens usually at the beginning of the calendar

year—one or two leaders from said level is to transition with the students into the next level.

Staff and volunteer leaders are being poured back into through monthly “development”

gatherings and a collective Bible/inspirational study they can each do independently (and report

back on and discuss during the development gatherings).

Diversity Unified is by nature a community-based program. It does not target one specific

interest or demographic only; it is for all youths in the community who seek to have a place to go

to where they can fulfill what they have a passion for. By being a “mobile drop-in” centre, it does

not tell youths that they have to “come to us” (which would be an extractionalist approach and

does not fulfill the missional ethos of Diversity Unified: illuminating God to the world in a way
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that is tangible and out of the box) but rather, it facilitates opportunities where God can “hang

out” and where youth can encounter Jesus (Wright). It removes the barriers of solely trying to

bring youths to church and breaks the mentality that youth group should only follow a certain

structure and style; one which sometimes does not really interest youth as much as it

conveniences leaders and follows antecedents. In the words of Joiner, “as long as churches do

only what churches are doing, they will get only the results they are presently getting”, which

then promotes “communities to continue to perceive the church as institutional, insulated, and

irrelevant and the church being characterized by superficial relationships” (Joiner).

Here are some details concerning how a mobile drop-in centre would work: the

venues/locations would be picked typically with a half-year-plan in mind, therefore six venues

would be selected ahead of time. This timeframe allows structure and facilitates the planning of

the activities; however, considering the variety of youths which the “drop-in” aspect of the

model would bring and the possible fluctuation of attendants, it allows the opportunity for other

venues to be decided upon as the leaders observe the kind of interests the attending youths have

throughout the year. The location would be announced weekly in a suspenseful, almost “cryptic”

way that intrigues youth, such as flyers posted throughout the city as “clues” (youth would have

to inquire details for the location; it could not easily be figured out by strangers). Partnership and

good relationships with local schools and recreational facilities such as skating rinks, gyms,

theatres, miscellaneous art centres, community centres, and local coffee shops is strongly

encouraged—if not mandatory—for the success of this model. Having a web of connections with

these establishments not only facilitates the mobile drop-in centre, but it integrates the church

into the community by being a presence that seeks not to change the community, but embrace it

in its diversity and what it has to offer. The church has forgotten who they are and what they are
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supposed to be showing the world. Joiner refers to the church’s identity as a “lampstand”; the

influence that brings light in communities. If the lampstand is used to highlight things that are

not part of the church (like personal agendas, political statements, or making the church look

better than other establishments), then the lampstand loses its focus and does not shed light on

what it was made for, Jesus (Joiner).

Furthermore, as Diversity Unified provides youth with an environment where they can

delve deeper into what they are interested in and passionate, youths will be encouraged to partner

with YSB Youth Employment Services to find a job or career in their vocational path.

Considering the significant problem of youth unemployment (which, in some cases, later bleed

into adult unemployment), this area of the model proposal takes care of a significant issue

affecting youths. As not all hobbies or area of interest can be turned into a 9-to-5 job, youths will

be encouraged to begin volunteering with places from YSB’s job banks. This can ultimately lead

to job positions such as skate park maintenance (interest in skating), to urban design assistance

(interest in graffiti, design, art), etc.

Furthering my quest throughout the city to find inspiration and observe areas of influence

in the lives of youths, I turned my attention to an organization that has been bringing relief and

support to the community for over 40 years, PARN. One of their programs, Rainbow Youth, was

run similarly to the structure of a Christian youth ministry. The majority of youth who frequent

Rainbow Youth are an equal mix of people who have been affected by their outreach in the
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community and those who simply found it by looking for a safe place”, and youths say they feel

“safe, welcomed, and non-judged” at Rainbow Youth (Project Builder 4). Rainbow Youth also

made sure to work with the mother organization, PARN, to ensure that youths were mentored by

young adults who graduated from the program and older adults in the community. This church

and organization had incredible feedback on “young and old” integration. Youths testified that

having young adults, older adults, and seniors walk alongside them was encouraging and made it

seem like “this thing [life, having victories over struggles, etc.] was possible for the long-run”

(Project Builder 4).

Another major influence in the lives of youth is school. The educational system and

student life have a strong say in what kind of lives students lead and their image of themselves

and the world around them. I was fortunate to encounter a public school in Peterborough, I.E.

Weldon High School, that cared deeply about its students and whose principal was personally

invested in the wellbeing of the youths, staff, and parents. The principal involved parents

intentionally through the parent council and weekly parent involvement in events and the daily

school routine. It was refreshing to see a committee of adults being so passionate about the

whereabouts, influences, and concerns of youths. The committee considered external sources

(government decisions, the news, social and pop culture influences) as having the ability to

drastically affect the minds and lives of youths (Project Builder 5). The events and programs

were chosen by the students for the students, and was brought about in ways that were not only

helpful to the community around them, but created great opportunities for youths of different

contexts such as different schools, cities, and backgrounds to be in community with each other.
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Having discussed with you the demographic of youths in Ottawa earlier, I believe it is

imperial that there be a focus on minorities, especially that of the LGBTQ+ community. There

are over 1,126 youths identifying as LGBTQ+ in Ottawa (City of Ottawa). These 1,126 youths

have turned to the internet, agencies, one another, and—in worse case scenarios, though it

happens—self-harm and suicide in cry out of sheer despair. And yet, these are the youths who

belong in our churches. In our circles, in our outreach, in our attention; in the thoughts and arms

of parents in the church who accept them. The very foundation of the Gospel we share, Jesus and

His birth, proves that God is not constrained by biological descent; families can be created in

more than one way so that no one is without family (Garland). Family ministry, through which

this model works, “must make sure that no one in the faith is “familyless—that everyone is

adopted into family” (Garland). It is this very integration of the church’s family ministry in the

community—and through this, the integration of Christian adult mentors in the lives of youths—

that God can demonstrate His story of “restoration and redemption in the world, as both the

church and the family are systems comprised of imperfect people” (Joiner).

I believe this ministry model contentiously seeks to integrate youth minorities within the

larger church and community contexts. By providing diverse avocational and vocational

opportunities, youths would be able to and further their interests and passions to find

employment in partnership with YSB Youth Employment Services. This not only promotes

situational independence and brings relief to the high levels of youth unemployment and
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homelessness, but I believe it has the possibility of lowering the percentage of teenage alcohol

and drug consumption.

Being from Ottawa, I personally have a heart for the youths of Ottawa. It is astonishing

the amount of homelessness in youth that is steadily increasing, not to mention the lack of

diversity celebration within Christian circles. Having personally had experience with the

LGBTQ+ community, I find a special place in my heart and a certain drive to care for youth

minorities, especially when this minority usually comes with exponential baggage, hurt, and

crisis that only Christ can bring relief to. My personal perspective on the matter of handling

LGBTQ+ issues is not to justify to other Christians in the church or community why we seek to

reach the LGBTQ community; or explaining whether identifying as LGBTQ is “right or wrong”,

because it’s so much deeper than that. Practicing LGBTQ attractions is a sin, and all sins grieve

God. Yet, we have all sinned and fallen short of His glory (Rom. 3.23, Jam. 2.10-11, NIV). If we

do not extend this grace to the community and to youths through our words, actions, and

attitudes, we will not be able to create an environment where young people can have room and a

safe place to encounter Jesus (Wright).

Acceptance and love run deep; if we show youths that we care for them and for what

interests them, then we are not only showing that adults truly care for them and seek to establish

genuine, long-lasting relationships with them, but ultimately, it reflects Christ. If youths can

come to grasp through this program that there is a God who cares about them in their entirety—

enough to die for them and save them—and how they can grow in maturity in such faith, then

my mission will be accomplished.

Diversity Unified, as previously mentioned, would fit best as part of an already-existing

family ministry as a creative program and a discipleship program. By also working in

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conjunction with a pre-existing church program, “Support Moms & Dads” (which, if you’re

wondering, was kickstarted by future me), it involves parents of older children who might be

experiencing loneliness and lack of feeling “needed” due to an empty nest; or older, mature

Christians who never had the opportunity to have children. Really, Diversity Unified comes in as

the friend your children call “aunt” on a Wednesday night to help you take care of your kids

when you feel burned out from work, but then turns out to be more than just a momentary relief;

it ignites a spark of creativity in your children and inspires them to explore new horizons.

I would like to thank you for taking the time to read and carefully considering my model

proposal. In a wild, crazy outreach, Diversity Unified seeks to demonstrate the love of Christ

through the integration of marginalized youth in the community of believers, which will

ultimately lead them to growing in maturity of faith and a love for Christ that runs deeper than

any crisis, hurt, or circumstances around them. Faith in Christ and the family of believers is for

the tame, the wild, and everyone in between. Lastly, I would like to leave you with a celebration

of diversity for the glory of God, from the Book that inspired it all:
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DeVries, Mark. Family-Based Youth Ministry. InterVarsity Press, 2004.

D., Madison. Project Builder 2 (Parent Interview). 15 Feb. 2019.

DeMarsh, Gwynne (PARN, Rainbow Youth), Dylan, Anya. Project Builder 4 (Community

Agency Interview). 20 Feb. 2019.

"Economy and Demographics." City of Ottawa, ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/budget/financial-reports-

and-statements/long-range-financial-plans/long-range-financial-plan-iii-part-1-and-part-

2/economy-and-demographics.

Harvey (St. John's Anglican Church), Rev. Christian. Project Builder 3 (Church Leader

Interview). 15 Feb. 2019.

I.E. Weldon High School. Project Builder 4 (School Committee Meeting). 31 Mar. 2019.

Joiner, Reggie. Orange Leader Handbook: a Think Orange Companion. David C. Cook, 2010.

Madison. "Survey Details Ottawa's Homeless Population." Capital Current, 30 Oct. 2018,

capitalcurrent.ca/survey-details-ottawas-homeless-population/.

The Holy Bible, New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan House, 1984. Print.

Wright, Eldon. PR1204: The Family, Church, & Society. Master’s College and Seminary 2019.

"Youth Homelessness in Ottawa: the Most At-risk People in the Capital." The Charlatan,

Carleton's Independent Newspaper – Carleton's Independent Newspaper Since 1945,

charlatan.ca/2017/12/youth-homelessness-in-ottawa-the-most-at-risk-people-in-the-

capital/.

"Youth Homelessness in Ottawa." United Way Ottawa, 18 Feb. 2016,

www.unitedwayottawa.ca/youth-homelessness-in-ottawa/.