Introduction
In the year 2000 the BBC reported that a new group of young people had emerged. The marketing agencies called them Tweenagers. These Tweenagers, aged between 10 and 13, were seen as the group with the fastest-rising spending power on the High Street. More importantly, the Tweenagers are able to influence their family's purchases by the use of rational argument as well as pestering power.
The challenge for the marketers was simple: they had to be very careful how they approached this group. If they target their adverts too low, the Tweenagers will think they are being patronised. But if they target them too high, the Tweenagers will think the product is too mature for them. They had become a self aware unique sub group. They had the power of choice!
In 2000 Christian Research published "The Tide is Running Out" by Peter Brierley, the results of the 1998 English Church Attendance Survey (ECAS). A number of us travelled around England talking to groups of leaders looking at this research in more detail. One of Peter's memorable lines was "The church of Jesus Christ is haemorrhaging young people". We were losing 1,000 under 15 year olds a week. Over 50% of churches have no 15-18 year olds at all.
No words can express how serious this loss is. What ECAS showed us was only a snapshot of a Sunday morning. A real concern for the Church of Christ and the young people within it made it imperative to find out the real picture, to better understand the situation we are in so that we can effectively plan for the future taking into account everything else that happens in and around the Church.
This research therefore endeavoured to answer the question, how do we reach and keep 10 to 14 year old Tweenagers? The main results and analysis are in the book Reaching and Keeping Tweenagers. But all the information in the world does not count if it is not applied. The other half of research is local application, which is why we decided to produce this workbook. It is not a substitute for the book but rather a companion and a tool to take you and your church on a journey from knowledge, through reflection on your experience, to practical application for the sake of the kingdom, the church and young people.
Richard Bromley, Youth for Christ and Chair of the Planning Committee.
Autumn 2002
