April 11-17, 2011
Church Ministry News
Youth Sunday services in Taiwanese help youths appreciate tradition during transition
Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan
Written by Lydia Ma
It’s not uncommon these days for churches in Taiwan to hold a separate worship service for youths, but what is uncommon is that this youth service would use Taiwanese instead of Mandarin!
According to reports, East Gate Barclay Memorial Presbyterian Church, located at the heart of Tainan, changed its youth services from Mandarin to Taiwanese and moved its meeting time 8:30 a.m. about 2 years ago. The church’s pastor, Rev. Lo Jen-kuei, told Taiwan Church News that youths at his church were fine with such a change as they needed to be at school by 8:30 a.m. on weekdays anyway.
Nowadays, each Sunday morning youth service begins with 20 minutes of praise and worship, followed by the same sermon and Scripture reading used in the adult service, albeit an abridged and livelier version so that youths can understand it After the service, East Gate church’s youths usually go to different small groups and begin Bible studies while adults begin to trickle into the sanctuary for their own Sunday service.
Lo underscored that most youths who grow up in southern Taiwan can understand Taiwanese and it is easier for them to transition to adult services held in Taiwanese if they start learning how speak Taiwanese and read the Bible in Taiwanese when they are in their teen years. His church used to have separate youth services in Mandarin, but many elders later discovered church youths couldn’t transition to the more traditional and Taiwanese language adult Sunday services.
Lo maintains he isn’t against tweaking with the structure of worship services, but there are good reasons why traditional services are the way they are structured today. He believes services in Taiwanese can inculcate precious values in the hearts of youths. Hence, Lo hopes today’s Taiwanese pastors can help youths understand the beauty of worshipping God in Taiwanese, instead of trying to be popular by keeping up with the times.
