All materials can be freely reproduced with acknowledgement. Weekly youth meetings form part of the congregational life of most Chinese churches. In May's edition of Tian Feng , the magazine of the China Christian Council, Long Zhengquan describes a new-style youth meeting created by his church in Linchuan, Jiangxi Province. Young believers are the future of the church, states Long. While many believers pay lip service to this fact, congregations still fail to consider the special needs of their younger members.
Young people think and feel differently from the middle-aged and the elderly, the author notes.
This being the case, young people need different styles of worship if they are to feel at home in the church. For example, hymn singing now includes the singing of more modern choruses with up-beat rhythms, which are rarely heard in regular worship. Going even one step further, participants in the youth group are even invited to dance along to the chorus tunes. In this way, as they sing, young believers experience their faith in a new and holistic way, involving body, mind and spirit. Other innovations include the dramatization of Biblical stories, some study of musical theory and the memorizing of certain Bible verses.