Youth
Resources to help rangatahi engage with care of creation and climate change
Tearfund’s Climate Resources - Resources to help you talk to young people about climate change. Covering the following areas:
Acknowledge climate change as a central issue.
Support individual and corporate activism.
Release young people in their giftings.
Communication and support.
Theological input.
Being countercultural.
If you’re looking for other video resources like the one featured here, check out the We Are Tearfund Youtube Channel. Featuring lots of videos to inspire young people to be a generation that makes a difference!
Eco Church UK’s Youth Material.
Diocese of Gloucester’s Youth Ministry Eco Resource.
Christian Aid’s Climate Justice Youth Resources.
Eco Congregation Scotland’s Young People and the Environment resource.
Church of Ireland’s Youth Development, Tearfund Ireland and Christian Aid’s: Caring for Creation: A Resource Pack for Christian Youth
Christian Aid’s Letters for Creation school resources - use these lesson plans to unpack climate justice and explore how we can be courageous advocates for a sustainable and just future for the planet and for people everywhere. Designed for use in schools; it can also be used in a youth group setting.
Care for Creation - Youth Manual - from the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, is aimed at 13-18 years olds. This resource forms part of a confirmation and youth training program that will grow and establish a generation of Anglicans who are committed to safeguarding the integrity of creation and to sustaining and renewing the life of the Earth.
The Salvation Army UK’s Care for Creation Youth Small Group. Over four sessions we are exploring this important mission priority for The Salvation Army in the UK. You will find lots of video clips within these sessions that will display God’s creation and provide accurate background information around this topic. The Salvation Army is committed to helping change attitudes, resulting in a more responsible use of the planet. We seek to provide practical care and advocacy for people affected by damage to the environment. People will not experience fullness of life unless God’s creation is protected and cared for.
Small Group Resources
Please also check out the list of Small Group Resources - some youth groups are using the small group materials listed on this page and have found them very useful.
Young people and climate anxiety
Young People's Voices on Climate Anxiety, Government Betrayal and Moral Injury: A Global Phenomenon - Climate change has significant implications for the health and futures of children and young people, yet they have little power to limit its harm, making them vulnerable to increased climate anxiety. Qualitative studies show climate anxiety is associated with perceptions of inadequate action by adults and governments, feelings of betrayal, abandonment and moral injury. This study offers the first large-scale investigation of climate anxiety in children and young people globally and its relationship to government response. 10,000 young people (aged 16-25 years) in ten countries were surveyed. Data were collected on their thoughts and feelings about climate change, and government response.
“…young people around the world report climate anxiety and distress, related to both ecological destruction and inadequate government response. We argue that the failure of governments to adequately reduce, prevent, or mitigate climate change is contributing to psychological distress, moral injury and injustice. Climate change, climate anxiety and inadequate government responses to these are chronic stressors which will negatively affect mental health and wellbeing. This survey offers an overview; further, detailed research is required to explore the complexities and wide variety of climate feelings. To support mental health, public discourse should encourage the expression of feelings that 60% of young people in this survey have described as being ignored or dismissed.”
“The global scale of this study is sufficient to warrant a warning to governments and adults around the world, and demands an urgent need for more in-depth research, greater responsiveness to children and young people’s concerns, and immediate action on climate change.”
Please see resources under Wellbeing Hauora.
E3 Wilderness Journeys
E3 Wilderness Journeys - A Rocha partners with Scripture Union and Adventure Specialties Trust to run 11-day wilderness journeys for senior school students (ages 17-18 years) in central North Island, in Canterbury and in Otago. Travelling by foot, bike and raft/kayak through some of the most spectacular and remote areas of Aotearoa New Zealand, each trip focuses on faith and character formation, leadership development and conservation awareness and practice. We expect these trips to play a significant role in the development of future Christian leaders who see caring for all of creation as integral to their faith.
Check out these stories written about the E3 Wilderness Journey:
Read and explore more…
Young people call on the church to tackle the climate crisis - In 2020 We Are Tearfund and Youthscape surveyed 630 young Christians from the UK. We asked 14-19 year olds about their thoughts on the climate, the church and their faith. The research has found that 9 out of 10 Christian teenagers surveyed are concerned about climate change, but just one in 10 believe their church is doing enough to respond to the climate crisis.
For more information about the research, check out: We Are Tearfund - Burning Down the House and also Youthscape - Burning Down the House.
Could the church lose young people over climate inaction? This Tearfund articles reflects on what young Christians have to say about the church’s response to the climate crisis
Young Leaders and Creation Care in the Oceania Region - Young leaders from Aotearoa New Zealand joined with others from around Oceania to encourage and support each other in their respective creation care and climate change initiatives.
The rangatahi headlining the global climate summit
Survey to investigate the impacts of extreme weather events on young people - Understanding the impact of the extreme weather that hit Aotearoa in early 2023 is the focus of a new study by this country’s largest longitudinal study of child health and wellbeing – Growing Up in New Zealand. The ‘Extreme Weather Survey’ will connect with around 1400 families in the study from the regions hardest hit by the Auckland Anniversary Day floods and Cyclone Gabrielle, including Te Taitokerau/Northland, Te Matau-a-Maui/Hawkes Bay, and Te Tairawhiti/Gisborne and parts of southern and western Tāmaki Makaurau. The survey will run throughout the month of August 2023 with reporting expected towards the end of 2023.
Te Ara Whatu - Rangatahi led. Rangatahi driven. We are indigenous youth from the Pacific and Aotearoa working for climate action and indigenous sovereignty.
The Open Generation - An international study from the Barna Group designed to help ministry leaders understand how teenagers see their faith and the world. It is the result of 25,000+ interviews with Gen Z teenagers ages 13 to 17 in 26 countries. The goal is to advance the understanding of teens globally—their identity, values, and views—and to offer a picture of the global Church’s potential representation. Through this new ground-breaking research and as part of a global Partnership with Barna, in March 2023 World Vision and Alpha came together to provide a local forum to help New Zealand church leaders understand how teens in our context think about three key areas: Jesus, the Bible, and Justice. They hosted three in-person events for church leaders in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch featuring speakers David Kinnaman (CEO Barna group) and Dr Sam Bloore (Venn Foundation) to unpack the data-driven insights from teenagers in Aotearoa. This video of the Christchurch event has been made available by Alpha and World Vision as a resource for the NZ church.
Relevant Eco Church stories
