Pentecostal Youth Agency Must Reach the Decision Table

Pentecostal churches know how to mobilise young people. They sing, lead prayer, operate cameras, organise evangelism, attend conferences and animate the most visible parts of congregational life. Their energy is often celebrated as evidence that the Church has a future. Yet a harder question remains: do young people help govern the ministry whose future they are repeatedly told to carry?

A person can be highly visible and still possess little authority. A youth representative may sit in a meeting after the agenda and budget have already been decided. A worship leader may command a platform but have no protected route for questioning unsafe practice. A digital volunteer may manage the church's public voice while having no recognised voice in the policies governing data, testimony or pastoral risk. Activity can conceal exclusion when participation never reaches consequential decisions.

Pentecostal theology gives us stronger language than succession alone. At Pentecost, sons and daughters prophesy, young people see visions and elders dream dreams. The promise is intergenerational and present. It does not discard wisdom, calling, formation or accountability; it places the gifts of different generations within one discerning body. The task is to build churches in which that confession becomes visible in worship, discipleship, leadership and governance.

A peer-reviewed study published on 11 September examines youth agency and intergenerational solidarity in five multicultural congregations of the Apostolic Faith…