Archbishop Delivers The Sir George Williams Memorial Lecture 2010

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The Archbishop's address at the YMCA's landmark event to celebrate the skills and talents of young people was entitled  'Inspiring Young People: Their influence on our future'. 

A new survey by YMCA England showed that 73% of young people in Britain aged between 7 and 19 years felt that they should help in their community and 66% felt personally responsible for helping someone they knew.

A synopsis of the address follows:

My theme is: Vision, change, commitment.

Last month I ordained a former armed robber to be a minister in the Church of England. He had a difficult and violent family history, but now he has changed his balaclava for a dog-collar.

It's never too late to change: People can change when they have a vision of what might be, and go for it.

We need young people to be dedicated, determined, with an important goal. To change the world.

Everyone wants change. The politicians have been constantly talking about it. But to get worthwhile change, you need a vision of what might be. Jonathan Swift said, "Vision is the art of seeing the invisible". The Bible tells us, "Where there is no vision, the people perish"[1].

The YMCA Founder, George Williams described himself as a "careless, thoughtless, godless, swearing young fellow", before his conversion to Jesus Christ. Many of the social conditions of his time were appalling. But George Williams and others had a vision of how things could be changed for the better, and they began by organising prayer meetings and bible study. The Young Men's Christian Association was born. Today it's a worldwide movement.

George Williams later became a successful businessman. He knew that Vision on its own isn't enough. As Vaclav Havel said, "Vision must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps. We must step up the stairs."

Today's needs in a more affluent society, are superficially different from those of 100 and more years ago. But society's ills in the 21^st Century can't all be cured by better and better provision

The State changed, because vision was turned into reality. But the beneficiaries now have to build on that and take on and share the responsibility.

Everyone – but particularly young people – needs a vision of what they can be. They can change; we can change; together we can change the world.

Mahatma Gandhi said: "Be the change you want to see in the world." Some say young people are the leaders of tomorrow. I say they are the leaders of today.

I have met many young people who have developed their potential in the most difficult circumstances, and are now sharing their experience and their hope with others.

These young people are pioneers. They are ground-breakers because they have vision of what might be.

By contrast, too many young people have become slaves without knowing it. They are enslaved by the fear of what others think about them. They have been conned into feeling inadequate, sub-standard.

I want to say to them, you are already OK. Your real value is that you are unique down to your fingertips.

There's a passage in the New Testament, when Jesus compared his followers to a flock of sheep. It wasn't an insult; it was an imaginative way of expressing how much he cared for them. He described himself as their good shepherd, who calls his sheep by name and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. Each one is unique and valued.

And every young person is a one-off; all they need is to become what they are.

A report by The Children's Society, "A Good Childhood", showed that many young people in this country are living in a kind of poverty. It is a poverty of parental time, love and selflessness.

Family breakdowns have a huge impact on children.

A report by the Centre for Social Justice entitled 'Every Family Matters' called upon Parliament and parties across the political spectrum to recognise that healthy marriages build healthy families, and healthy families build a healthy society.

There is a measurable financial cost to family breakdown, but there is a greater cost in the impact on young people which is incalculable.

Many who would argue that individual lifestyle choice must be taken into account in any discussion of marriage. But my own view is that the exclusive emphasis on individual choice ignores the cost of that choice to society as a whole.

There are of course inhibiting factors in getting married, whether it be the cost of a wedding or the fear of commitment. But the danger is that Society at large loses out.

There are other basic commitments needed for a healthy society. Honesty is one. Who is setting an example?

A recent study suggests that among adults there is no longer a universal standard of what honesty means, and the academic researchers concluded that attitudes to honesty are so variable that the legal standard needs to be revised.

Parents must shoulder the responsibility for where their children are, who they are with and what they are doing. The state cannot do this and nor should it be expected to. We cannot at the same time complain about a "nanny state" or a "big brother society" and then expect the state to raise our children.

There are values that can be both taught and learnt. Values are learnt in the home and then replicated in the street. If there is a vacuum of values at home, if parents absolve themselves of this responsibility, the values of the street will fill the gap.

There is much talk of a broken society. But if our communities really are "broken", as Prime Minister Cameron opines, it is the children who are best placed to mend them, and we should give them our full support to do so.

Because we here know that it's not about what governments can do for us but what we can all do.

We have become a society which is increasingly ill at ease with itself. But this, I believe, is due to losing a sense of any common vision.

Beveridge, William Temple and others such as Nye Bevan who were responsible for the great vision of the Welfare State, had enormous clarity of vision. In terms almost reminiscent of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, they could name the problems; the five giants of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. And just as they could name the giants they fought against, they could also name the giant-slayers. They pursued those solutions until they were passed through Parliament and implemented.

Today things have become more complicated. Communities have become far weaker in our country than they were sixty years ago. There is far less sense of fraternity, of commitment to neighbours and of playing a role in our local communities.

The church has also lost its nerve during this period. It acted prophetically in 1985 with the publication of Faith in the City. They spoke out, on behalf of their people, against injustice and oppression.

This was a real and courageous witness of Christians standing up and proclaiming the value and rights of those who were weakest in our society.

But, on facing savage attack by not only those in government but other powerful figures in society, the church lost its nerve. It ceased to act prophetically. Instead, it focused on pastoral and social projects. By showing fear and reluctance to act prophetically, the Church has failed to maintain a big vision. We need to regain that vision today.

We cannot stand by and do nothing. We must rediscover a big vision for the Church and for our country. Moreover, everyone needs to be involved, or it won't work.

How can we do this?

I think the answer lies in going back to that original vision of the 1940s and seeing what lessons it has to teach us.

In his Christianity and the Social Order, William Temple identified three core social principles.

1. Freedom: the person is primary and not the state. However, it should be freedom for as well as freedom from. In other words, people are called to contribute as well as receive liberty.

2. Social fellowship: we are social beings and belong in community. The family and local community are of paramount importance.

3. Service: we should continually ask ourselves, 'where can I give my best service?'

These principles are an integral part of our Christian life. But they are also social principles which government and communities need to reaffirm and build on if we are to re-invigorate our life together in this country.

Our young people and our families are vital in this task, but they need our help.

In some communities, it is no longer possible to teach parents their responsibilities. They have given up or gone. It will be the young themselves who will build a better future.

The YMCA has commissioned some research into the skills and character traits that are considered important to young people's development.

The following personal skills have been identified:

Self Understanding

Understanding and Managing Feelings

Motivation

Communication

Empathy

These have emerged from a study of young people's needs. Are they not also what are needed to create a healthy and generous society?

Personal fulfilment is only OK as a goal if it is more than self-interest. We need to have vision, commitment, and fraternity too.

Movements for change usually begin in small ways. Mother Theresa said: "They say my work is just a drop in the ocean. I say the ocean is made up of drops."

People like this have changed the world for the better. They would not regard themselves as extraordinary. They were ordinary people with vision and commitment. Right now, there are young people who want to change the world. Two young people, Frank and Rosie, have been visiting YMCA groups across the country. They have found that some young people who want to prove to those who have always put them down that they are worth something and can make something of themselves.

The theme of responsibility is prioritised repeatedly. The YMCA stands alongside them.

A further survey this year showed that 2/3^rd of youngsters between 7 and 19 feel personally responsible for helping someone they know – and are doing it. 73% felt they should help out in their community and are doing so.

Tonight we honour the founder of the YMCA, Sir George Williams. Please God he will know that his vision and commitment are matched in the young people of today, who are helping to change the world.