This article dealt with the relationship between education and youth worship in Protestant contexts in the Netherlands. Consequently, it dealt with the relation between Liturgical and Educational Studies. Our interest in the research project on youth worship in Protestant contexts centred on the question: How do young people, in a late-modern context, participate in youth worship? In our qualitative research, it appeared that ‘learning’ is a key word with regard to youth worship. This article discussed the questions: How are youth worship and ‘learning faith’ related? And, what are the qualities of learning faith in youth worship? Empirical results of the research in local youth worship services and national youth worship events were presented. These results concentrated on the dialogical dimension in youth worship gatherings and gave indications about the contents of what adolescents learn in youth worship gatherings. This ‘what’ referred, amongst other aspects, to the important content of ‘rules and freedom’. Respondents often valued and appropriated youth worship along the line of ‘(do not) have to’, with regard to a Christian life style, their relation with God, ethics, and doctrines. Moreover, themes in youth worship gatherings often focused on a specific Christian lifestyle, on its boundaries and its spaces. Some reflections with regard to the question ‘Why is learning faith a dominant element in youth worship?’ were given. The conclusions that the cognitive element is important in youth worship and that the explicit aspect of learning is a main approach in youth worship were discussed in relation to J. Astley’s (1984) theoretical notion that the language of worship is ‘performing non-cognitive’.<p><strong>How to cite this article:</strong> Sonnenberg, P.M. &amp; Barnard, M., 2012, ‘Educating young people through Christian youth worship: Reclaiming space for learning in liturgical contexts’, <em>HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies</em> 68(2), Art. #1111, 8 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ hts.v68i2.1111</p>

The concept of embodiment has increasingly been in the foreground of recent debates within youth ministry and religious learning. Human experience and learning are rooted in flesh-and-blood bodies, which means that the focus of youth ministry should not only be on cognitive processes but also on concrete experiences, acts and rituals. This article aims to clarify the meaning and relevance of embodiment for religious learning in youth ministry. For this purpose, the paper reviews two lines of reflection: first, reflections based on educational learning theory and religious pedagogical theory; second, reflections based on socialization theory. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion on the consequences these two lines of reflections have for current empirical research regarding the religious learning of young people.

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In a qualitative empirical research project on youth worship, we discovered that ‘being together’ is primary quality of youth worship. This primary quality consists of at least four aspects. Firstly, community is celebrated through physical presence. More specifically, the physical presence of siblings plays an important part in the participation of youth in worship. Secondly, an empathetic and emotional aspect is essential for adolescents. ‘Being together’ in youth worship means being together in unity and trust and in equality, as kindred spirits. Thirdly, ‘being together’ in youth worship yields possibilities to cross social and ecclesiological boundaries. Fourthly, there is a theological aspect in ‘being together’ that could be described as ‘sharing faith and being in God’s presence’.

This qualitative research on young adults of the Armenian Apostolic and Syriac Orthodox Churches in Lebanon considers why participation in liturgy aids the identity formation of youth in both communities. By participating in liturgical rituals, these young adults express identities which transcend the limited spaces they inhabit. These spaces are influenced by the minority context in Lebanon, as well as by traumatic historic experiences of both Armenians and Syriacs. Such spaces stimulate the youths’ appreciation for their ancient traditions and their strong connection to other members of their church communities, both past and present. Their sense of belonging is rooted in ancient languages and narratives, and in the embodied rituals that open Armenian and Syriac young people up to the divine dimension of liturgy in church and in daily life. We argue that, for the research population, engagement in the liturgy is a matter of identity.