About Chris Kettel
Chris studied on the BA in Theology and Youth Ministry from 2015-2018. He is currently Youth Lead at Hope Church Hounslow (a church in West London), running a thriving youth ministry across a number of church sites in Hounslow. He is also now a placement supervisor to a current student on the youth ministry programme.
What have you been up to since leaving St Mellitus?
Since leaving, I have remained in a full-time role at Hope Church Hounslow as the youth lead. I get the pretty cool privilege to oversee the groups and the projects that we have formed over the last 7 years. In practice, this looks like a lot of time spent in the community – in schools, in the local estate, on the local football pitch in all weather extremes providing spaces for young people in this part of Hounslow that just wouldn’t be there otherwise. We are a parish with 2 church sites, and we have been able to use these spaces as a way to invite the young people we have built relationship over the last 7 years to experience what being a church is all about.
I love football so I’m loving the football project we run for boys and girls from 7-18. The team has become a congregation gathering on the football pitch each week, coached by leaders from our church and other local churches who are regularly sharing their story, challenging them to raise their game and connecting them with our youth groups through football and faith. We now see 80 young people every week which brings the football loving community together under the banner of church.
Three of these years I spent at St Mellitus and that was exactly what it was – a space where I could make sense of my faith, the Bible, Jesus with what I was seeing in Hounslow. Being on the ground in Hounslow whilst studying theology meant that my youth ministry had a location, names and faces. It felt real and not a case study.
What are you passionate about for the future of the church?
Seeing young people bold enough to say that the church is somewhere they belong, and they can be who they are. We love giving young people opportunities to shape what we do which has led to the most unexpected of young people stepping up in leadership. I am passionate about seeing leadership reflect more of the communities that churches exist in.
What are you passionate about for young people?
I am passionate to see them build strong connections – firstly with Jesus and that church is a space where they encounter him. Beyond that, I have seen the support network that people who give time to young people can be so I want to see them build relationships with people that become like family and local organisations they can get involved with, so they have pathways which extend into their adult life.
Why is theology and youth ministry so key together?
It took me 8 years to make sense of what I felt called to do and how that could come about in the way God intended. Three of these years I spent at St Mellitus and that was exactly what it was – a space where I could make sense of my faith, the Bible, Jesus with what I was seeing in Hounslow. Being on the ground in Hounslow whilst studying theology meant that my youth ministry had a location, names and faces. It felt real and not a case study.
What does the season of advent mean to you?
For me, it’s a time of active waiting. I know it will be busy so I practice as best as I can what it means to actively bring hope to young people we know whilst we wait for Jesus to reveal himself again to us. I feel like we become closer as we celebrate over December and because of that we have more time to wait with some expectation. As a church, it also becomes a time where all our communities come together and young people take a step nearer to belonging.
What impacted you the most from your time at St Mellitus?
The personal touches and opportunities to receive support. This is from the 1-1 sessions, my formation group, the retreat weekends and all the extras that happen on a teaching week. The thing that most impacted me was the way the importance of being in community was demonstrated and what it taught me about how we can do this genuinely in the churches and contexts we serve in.
Could you tell us a highlight and challenge from this year?
A highlight was taking a group of young people away to CYE for a weekend of outdoor activities, relationship building and exploring who Jesus is. We opened the invitation in faith to all those we were seeing and we had an incredible group come who had faith in Jesus, were of the Muslim faith or had no faith at all. The nature of the conversation and community this led to over the weekend was one that only our God can create so we were so encouraged and had so many cool stories to share when we got back home.
A challenge has been hearing the tough stuff some young people have been struggling with and working through. I don’t think I’ve had a year where as a youth team we have spent so much time in contact with schools, getting in touch with the diocese safeguarding team and making CAHMS referrals. This has been a bigger challenge for those specific young people, however it has challenged us as we seek to build a community of safe people in the church who can also be on the front line just listening to the young people’s stories.
How did you discern the call to what you are doing now?
I spent a year and a half here at Hope Church before starting at St Mellitus serving voluntarily on the kids team, being present and discerning along with the vicar if this was where God was asking me to stay at a time when family life had fallen apart for me. I carried on working at a garden centre but for me I felt God say it was through the church that I could be best place to serve, so I had loads of conversations, interviews, moments to pray and like I said earlier, it was a time of active waiting where I listened for what God was saying.