"And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:18, NRSV)
I think that the comment section is as telling as the article itself. As a "20-something" under discussion, I found much of what they were saying rang true. Unfortunately, everyone was posing their thoughts as though they were antithetical to the thoughts of others in the discussion.
I think that Kara is dead-on in that youth and young adults are looking for a church that will not shrink away from hard issues and passionate, personal engagement with those issues. They are looking for a church that will couch truth in love rather than forsaking love (the "harsh" church) or truth (the "watered down" church). They are looking for a church that can stretch beyond the old church growth paradigms of only attracting people like yourselves (only white people in white churches, only black people in black churches). In all of these, I think we tend to understand if the church isn't there yet: we're just excited to see it trying.
Mark then raised the point that Jesus is very demanding. And in truth, I think that young people are willing to take on the challenge of those demands, even those pertaining to their personal lives. They just need a community that will come alongside them and tackle that challenge with them, also providing the encouragement necessary to pick oneself up when one fails.
It was pointed out several places that the brand-name loyalty has diminished. And I would agree. I don't think that is a trend confined to the 20-30 somethings. Zenophon is absolutely correct that people are looking for solid theological discussion. Being raised in evangelical churches where the purpose of every worship service was conversion (as opposed to worship), I felt that I was left theologically illiterate - a shortcoming I tried hard to overcome in my late high school and college years. I was left on my own to do the study in high school. It is key that these are discussions, however, not indocrination sessions. The pastor must be a skilled enough theologian to fascilitate discussion and provide constructive and critical comments of all sides of the issue. That is the difficult part though. Too many pastors have neglected their theology to focus on church administration. Too many others are unable to set aside their biases and allow congregants to work through the issues themselves.
Zenophon is also correct that people are leaving in droves for the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions. It isn't always because they agree theologically. It is because they are stimulated to think about God in new and holistic ways courtesy of the liturgy and symbolism that are so rich in those traditions. Robert Webber posits that many leave for Anglicanism because it provides most of the theo-centric worship, symbol, and appeal to the whole person (as opposed to just the mind or just the emotions) but does not have all the theological issues of joining the Catholics.
There are many who leave because they are too self-centered, egotistical, or consumeristic. But we are wrong (and lazy) to dismiss everyone for those reasons. There is much that could be done to keep faith active and growing in the lives on young folks.
"Too many pastors have neglected their theology to focus on church administration."
Chris,
I think that this is one of the biggest problems that we face as the church. Being on the other side of seminary as a pastor, too many times our churches, even the best of them, don't allow us to do theology.
It is frustrating because I did not get into ministry to run a business. Prepping three sermons/lessons per week, writing a weekly column, visitation and then the business aspects of the church - I don't know where to start some weeks.
Some of it is my fault. Yet at the same time, what young adults need in teaching will be down right offensive to senior adults. Yet, as the article indicates regarding finances, senior adults uphold the church financially. They see young adults not giving anything back.
This is an issue that I am praying through as one who serves an established traditional church that is losing touch with young adults.
2 comments:
I think that the comment section is as telling as the article itself. As a "20-something" under discussion, I found much of what they were saying rang true. Unfortunately, everyone was posing their thoughts as though they were antithetical to the thoughts of others in the discussion.
I think that Kara is dead-on in that youth and young adults are looking for a church that will not shrink away from hard issues and passionate, personal engagement with those issues. They are looking for a church that will couch truth in love rather than forsaking love (the "harsh" church) or truth (the "watered down" church). They are looking for a church that can stretch beyond the old church growth paradigms of only attracting people like yourselves (only white people in white churches, only black people in black churches). In all of these, I think we tend to understand if the church isn't there yet: we're just excited to see it trying.
Mark then raised the point that Jesus is very demanding. And in truth, I think that young people are willing to take on the challenge of those demands, even those pertaining to their personal lives. They just need a community that will come alongside them and tackle that challenge with them, also providing the encouragement necessary to pick oneself up when one fails.
It was pointed out several places that the brand-name loyalty has diminished. And I would agree. I don't think that is a trend confined to the 20-30 somethings. Zenophon is absolutely correct that people are looking for solid theological discussion. Being raised in evangelical churches where the purpose of every worship service was conversion (as opposed to worship), I felt that I was left theologically illiterate - a shortcoming I tried hard to overcome in my late high school and college years. I was left on my own to do the study in high school. It is key that these are discussions, however, not indocrination sessions. The pastor must be a skilled enough theologian to fascilitate discussion and provide constructive and critical comments of all sides of the issue. That is the difficult part though. Too many pastors have neglected their theology to focus on church administration. Too many others are unable to set aside their biases and allow congregants to work through the issues themselves.
Zenophon is also correct that people are leaving in droves for the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions. It isn't always because they agree theologically. It is because they are stimulated to think about God in new and holistic ways courtesy of the liturgy and symbolism that are so rich in those traditions. Robert Webber posits that many leave for Anglicanism because it provides most of the theo-centric worship, symbol, and appeal to the whole person (as opposed to just the mind or just the emotions) but does not have all the theological issues of joining the Catholics.
There are many who leave because they are too self-centered, egotistical, or consumeristic. But we are wrong (and lazy) to dismiss everyone for those reasons. There is much that could be done to keep faith active and growing in the lives on young folks.
"Too many pastors have neglected their theology to focus on church administration."
Chris,
I think that this is one of the biggest problems that we face as the church. Being on the other side of seminary as a pastor, too many times our churches, even the best of them, don't allow us to do theology.
It is frustrating because I did not get into ministry to run a business. Prepping three sermons/lessons per week, writing a weekly column, visitation and then the business aspects of the church - I don't know where to start some weeks.
Some of it is my fault. Yet at the same time, what young adults need in teaching will be down right offensive to senior adults. Yet, as the article indicates regarding finances, senior adults uphold the church financially. They see young adults not giving anything back.
This is an issue that I am praying through as one who serves an established traditional church that is losing touch with young adults.
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