Conversations Worth Having

Several years ago I was planning a series of “listening posts” around the state of young adult ministry in the Iowa conference. As I was laying out for some conference leadership folks what we had in mind to do, I’ll never forget the comment from one district superintendent – someone I’ve always had great respect for. This person said something along the lines of, “I’m not sure what you’ll gain by just talking about the issue. Everybody knows it’s a problem. What churches are looking for is how to solve it.”

I think I understand something of what he meant. And, I'll admit, I have some sympathy for it. One of my colleagues says that too often the problem in the Church is that we think we’ve accomplished something simply because we’ve talked about it. While I agree with that statement, I also think that too often we try to accomplish something – try to fix the problem – without taking the time to listen to those who may best be able to diagnose the issue and offer some possible remedies.

That’s the thinking behind an Iowa conference sponsored event that a handful of us are working on called “A Conversation with Young Adults” - www.iaumc.org/yaconversation. The premise is that we need to listen to scripture, we need to listen to our tradition, and - at least as importantly - we need to listen to young adults. We need to be willing to have the conversations before we too quickly think we know what will work.

Maybe you’ve heard about “A Conversation with Young Adults”. I hope you’re thinking about being involved. I’m convinced that it may be one of the more important conversations we’re having in the Church.

Peace,

Eric

summer reading

Neither Ryan nor I have posted for awhile. Chalk it up to hectic early summer schedules, preparation for annual conference and the willingness to offer both ourselves and each other a bit of grace. We’ll see what unfolds the next couple months, but we’re planning to post at least every few weeks – more or less, depending on whether we have more to say or less to say…

I’m reading a couple different books right now (rereading one). There are a couple phrases/concepts in the two books that have been stuck in my thoughts the last few day.

On a whim – thanks to Amazon.com’s you-might-also-be-interested-in suggestion – I ordered and have been reading Googling God: the religious landscape of people in their 20’s and 30’s by Mike Hayes. Hayes is Roman Catholic and very much writes for that audience, but most of what he says can be translated easily enough to mainline protestant churches or even non denominational or parachurch groups. I’ve been intrigued by an idea that Hayes suggests – and from where he takes his title - that young adults tend to seek instant gratification in all areas of their life. Since they have grown up with the concept that any information request can be ‘googled’ with instant results they tend to think of their faith in the same way. They may not be persistent or patient enough for wading through the ‘churchiness’ (my term, not Hayes’) of church in order to find meaning and purpose. If that’s true, it’s an additional challenge for churches when seeking to relate and be relevant to young adults.

The book I’m rereading for a book discussion hosted by the district superintendent and field outreach minister in the south central district is Brian McLaren’s Everything Must Change: jesus, global crises, and a revolution of hope (a great book and a great concept of district book discussion opportunities!). While I’ve read several McLaren books and am now reading this one again one particular statement really jumped out at me the other day. McLaren says,

“… church leaders can’t help but notice the rapid decline in local church
involvement among younger generations and wonder what to do about it.
Church leaders often begin by criticizing the young people: ‘What’s wrong
with them?’ But eventually, some leaders begin to ask a more productive
question: ‘What’s wrong with us?’”

As a denomination and as churches within that denomination, I wonder where the United Methodist church is on the continuum McLaren suggests. Are we mostly still asking the “What’s wrong with younger generations” questions or are we beginning to ask, “What’s wrong with us?”

A couple good websites to peruse: Mike Hayes contributes to www.bustedhalo.com. McLaren has a presence on several websites. The best of which may be www.emergentvilliage.com.