Addressing the Millennial Church Question - Lenten Devotional 2

We are in the first full week of Lent.  It is a time for intense introspection and for watching where and how the Spirit is moving today.  For this reason, I want to direct you to this blog post asking why millennials are not attending church.

It doesn't beat around the bush.  It addresses one of the issues I have struggled with in my love/hate relationship with the way children's and youth ministry has been done for many years.  I have felt since I was young that inter-generational ministry is of utmost importance.  The majority of congregations simply don't know how to do this anymore.  I have heard our elders often wonder why the sanctuary isn't sacred to the younger generations.  It may partially be because, as the blog author reminds us, children and youth have usually been found in the basement of the building while the adults do church in their own way in the sanctuary. 

The future isn't as bleak as it appears in the aforementioned post, though.  Through Sunday School, VBS and Children's Church, our younger generations have learned to connect with the Divine through music, movement, nature, creative endeavors and outreach mission trips.  This means that people around my age bracket are more likely to experience and express our spirituality in our everyday life, not just on Sunday mornings.  It does have the downside that we often do not really feel like we "fit in" on Sunday morning in a sanctuary or church building.  The question I think our congregations really need to consider is not "why aren't millennials coming to our church?" but instead "how are millennials connecting with the Divine, with other people and with the rest of creation?"

Perhaps, when we consider this, we may not be so hopeless when we look at the demographics of our church attendance.  It may be helpful for us to consider that through the Gen-X, Millennial and younger generations, God is at work in a different way than has been seen in recent history.  Belief in God is not absent, nor is spirituality lacking.  What our congregations might want to ask is how we can learn from our younger generations.  What might the Beloved have to show us through the ways our younger generations are doing "church"?

Our congregational leaders are realizing that without the funding of the younger folks, our buildings may crumble.  They may be sold or downsized or shared. But the truth of the matter is, church has never been about the building.  It is about the people.  Perhaps, through the younger generations, we are being reminded of Emmanuel -- the Presence of God is in our midst, in our everyday lives, in our hearts.  The church building and the structured organization may seem to unravel in the coming years, but the truth is Church will remain, for Church is the people of God revealing Christ's love to the world.

Here in the theological zombie realm, we have been working on remembering who we are and why we are here.  This is the fundamental question that we must ask if we are to be infused with new life.  Although it is a question that we all must ask ourselves individually, it is an essential question for the group that is called the Church.  Who are we?  What is our calling?  How is the Beloved working through us in the world today?

Take heart, dear ones.  This is not the end.  It is simply the birthing pangs of a new creation being infused with the Breath of the Holy Spirit.  The Church is remembering who we are called to be.

Why aren't millennials attending your church?

The American church is obsessed with reaching millennials. Well, at least we are obsessed with talking about it. I’m not entirely convinced we really want to reach them, or…

MINISTRYMATTERS.COM

A Zombie Learns to Love

Greetings, dear ones!

I apologize that it has been so long since I've posted here.  I have been more faithful with my prayer blog over the last several months, so I hope you have been enjoying the posts there.  

Perhaps I ought to post something on independence.  People across my country are likely posting about that today. I don't want to talk about independence and the pride of the motherland, though.  I want to address an issue of interdependence -- let's talk about love.

During much of my life, I have witnessed people around me being willing to give up everything that they are, and everything that they have, in order to please someone else.  These martyrs-of-sorts (admittedly used to be one, thinking that I was following the "proper" way of the Christian) will cease to have opinions about things because it will cause tension. They will not speak up when they feel violated. They do not listen to the internal voice that says the other is harmful to be around, and they are often attracted to the very people who will take advantage of their willingness to give.  

"Zombie Love" - Photo by Trista Wynne

This is life-taking-zombie-love, dear ones.  This is not the life-giving love that Christ offers.  This is not the rejuvenating way of the Beloved.

Loving others is not the same as allowing ourselves to become door mats. We do need to listen to the intuitive part of ourselves that lets us know whether a person is safe or whether they would be harmful or toxic for us to be around on a regular basis. If we allow others to hurt us, (particularly if we allow continuous abuse in verbal, physical or sexual forms) then we are allowing the other person's spirit to destroy itself and we are not caring for ourselves. Self-effacement is not love. True love includes self-care.

Graduation!!!

Yesterday, June 2nd 2012, I graduated from Fuller Seminary Northwest.  It was a fantastic day - the culmination of seminary studies, and a day I've looked forward to since I was six years old!  The good Lord, our Beloved Creator, knows what's next.  As of yet, I've only been given some inklings and ideas.  The whole picture has yet to be revealed.  For now, I am simply thankful for this day of celebration and this giant accomplishment! 

All praise to You, Lord Most High, who called me into seminary and have flowed through the teachings there, through my work as a nanny, through my relationship with my husband and with Your communities of faith, to help me grow in knowledge, love and compassion!  Wherever You lead I will go!  Whatever You call me to, I will do!  Thank You, Beloved, for Your presence and guidance!  And now, thank You, Lord, for rest and recuperation.  Amen.

Dear ones, today, my head is fuzzy and my body is tired.  Having not slept well out of excitement the night prior to graduation, and then again last night due to processing the whole event, today I feel a bit zombie-esque and have not changed out of my pajamas.  It is a true Sabbath day for me! 

Well, dear ones, this is a short post today.  Since I am receiving my Master's of Arts in Theology and Ministry, I'm considering adopting the title "Zombie Master of the Theological and Ministerial Arts".  What do you think?

Light to the Ends of the Earth...

Or should it be light from the ends of the earth?

One of the books that I am reading for class this term (which just began yesterday -- welcome to my blog during the school year!) is The New Global Mission by Samuel Escobar.  Thus far I am a little over three chapters into the reading, but am finding quite a strong response welling up within, so here you go...

A major focus in Escobar's book is a challenge to rethink what it means to participate in Kingdom growth.  One of the sad truths about the way our culture often does mission work is that we focus on growing churches or denominations.  Escobar challenges us to evaluate how we are equipping women across the board as well as the oppressed or marginalized groups in the third world for ministry and mission. Allowing the voices of women, children, oppressed and marginalized peoples throughout the third world would curb our tendency toward top-heavy, or what Escobar refers to as “culture Christianity” (p. 59).  This reading, and indeed this class on Church and Mission in a Global Context comes at a fairly critical point in my vocational consideration.

As a woman who has felt the calling to ministry since I was a young child, I have found in recent years that the three denominations I have opened ordination conversations with are more interested in promoting their version of theology than of making disciples of Jesus the Christ.  The “non-denoms” that my husband and I have been visiting lately are showing that they are no different in this regard.  It seems that most churches do not recognize their neighbors down the street, and they either overtly or show through subtle hints and membership requirements that they are the true church.  Now, I could be wrong, but I doubt that this was Jesus' call in what we call the great commission.  My point in writing this is not to condemn these churches as they currently stand, but rather to acknowledge that I see things differently and I would like to see us open to other ways of doing church while all seeking to love and serve the same Lord.

If you have been following my blog up to this point, you probably know that I am currently seeking a community of grass-roots origin, and wondering what my role will be in such a group.  Having been called to a pastoral role from a young age, yet finding myself clashing with the current culture of the western church, I have felt fairly alone in my seminary studies despite being surrounded by fellow seminarians trying to find their way in the Kingdom.  I did not know until recently how beneficial my willingness to share my struggles and spiritual lament has been to my fellow seminarians and professors.  Perhaps it is best to work through these issues together as we each, in our own contexts, strive to remember what it is to live to the fullest measure.

My husband and I have had some experience with a smaller community, but since it sprouted forth out of a typical congregation, we found that for most who were involved it was simply an interesting experiment, and many have returned to their “old ways” of doing church.  Remember several months ago when we looked at the bio-hazard symbol and my icon found at the top of this site?  The inward focus which was not part of our Lord's original gift of life has overtaken us, and it often infects our churches.

I strive to fight that infection with the help of Sophia-Spirit but, like the apostle Paul, I find that it is a difficult battle to wage.  Still, like Escobar, we are looking for a different, outward-focused way to follow Christ.  He says that our passions may be re-ignited by interaction with the two-thirds world (p. 69) and the missionaries who are flowing forth with a “new expression of Christianity” (p. 15).  I hope that he is right because I have been greatly disheartened by the processes and requirements for the western church leadership and recognition of ministers.  Perhaps the light that we need cannot be found within our walls.  It might not be the ends of the earth that needs the light; it might just be that the Light needs to come from the far corners of the earth so we can find our way back to the side of our Beloved and live to the fullest measure.

There’s nothing easy about saying goodbye to an old way of thinking.  Thus far, Escobar has not set the conditions to allow for proper lament, but my life has.  My journey leading up to, and throughout, my seminary years thus far has brought me to a place of great transition and, although there is room for lament, in the midst of it is potential for great joy.  One of the videos we watched for our discussion this week spoke of "giving up".  Although it was focused on giving up our resources so that others might have greater potential to thrive in the mission field, there is a different way that we may need to “give up” as well.  I know that for me, this means giving up an old way of seeing “pastor” as a job title and instead embracing a pastoral way of living no matter my occupation.  What might it mean for you?

Zombie in Training

Hello, dear ones,

It has been several weeks since my last post here.  After going on vacation at the end of July, my mind and spirit remained in the zone of relaxation, and my creative juices have been focused mostly on kinesthetic activities.  The computer has sat mostly unused save for a few minutes to check e-mail and see how my friends are doing via social media sites.  

Crocheting has been the focus of many of my evening hours of late.  I have three friends who are expecting, and their status has prompted me to pick up the hooks and yarn after months of hiatus.  I've made several blankets over the years, but never attempted anything more intricate.  In the last month, I've learned to create hats of all sizes, circular blankets from a pattern and even made my first bootie, though I have decided I need some smaller hooks and a more delicate yarn for that final project in the future.

During the days that I haven't been working, I've been taking advantage of the sunshine that, here in the pacific northwest, (especially the Seattle area) we receive in rather small doses throughout the year. After realizing how zombie-like I had become during the school year, and seeing the effects of my neglected physical body, strengthening and tending to my body has taken a high priority in the last month.  For a year and a half I've been walking with my neighbor a couple of times per week, but lately running, dancing, tai chi and, more recently, rollerblading and weight lifting have become more and more appealing.

Engaging the Hands, Heart and Brain

Dear ones,

This week through the end of July I am prayerfully journeying through a discernment vacation.  I appreciate your thoughts and prayers as I engage my senses, my heart and my mind in conversation with the Spirit of God.  Today's post will be brief, and may be the only one for the next week, but I shall return with focus and intensity following my time away.

"Crashing Waves" - Photo by Trista Wynne

Over the past weekend, my soul-sister and I traveled to the Washington coast where we spent several days and evenings reconnecting with the realm of the eternal.  Sometimes we all need to simply stop, and to allow the Spirit to whisper.  Sometimes She sings a gorgeous melody.  At other times, we hear nothing at all, but we know the Presence of God is near.

Who are Your Heroes?

This is Balla the dog.  On several occasions, she has been known to sprout pretend wings and soar around the house helping those in need.  "To the rescue!" the child I nanny shouts, and then off they go to rescue some other toy or pet who appears to be in grave peril.

Yesterday, the preschooler I nanny was talking about their heroes.  The child's mother was listed in the number one spot, "because she helps people, and that's what heroes do".  This woman is a wise, gifted, naturopathic doctor, and she does help a lot of people.  I agree.  She is a hero!

A short while later, the child also said that I was a hero, too, because I help the child.  I am very blessed to have such affirmation given in my job without request!  What a gift this child's simple observation was for me.