I just got back from Pastor's Assembly, which is a yearly opportunity for ministers in our Conference to get together for continuing education and recreation. It is always held at camp on Lake Winnepasaukee and combines aspects of summer camp and college (without the papers and exams). For three and a half days, we gather for lecture and workshops. We play softball and Trivial Pursuit. We sleep on thin mattresses in rustic cabins and eat questionable food in a crowded cafeteria where we jokey for seats next to our friends. We go swimming and we do the Tennessee Shuffle (it's a line dance). And this year we saw music videos including one by a church in Korea of Handel's Messiah, and one of Michael Jackson.
The speaker was Tex Sample, who is a theologian, and a professor at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas city. He has written several books, most of which can be found in my office.
Tex, (I feel I can call him that after playing softball with him) has a passion for bringing the Christian message to those who don't seem to 'belong'. His books explore how we in the church can reach out to people who are not the usual attendees. This week he talked about extending the invitation to young adults and teenagers, who are staying away from the church in droves. Yet there are some groups who are attracting these age groups. Can we learn something from them?
Alas, there are no easy answers, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. Asking the question is the first step. caring about reaching out to kids and grandkids is the beginning of finding out how to do it.
In his book, The Spectacle of Worship in a Wired World Tex writes, "It concerns me greatly that my children and grandchildren find church 'boring' and not relavant to their lives. They are not touched by its worship services,. . .and they find no compelling reason to commit themselves to Christ and the church. the issues I brought to the study of faith and the excitement I found in the university and the church in struggling with questions of ultimate commitment do not address the key intrests of their lives. i want desperately to bridge this chasm".
Is there a chasm? Do we want to bridge it? Can we find the building materials? Let's begin to talk about it. Let's begin with prayer, for the church and for the people we need to reach.
God bless you ,
Jean L. Marsh