Fountain of Youth

Good morning everyone!

I spent 7-9pm last night at Galilee UMC discussing the state of youth ministry and youth involvement in church in the Rockingham District. Rev. Leonard Fairley (our District Superintendent) had some pretty stark words for us last night. If numbers continue what they have been, most churches in our Annual Conference are within one or two generations of closing their doors unless something changes. That hurts my heart to even consider. However, if you look out into most UMC congregations, you see much grey hair and not many youth. People in their twenties are largely absent from mainline churches.

The reasons behind this are many. However, if we generalize (which I realize is dangerous), young people find church irrelevant to their everyday lives. The music doesn't speak to them. Being quiet for an hour is not on their agenda. Their brains are used to a fast pace and mixing of media along with speaking. They want to feel an important part of a group and not an afterthought or a hindrance.

Pastor Fairley asked the pastors and laypeople and youth gathered this question: Is your congregation youth friendly? There were a range of answers as you would expect. Here are a couple of comments I wanted to share:

The lead person is the pastor. He/she must show youth-friendliness. The older generation may not understand the youth and what they need. It is the pastor’s job to educate the congregation.
Our church is not accepting of “outsiders”
We need a more inclusive in the worship experience
We need to make the youth feel a part of the church
Youth are not a step child of the church
Youth culture: we need to, as pastors and youth leaders, be aware of youth culture and attitudes. Kids don’t worship like we do. The technology piece is important to them because they are more visual learners. As a church, we must come alongside them some how. We simply can’t do things like we have done for 50 years or more.
In the 28th chapter of Matthew, Jesus said, 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Therefore, we have a command to go out and make disciples of youth and children. Jesus Christ himself will be with us as we do this difficult process of going after, reaching, and making disciples.

If you look at Trinity, you can see signs of the good and the bad. We are blessed to have young people and children as part of our congregation. However, if my first 8 days are any indication, we have a noticeable absence of 20 year olds, and we certainly have an area for growth in our children's and youth ministries.

I invite you to begin to pray about this issue. What is God calling us to do as a congregation about this alarming problem? Where are we to make disciples? Are we willing to have people that don't look exactly like us in the pews? Is there something we can do to help more children and youth realize how much God loves them and that Trinity is a wonderful place to grow as a disciple? How can we reach those under 40 for Jesus Christ without making those over 40 feel unwelcome and uncomfortable in worship? I invite you to spend time praying as we discern what ministries God is calling us to do as individuals and as His church here on Third Avenue.

Have a blessed day!