(Scroll down for Parts 1 and 2)
In my previous articles I’ve outlined the program struggles
that I’ve witnessed here at All Saints as I’ve continued to understand children and
youth Christian Formation in our parish.
It appears that we have a chasm between what we want to have happen and
what is happening in reality. Our
current reality is a desire to have a “traditional” youth minister form our
youth into faithful Christians. That
appears to be a good desire.
But in
reality what we are missing is that multi-generational and family
support and nurturing of youth that cultivates their faith in the presence of
the whole church. A traditional youth
ministry is structured to have an in-sourced person enter into the lives of the
youth and outsource our youth in an age-secluded enclave where this one
(hopefully two) person team is supposed to help form our children into
Christians.
This disconnect that professional youth ministers are seeing is that close relationships are formed with youth leaders but those relationships don't necessarily translate into mature adult roles in the life of the church.
By my observations some cases can promote an us (youth) versus them (the rest of the church) mentality.
The modern caricature of youth
minister is stereotypically hip, with a “soul patch” under his lip and equipped
with guitar and sandals.). I don’t know
what qualifies that caricature to be the one to shape the spiritual life of my
children. I think there is an alternative.
Upon my reading and reflection upon these ideas I’ve come
to clarity on how we can proceed with forming our young people. We’re going to try something different. And actually, we’re turning the pages back. What I believe God is showing us is the
necessity of a multi-generational and familial style of Christian formation.
In this way we do not set the children apart from the church family in the hands of
one instructor. Instead we create an
environment in which children and parents are given opportunities to discuss how
their faith is played out in real life from Sunday to Sunday.
This method will tap into the core values of All Saints
which is “Worship, Love, and Service.” The ministry to our young people will focus on those three values, and
as we begin to put our program into
place you’ll see more clearly how serving as
acolytes, attending children’s church, participating in family discussions
around the lunch and dinner table, going on field trips, and serving at Emily’s Food Pantry will form these values in the disciples of Jesus that we hope to achieve.
[As we meet on our upcoming Rally Day for an informational meeting these activities and more will reveal a faithful path to nurture our young people into our Anglican tradition as Christians.] (September 9th)
Related to that, our vestry has approved to fund a new
Parish Life Minister position. This is a
program staff position which will help us flesh-out and implement the structure
outlined above. The position will
recruit volunteers for activities and provide resources to empower parents to
exhibit faithful living with their
kids.
I am very excited about the potential impact parents have on
building faithful lives for their own children. I'm also excited about a staff position that is designed to coordinate opportunities and empower parents, youth, and children to be shape their lives in the light of Jesus. I hope you will be excited too!
No comments:
Post a Comment