wfn.org | Episcopalians urged to bring youth into the faith

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2000-046

Church urged to offer young people the "gift of authenticity"

by Pat Rouzer

     (ENS) Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold joined educators, 
theologians and researchers in challenging Episcopalians to find 
effective and unique ways to bring young people into the faith at 
"GenNeXt and The Church; Virtual Faith and Spiritual Hunger." The 
Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Maryland jointly sponsored 
the conference, held in Hunt Valley, Maryland, February 9-12.

     Attended by about 350 delegates from as far away as Hawaii 
and Europe, the conference was the church's first major meeting 
to focus exclusively on an evangelistic movement aimed at 
millions of young people with no exposure to organized religion 
who often view the institutional church with suspicion.   

     Plenary speakers for the conference included Griswold, Dr. 
Thom S. Rainer, writer, researcher and dean of Southern Seminary, 
and Thomas More Beaudoin, author of Virtual Faith: The Irreverent 
Spiritual Quest of Generation X.

Learning to connect

     In his remarks, Griswold noted that the GenXers and their 
children, the so-called Bridgers, for the most part have no 
experience with organized religion and view it with suspicion. 

     "These young people require utter authenticity.  They 
associate the church with rank hypocrisy . . . .They see it as 
deadly and energy-zapping."  He urged delegates to be open-minded 
and to seek new, creative, unconventional and most of all, 
sincere, ways to connect with young people.  

     What gives comfort to one generation does not necessarily 
resonate with another, he said. "Conversion is, for all of us, a 
life-long process, . . .a dynamic that continues to unfold as 
life unfolds. We must offer them the gift of authenticity, the 
gift of friendship. 

     "They must know that we are not out to make them something 
they are not; our aim is not to convert them so we put another 
notch on our belts.  It is to bring them the living gospel that 
has a meaningful place in their lives."

     The presiding bishop urged delegates to "speak the language 
of faith with care and confidence" and cautioned them not to be 
"condescending of others.  We must make room for diversity--we 
cannot be an 'either/or' church, we must be a 'both/and' church.  
We must have a capacity for paradox in much the same way that 
Christ himself is a paradox--at once both fully human and fully 
divine.  They must feel that they are deeply, personally, 
profoundly loved."

     Rainer, who has done extensive research on the post-Baby 
Boom "churchless" generations, outlined the priorities and life 
experiences that form their values.  He echoed Griswold's message 
that efforts to connect with them must be personal, direct and 
sincere.  

     Profiling the "Bridger" generation, Rainer produced a 
sometimes chilling description of these young people as products 
of the post-modern society. "They hope to get a good education, 
and worry that they won't.  They feel stressed out most of the 
time," he said, noting that they worry about whether they can 
survive in a society where deadly perils such as AIDS are common. 

     Children of a generation of parents whose divorce rate 
exceeds 50 percent, they fret about whether they will be able to 
have a happy marriage and raise a happy family.  They feel 
pressured to have sex at an early age and worry that their 
friends will no longer like them if they don't go along with the 
group's norms, he said.

Generation of violence

     He added that they are a "generation of violence" that grows 
up fearing they themselves will be victims of violence.  "Their 
parents spend less and less time with them. As a result, they 
hunger for adult attention.  They feel certain that something bad 
will happen to their family--that their parents will divorce--
something bad will happen.  And they worry about how they are 
supposed to know right from wrong."

     Their hunger to belong to something, coupled with their 
search for a strong moral compass, makes this generation 
particularly susceptible to recruitment by cults and other 
organizations with highly structured beliefs and practices, said 
Rainer.   And he added that current research shows that the 
church should have a particular sense of urgency about reaching 
this generation.

     "Our research shows that 82 percent of people will make a 
faith decision before the age of 20.  When we polled the various 
age groups, we found that among the Builder generation (WWII and 
before) 65 per cent described themselves as Christians.  

     "Thirty-five percent of the Baby Boomers call themselves 
Christians.  Among their children and grandchildren--Gen Xers and 
the Busters--only 15 percent describe themselves as Christians.  
Among older Bridgers--those 17 or older--only 4 percent call 
themselves Christians," Rainer added.

     "If churches do not work to find ways relate to these young 
people and to help them find ways to bring the gospel into their 
lives, this entire generation could be lost to the church," he 
said.

Spiritual identity

     Beaudoin, a noted author on the church and GenXers, told the 
gathering that young people crave a spiritual identity and 
"authentic spiritual discipline.  They are seeking discipline in 
a chaotic world."

     Beaudoin, a Catholic, said one of the reasons Pope John Paul 
II is well respected and viewed with affection by large numbers 
of young people--Catholic and non-Catholic alike--is because he 
has a clear set of moral values by which he lives his life. 
"There is a grandness and a constancy about the way his faith is 
a part of his life that young people see and respect," he said.

     But young people in search of moral guidance sometimes 
gravitate to "excessively moralistic" churches and organizations 
to fill this major void in their lives.

     He commended those attending the conference for recognizing 
the problems involved in relating to young people and for their 
willingness to find new ways to reach young generations crying 
out for spiritual experience.

     "To reach these people you must show them that God is in all 
things.  You must offer them companionship and structure.  You 
must help explain to young questioners their place religion and 
in life," he said.

     Finally, said Beaudoin, in a post-modern culture that is 
driven by conspicuous consumer consumption, he suggested that 
faith that will attract and hold young people must offer them: a 
sense of dignity; security; a balance in life; teach the value of 
play, create cultural awareness, and be detached from material 
goods.

--Pat Rouzer is editor of Maryland Church News, the newspaper of 
the Diocese of Maryland