Note #9096 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06054 Feb. 3, 2006
Old tricks don't impress young dogs, speaker advises
Nishioka says change is key to attracting 'least church-going generation in history'
by Jerry L. Van Marter
LOUISVILLE - Simply counting on young adults to return to the church after they marry and have children "cannot be a dependable strategy," renowned youth ministry specialist Rodger Nishioka said yesterday during the national conference of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE).
Citing research he is compiling for a book - "There's this thing called tenure at Columbia" (Theological Seminary, where Nishioka teaches), he chuckled - he noted that fewer than one-third of today's young adults aspire to marriage, and fully two-thirds who leave the church never return.
Young adults can be attracted to the church, he insisted, but only to a church very different from the one they left - because they are very different from previous generations of church-goers.
These young people are "postponers," Nishioka said. "They put off decision-making as long as possible, in the interest of keeping their options open, so you have to figure out how to communicate with them this afternoon about what's going on tonight."
They are also "paradoxers," he said: "They are able to hold with ease what might seem like contradictions to others. So theologically, for instance, they have no problem living in the Kingdom that is here already, Jesus says, but at the same time is not yet."
They are pragmatic and performance-driven, Nishioka added. "They are willing to do whatever it takes to be safe and secure, and their sense of self worth depends on how they think they're doing."
They are technologically sophisticated and feel that personal experience is paramount, he said. "Our struggle with them as church people is that our worship is still hearing-based, not visual," he said. "And they believe, 'If I don't experience it, it doesn't count.' The church must deliver an experience - the popularity of 'reality' TV shows among young adults is no accident. It's all about vicarious experience."
"This is the least church-going generation in history," Nishioka said of today's 18-to-35-year-olds. "They aren't hostile to the church. It just doesn't matter to them."
As in other areas of their lives, he said, young adults are "consumers" of religion, and are not bound by the sense of religious duty and tradition felt by their elders.
What does matter to them? What are they "shopping" for?
Nishioka outlined four things the church must offer to reach these people:
* Authentic relationships - "It's ironic that they feel so isolated in such a technically-connected age," he said, "but co-workers are too often competitors, and most are too mobile to form deep relationships."
* Theological and ethical vitality and integrity - Their religious experience has to be transcendent, pointing to something greater than the individual, and must be grounded in real life; religious experience "must include a cosmic and universal claim to truth while being open to other truth claims."
* Non-formulaic gatherings. They are eager to pray and study the Bible, Nishioka said, but not to be told what to think and say. They want to meet away from the church building, perhaps in a home setting, because they don't care about institutions - "They are far more like the 1st- and 2nd-century church than the 20th-century church," Nishioka said. Their gatherings should include good food and good coffee. Don't call them "singles." Contact them by email.
* Worship that is characterized by narrative storytelling and is passionate ("that which you would give your life for"), multi-sensory with meaningful music ("not just praise music - these folk have very eclectic taste...as long as it's done well"), and infused with spontaneity, wonder and mystery ("this generation seems to resonate with contemplative styles of worship").
Quoting the writer Sharon Daloz Parks, Nishioka said young adults can be attracted to a church setting that offers "hearth" (a home-like environment that offers sustenance, warmth, nurture, and storytelling); "table" (sharing, welcome, thanksgiving, accommodation, ritual - "in which the story becomes part of us"); and "commons" (where people can meet and engage others and the world and where they can affirm their commonality even in midst of conflict and disagreement - "in which the story is enacted and lived out").
The APCE conference, which has drawn more than 1,200 church educators from several denominations, continues through Saturday.
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