I recently received an article that I could not resist in commenting on. Regarding churches and the facilitation of different ages and cultures.

The article is: http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001151.cfm

In response;

Thanks for the input into the search for truth and a better understanding of what it means to be a young and relevant church. I could not help but comment on this article. I believe their are some good points, however I do have some reservation about some things and their implication on the church as a whole. I thought this might help in our discussions.

First off I can fully understand the emotional stance of the writer as they express there need for family and role models; recently the joy magazine had compared many emerging churches to having very cultish activities. One of these activities was removing the youth from their parents and reassigning them “healthy new Godly church parents”, as part of their membership program. The context however she is writing in is very broad and sounds more like she is missing her parent then anything. My comment on this is that as a church youth ministry parents tend to be your greatest asset. There is always a need for camp parents, holiday club parents, small group leaders, and good role models.

One of the things I do feel strongly about is allowing synergy between all ministries. We are all gifted and if an older lady or man feels a calling and that they have something to contribute then we need to be open for them to be able to get involved in the youth and young adults. Or when a young person wants to attend a ladies breakfast or men’s breakfast the same rule applies. When ministry is only for the select then we tend to create thiefdoms instead of kingdoms. We need to have environments that facilitate family activities; however in reaching the lost we also need age and culture appropriate programs as a tool for reaching the lost. We cannot apologize for these intentional programs as they facilitate the growth and needs of your people. When we apologize we sacrifice the means to reach people for the sake of unity. Sounds a little like some thing the Pharisees would come up with. I feel I need to clarify what I am trying to say; On a Friday night we run a youth program for the junior youth and the senior youth separately, combining the two age groups would not work since they both have different needs. Thus if I was to combine them I would do more damage then good.

The understanding is that different ministries will pull different cultures, ages and sexes. A bunch of guys talking about rugby will not particularly be a pull factor for a young teen age girl, granted their may be exceptions and we need to allow for those exceptions but in general young girls would rather connect with a bunch of young people talking about social issues. I feel this is the reality of life and we cannot ignore the churches call to reaching the lost. We need to be relevant in our approach.

I think in order to come to some kind of reasonable conclusion we need to answer at least two questions; what is your personal interpretation of church. Is it a Sunday morning, or your home group, the senior congregation who provide the finances or the youth?  The second question is can their be a unity in diversity.  In South Africa we claim to be multicultural and thus if we claim to be so do we need to sing our worship in every official language. That makes for singing every song eleven times. This is just a little impractical. By saying that their should be no difference in how we approach different ages, cultures, and races means that we try to influence them all through the same program. Frankly I think this is short sighted and simply a nice idea, meant to create awareness within our selves but nothing more. I would like to think the church has always been unified by its love for God and it’s acknowledgement of the Messiah’s death and resurrection. That we are all brothers and sisters facing the same struggles.

Try your best to let God's Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace. All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God's people. We have only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us.

Eph 4:2 - 6

Yes young adults have been moving away from church. That is a fact and can be seen all over the world. In my personal experience I have felt that there are greater factors in the church that influence young peoples move;

• - The church may not be close to a university or learning institute.
• - The church does not live up to the gospels expectations.
• - There is a modern way of thinking that contradicts post modernity.
• - The church does not connect with young people in a way that they can associate with.
  
  

This has resulted in what Barna refers to as the “REVELUTION”. Where young people are tired of playing church they want to be radical and be the church. Thus resulting in small groups of radical thinking young people who reject the common idea of church and who seek to understand what God truly expects from them! I believe that this is a broad statement and that their are exceptions to the rule within churches and individuals.

What I am trying to say is simple; we cannot preach to the Romans with out preaching in Latin, no matter how good the worship is or the preaching, we need to speak the language of the people that they may understand.

Practically I believe then that any decisions made by the church should be considered in the context of the whole church, Youth, young adults, young families, and the older people. The realization is that the church is open to all, and needs to cater for all in order to reach the people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This may vary in approach, but cannot vary in message; hence the unity is in the message, not the action.

My hope is that this may help in the unpacking of this in our minds and that this would lead to a healthy discussion.

Blessings