Comments | mellanella: Where have all the young ones gone?

mellanella

Where have all the young ones gone?

Jun 26, 2006 19:39

GEN-X RISING: Decline in young leadership threatens Methodism's futureI wonder if the decline in young people being interested in the pastorate in the UMC is because we've done a rather lousy job as a denomination in terms of supporting our youth and young adults. Many congregations don't affirm the leadership skills of the youth in their ( Read more... )

umc, ministry

Comments 11

ARGH. pragertorussia June 27 2006, 02:08:36 UTC

It's so frustrating...

I feel a call to ministry and while I'd go to seminary and become a pastor, I'd have to do it closeted. And that's not being real or honest with a congregation.

I don't want to make your issue a gay issue because it's not...except that there's one potential church leader right here who can't become one and I'm sure there are others like me.

Boo.

Re: ARGH. the_methotaku June 27 2006, 03:21:35 UTC

I really hope that we can get rid of that particular impediment by 2012, if not 2008. Rember, the statistics are trending our way!

Re: ARGH. mellanella June 27 2006, 14:07:01 UTC

That's really frustrating. I know of a couple people who switched denominations so that they could be true to themselves as well as God's calling to them.

jnerd June 27 2006, 02:11:08 UTC

I'm not even sure that it's a lack of youth programs. My hometown church had a pretty good (if moderately unstable) youth group, and I was sufficiently encouraged in leadership activities that I was the secretary of the Conference Board on Youth Ministries my senior year of high school. But then I went off to college, and there was nothing. Well, that's not quite true: there were on-campus services (in the Roman Catholic tradition) and a poorly organized student-run bible study, but that was pretty much it for Christian programs. From my sophomore year on, I went to an off-campus church with my friends, but we just went for the one service each week--there weren't any activities geared toward young adults ( ... )

the_methotaku June 27 2006, 03:16:44 UTC

While the situation is still bad it's getting better, and the UMC really does want more first career pastors. The new edition of The Christian as Minister has a new chapter about the challenges faced by people heading to seminary right after college.

In Texas, Wesley Foundations ar being revitalized. In Ohio, OSU has three campus ministries run out of local churches. One is Reconcileing, one conservative and revivalistic, and one is a contemporary church with a Korean heritige.

All the UMCs in my town have young adult Sunday School classes, and in my church the Young Adults have formed a vital part of our youth mission trips for several years; we do the heavy, dangerous jobs the high-school kids can't handle.

Student Forum is bigger and bolder every year!

There is hope!

mellanella June 27 2006, 14:18:25 UTC

Student Forum is bigger and bolder every year!

What is the Student Forum? I've heard of it a bit, but don't know much about it at all.

mellanella June 27 2006, 14:17:51 UTC

I'm not even sure that it's a lack of youth programs.

I don't think youth programs are the problem: their presence or absence. The problem as I see it rests in the support and value of youth as present leaders of the church.

And even if they don't ever get ordained, does it follow that they're not ministering?

I have no doubt that young graduated seminarians are still in ministry, even if they aren't ordained, and that's great. But at the same time, I think there's a huge need for young people to be parish ministers. And I think the low young clergy numbers is a reflection of the larger state of affairs dealing with youth (which we do pretty OK at, at least in terms of numbers) and young adults (which we barely do at all).

sovevuni June 27 2006, 17:29:33 UTC

I used to attend a church that actually promoted young leaders (as pastor assistants, etc.) and the results were not too good, to say the least. But surely everything depends on the particular parish and the particular people.

mellanella June 27 2006, 18:52:15 UTC

Really? May I ask what happened?

sovevuni June 27 2006, 19:17:32 UTC

Well, there was one unplanned premarital pregnancy, and the premature parents were one of the pastor assistants and a daughter of another pastor ( ... )

mellanella June 27 2006, 21:36:47 UTC

Ouch! That definitely doesn't sound like a good situation, though it does sound like one that could potentially happen at any age. Glad to know that you think things are better.