On Sunday we had a typically under-attended church business meeting to go over ways in which we could improve our church. There were many good ideas; it is just a shame that so few attended. One of the goals we came up with was to develop a program that will help to keep the youth/teens/pre-teens in church. I know that this is a problem for a lot of churches. I am not sure if we just don't have a lot of them in my local church--the fact that my youth sabbath school tends to have an average of 1-3 people each week is my basis for this--or if they are all hiding. Anyhoo, I was volunteered to work with the pastor's wife on this project. I know that this was brought about because I am involved in the youth class. But I have a secret: Ministering to the Youth is not my passion. I'm not really sure if I have a true knowledge of what my passion is, but at this point in my life it is not Youth. (I've been spending a lot of time up front at church and church related programs...maybe that is my calling? Scary thought.) Why then am I so involved? While it is not my passion, I still care. I believe that due to circumstances beyond their control the youth are often dumped on, ignored, or spoken down to. I have seen this at the Raleigh church with the former youth leader and his/my supposed assistant leader. That is one reason I stepped up and started preparing a lesson every week instead of just my one week a month. Thankfully, starting in November the Pastor will be leading the class more often than not. It will be refreshing to have a break.
I kind of have a hard time relating to Youth. I don't have kids. I haven't been a youth for over a decade and when I was I went to boarding school. During high school and college I thought (and often still do) that Sabbath School class was one of the best parts of the whole church service so I don't understand their current mindset. I am trying to figure out what teens these days want/expect out of their churches. What do they like to do? Are they apathetic about everything at this age? Do they even know what they want?
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
What's your Passion?
On Sunday we had a typically under-attended church business meeting to go over ways in which we could improve our church. There were many good ideas; it is just a shame that so few attended. One of the goals we came up with was to develop a program that will help to keep the youth/teens/pre-teens in church. I know that this is a problem for a lot of churches. I am not sure if we just don't have a lot of them in my local church--the fact that my youth sabbath school tends to have an average of 1-3 people each week is my basis for this--or if they are all hiding. Anyhoo, I was volunteered to work with the pastor's wife on this project. I know that this was brought about because I am involved in the youth class. But I have a secret: Ministering to the Youth is not my passion. I'm not really sure if I have a true knowledge of what my passion is, but at this point in my life it is not Youth. (I've been spending a lot of time up front at church and church related programs...maybe that is my calling? Scary thought.) Why then am I so involved? While it is not my passion, I still care. I believe that due to circumstances beyond their control the youth are often dumped on, ignored, or spoken down to. I have seen this at the Raleigh church with the former youth leader and his/my supposed assistant leader. That is one reason I stepped up and started preparing a lesson every week instead of just my one week a month. Thankfully, starting in November the Pastor will be leading the class more often than not. It will be refreshing to have a break.
I kind of have a hard time relating to Youth. I don't have kids. I haven't been a youth for over a decade and when I was I went to boarding school. During high school and college I thought (and often still do) that Sabbath School class was one of the best parts of the whole church service so I don't understand their current mindset. I am trying to figure out what teens these days want/expect out of their churches. What do they like to do? Are they apathetic about everything at this age? Do they even know what they want?
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