As I was driving to church yesterday I began noticing the multitude of people out and about and I started wondering where they were going. Some were obvious, like the lady jogging with her child in a stroller and her dog on a lease, and the guy in his biking gearing on the bike path. But others were not so much, like all the people driving around in their cars or just walking down the street. I wondered how many of them were going to church, or brunch, or just working out and then starting another busy day in their lives.
I certainly don't know where all those people were going, nor do I know how many of them do or don't attend church on a regular basis, but as I was looking across my congregations on Sunday, I wondered how many people we are missing because we do service on Sunday mornings and really no other times. I mean sure we have a Saturday night service once a month and we do a Wednesday noon service once a month as well. But at the same time how many people are we turning away because we are still under the impression that to worship God we must do it on a Sunday morning and in the church?
The question I keep hearing is where are all the young people? Why are they not coming to church anymore? And honestly, it is kind of a hard question for me to answer because I don't know. I mean I am at church, all the time really. It is my life's work, I feel that the work that the church is doing both on Sundays and throughout the week is important so I am not sure where they are or why they don't feel the need or want to come to church on Sunday.
But then again if I am honest with myself, if I look back a few years before I had a job at the church I remember that I too was one of those young people that didn't go to church. And I can honestly tell you why I didn't. I didn't feel connected. I have always believed in God, and in Jesus Christ as my savior. I grew up in the church, so I have always known the importance of the church and the importance of worship. But yet once I moved out of my parents' house and went to college, I stopped going to church. Part of that has to do with my Grandfather's death, it was timed at a point in my life where I was really questioning what I believed and didn't feel like I fit in the Catholic church but didn't know where I really did fit. And so it became easy to just be mad at the Catholics, and not look for anywhere else to go. The ironic part is that every summer from when I was 16 to when I was 22 I worked at Camp Norwesca, a United Methodist Camp and I knew that my connection was there. I knew that the Untied Methodist Church was where I would end up, I guess it was just all part of the journey.
Even with my strong connection to Camp and to a key pastor or two in my life, I still didn't seek out a church in my community. When I moved to Atlanta it was the same thing. I was a United Methodist missionary and still didn't attend a church regularly because I didn't feel connected. There was no real reason for me to go.
So the question is what was missing? What would it have taken for me to get involved. Well between ages 18-25 I can tell you for me it was a service where I didn't have to wake up so early! I love to sleep in and the last thing I wanted(still want most days) was to sleep in! And secondly, I didn't know where I wanted to go. I needed a partner in crime so to speak. Someone that would have invited me to church, sat with me, included me in what was going on. And that right there is key I believe, at least for me.
So what is it for you? What is keeping you away from the church? Or are you attending regularly and in that case what is keeping you going? What traditions should we be doing away with and what ones should we be keeping? The season of Advent and the beginning of a new year is a time for change. Let's transform the church together and make it a place that is welcoming, friendly and gets people involved again. Tell me what needs do you want to quench?
For all those in school good luck with your finals this week! I look forward to hearing from you all.
With love,
Michelle
So this response is rather long and I know it took me forever to respond but I had a lot to think about and a lot to say. This surely doesn't sum up all of my feelings but I'll try. I still attend church regularly. I actually go to Sunday mass at home as well as mass regularly during the week at school. I truly love all of the traditions of the church. The more traditional and conservative the service or church the more I love it. I love all of the "seasons" such as Advent, Holy Week, etc. I really enjoy the traditional liturgy. I know this is somewhat of an uncommon view but that's my opinion. I do think that there is a problem with people moving away from the church but I don't think that the changes need to be made within the acutual services. I think the changes need to be made within the youth program. If anything, I think that churches should provide both a contemporary and traditional service. This would give people more options as to what they like. In regards to the youth program, I think it is important that we actually educate our kids. They not only need to learn about the Bible, God, and Jesus but when they are old enough we HAVE to teach them what is in the doctrine. I also think that confirmation needs to be later, like in high school. This way, most of us would have our own opinions and not be as influenced by our parents. I think if I would have waited to be confirmed until high school and I had actually been taught was in the doctrine I was committing myself to, I would have made different choices. The main thing that I feel like we should change is the welcoming environment within our churches. When I was attending different churches there was an awkward phase of "Who are you? or Are you new here?" This made me feel SUPER awkward like I didn't belong there. I hope this somewhat answered your question!
ReplyDeleteI love that you said here. I think that there is a place of tradition and I agree that there are some that still appreciate that traditions of the church. So thanks for sharing your thoughts on that. I think sometimes we forget that young people sometimes appreciate tradition too.
DeleteI also agree with you about the church letting the youth down. And I have always thought that it was weird that the church confirms when youth are in the middle school. I feel that so much is lost on them at that time and that they can't really make the right decision. I was confirmed when I was a junior in high school and thought that it made perfect sense to be confirmed at that age. I am not sure how one would go about changing that or if others would see the purpose behind waiting to confirm. I know that it has been a United Methodist tradition for a long time to confirm at such a young age. Something to look into.
Also how do we make a church more inviting in your opinion? I think that sometimes we are not as welcoming as we could be and I am interested to see what people would say about how we could do that better.
Thanks again for your thoughts. I can see that you really think out your answers and I appreciate that. Have a wonderful day.