The Question all Pastors Should be Asking if We Want to Grow the Church

Our family is made up of the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, GenXers, and Millenials (and canines).

A vital question on the mind of pastors and church leaders who care about continuing to build up the kingdom of God through the Church is this: "Why are the young adult generations leaving the church? (Or not joining at all?)"  

Of course, not all are leaving. Popular seminaries are still receiving new students, people are still getting baptized and confirmed. But are they active? Are young people feeling committed to keeping the church going in the future? Where do they get involved and why do they regularly attend? 

According to Rachel Evans on CNN's belief blog, the younger generations are looking for churches that incorporate these beliefs: compassionate outreach work that makes a difference in the world, knowledge based teachings on the complementary relationship between science and theology (no anti-evolution preaching), active inclusivity - welcoming all races, sexual orientations, and gender equality. 

These beliefs are reflections from my favorite verse in the book of Micah: "…. What does the Lord require of you? To do justice, show mercy, and walk humbly with our God." (Micah 6:8) And in the summary Jesus gave for all the laws and commandments: Love God and love your neighbor. (Matthew 22:36-40)

Reading this priority list from Evan’s blog makes me even more thankful for our church's compassionate inclusivity, mission outreach work, and our approach to teaching Science and Theology. She quotes the personal yearnings of a Millenial - GenXer:

"We want an end to the culture wars. We want a truce between science and faith. We want to be known for what we stand for, not what we are against.....We want churches that emphasize an allegiance to the kingdom of God over an allegiance to a single political party or a single nation......We want our LGBT friends to feel truly welcome in our faith communities.....We want to be challenged to live lives of holiness, not only when it comes to sex, but also when it comes to living simply, caring for the poor and oppressed, pursuing reconciliation, engaging in creation care and becoming peacemakers." 

To build up the kingdom of God in this new church year, let us continue to serve and care for our Baby Boomers and older generations. And let us also continue to do what we can to meet the yearnings of the younger generations who are striving to be authentic children of God with or without the church. Then our church be a place where they can have these yearnings satisfied through serving our Lord and Savior who sacrificed his life for justice, kindness, and mercy for us all.  
(For the full article see: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/27/why-millennials-are-leaving-the-church/)

Our Church's Personality is Resilient

What do I love about our church? PCM’s personality! Every church has a personality and a distinctive style of bringing glory and honor to God. Our church has a resilient, warm and welcoming personality, a heart for mission/outreach participation, an appreciation for education, a love of sacred music, and a devotion to the care and development of children. Our church members volunteer their time to help govern, repair, cook, organize, lead, teach, and care for our congregation. We are blessed with many awe inspiring Christian role models in our midst. The long term devotion to PCM, demonstrated in all the active volunteerism, keeps our church ministries thriving. This is an essential personality trait that contributes to our ministry longevity ever since 1733.

When I decided the best use of my continuing education fund was to complete a Doctorate of Ministry in Science and Theology, the PCM session was very supportive. This fits with the character/personality of the Presbyterian Church since its development out of the Church of Scotland. The Scots have always valued higher education for their pastors.

I am so grateful for the education I received in these past 3+ years going back and forth, 4 weeks each year, to Pittsburgh Theological Seminary for the coursework. It has been an honor to share the Science and Theology knowledge I learned through sermons and adult education seminars. I gained valuable information from conducting the prayer and resilience study, too. In the end, the head of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary DMin program greatly praised my final project.  PCM deserves the praise. My project would not have been completed so well without all those who participated and supported it!

A bound copy of my final project: "The Impact of Two Forms of Prayer on Resilience," will be in the church library as my gift to our church. I am convinced (as a result of doing this research) that we should all comply with Paul's recommendation to the church (in 1st Thessalonians 5) to: "pray without ceasing." My study and many other scientific studies are showing that resilience is enhanced when prayer, (especially the contemplative centering form of prayer), is practiced daily.

 

"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you..." (Ephesians 1: 16-18)