Did you learn anything about church government when you joined a church?
Have you been a youth in or tried to teach youth confirmation? Have you ever wondered how in the world Presbyterian churches function? Then it might be a good idea to stage a “Pizza and Polity” event in your church or presbytery!! What I saw was that the students opened up after a while. They really got into it. Youth. Into church government. Yes, it’s true! And you can, too!
This afternoon I attended “Pizza and Polity”–an unusual event to say the least. Five Presbyterian confirmation classes (students mostly 8th and 9th grades) and two or three leaders from each group met in a fellowship hall. As each person entered they wrote their names on a name tag which had stickers on them. After introductory remarks by Mr. Joshua Noah (Montessori teacher and PTS junior) they were broken up by types of stickers. All the people with balloon stickers sat at one table, all the people with flower stickers at another, etc. The groups were different sizes, and they were given Church Information Forms (CIFs). Bigger groups were bigger churches, and smaller groups were smaller churches. The youth looked at the forms and assessed what kind of pastor with what types of skills they were looking for (gently guided by the adults and Mr. Noah). They had a few handouts to help them, too. They analyzed the church, listed their priorities, and wrote interview questions. Then myself and a few other adults (I just called myself an “adult”) sat at the tables and had mock interviews. The questions were hard. One youth asked me about my leadership style, another about my experience in mission, another about how I would bring new members to the church, another to define myself in five words, all things real churches would ask. They were all very direct, which I appreciate. They may have been more direct than most PNCs. I haven’t interviewed with any PNCs yet, so I’ll let you know. Then the groups had to rank which pastor they interviewed they thought would be the best person for the job.
I was really excited when the urban church looking for a Pastor Head of Staff chose me. The tables then became sessions. I joined their table and thanked them as Mr. Noah handed out situations. They seemed based off of the polity exams, although the table only needed to find one reference in the Book of Order. Ours had to do with a member of the church who wanted to use church land to build a sports field so the church could start a sports ministry. I asked the students what they thought the big issues were in the situation, and they looked up things in the BOO to figure out where the responsibilities lie, what church buildings can be used for, whether or not they have to go to the presbytery, etc. One student then spoke up and said, “I think we should read the plan the guy wrote for us before we do anything else.” We all agreed that would be a good thing, except we didn’t have the details of his plan. After figuring out what we would do (with a gentle suggestion from me that prayer and discernment might be a good thing), the groups presented their problem and how they thought their session would handle it.
Then we had pizza.
It was interesting listening in on the groups as they tried to figure out their CIFs and figure out some of the jargon. When I read CIFs I know most of the jargon, and the stuff I don’t know is usually the name of local mission projects. Many students had trouble deciphering and defining terms like evangelism, mission, spiritual development, biblical literacy, etc. I think a lot of people have trouble defining those terms, not to mention the subtle politics that may or may not be implied in some terms.
I was shocked, shocked, at how into this the students got. I’ve on occasion heard people say that middle and high schoolers can’t handle polity or difficult issues within the church. Not. True. These students were dealing with 10A and LGBTQQI inclusion issues, property and grounds, discipleship and church growth, preaching and praying, leadership and decision-making. They can handle it, and I think these students will be better church members for having spent an afternoon being a mock PNC and session. I also think they will have a good idea of where they as individuals can make a difference within an individual congregation. They also found out that they can be Young Adult Delegates to the General Assembly.
So tonight I’d like to lift up a prayer for conformation students and teachers–especially for the ones I met today.
Lenten Prayer for Confirmation Students and Teachers
God of all ages–guide our confirmation students.
In all the rush of life help them find you.
Adjust their priorities.
Open their eyes to understanding and compassion.
Open their hearts to deep questioning.
Help them know their identity is grounded in your deep love for them.
God of all ages–guide our confirmation teachers.
In all the rush of life help them find you.
Adjust their priorities.
Open their eyes to understanding and compassion.
Open their hearts to deep questioning.
Help them know their identity is grounded in your deep love for them. Amen.
-Written by Emily Hope, a millennial pondering questions of the new millennium