It’s time to stop blaming young adults. It’s time to stop blaming young adults for “leaving” the church. It’s time to stop blaming young adults for the declining membership of churches. It’s time to stop blaming young adults for being too disinterested, too busy with other things, too caught up in social media. The church [...]
I just had an article published on Unbound called “Numbering My Worries” as part of their Inside Agitators: Seminarians for Justice issue. First and foremost, I am honored to be included in this issue along with several others from my seminary and other seminaries and divinity schools. I am struck by how attentive each person is to [...]
My friend Rev. Patrick Heery wrote an article on The Faithful Budget Campaign in Unbound. From the PC (USA) Office of Public Witness you can read this article by Leslie G. Woods. The Faithful Budget Campaign is an interfaith campaign advocating for certain priorities as the US Congress forms its budget including: -Restoring Economic Opportunity -Ensuring Adequate [...]
A Prayer for Flavor Spicy God, In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus proclaimed we are the Salt for the earth, but sometimes it feels like those who follow Jesus have lost their saltiness. Sometimes it feels like we’ve lost any flavor. Blandness. Boring. Passionless. Start shaking us up, God. Help us recapture the flavor [...]
“What place do confessional documents have in the modern Presbyterian church?” –@ASecludedHour I read this question, and red lights went off in my brain. A small voice told me, Don’t get involved in talking about confessions! Why wouldn’t I want to talk about confessional documents? Honestly, because arguments over confessions have been raging pretty much [...]
A Prayer for Community Builders God, Tonight I pray for those who are building up communities. It’s hard work. Sometimes the builders don’t see their hard work bear fruit for a long time, or at all. To reach out to people where they are, to understand people on their own terms, to organize people to [...]
Rev. Landon Whitsitt wrote an article entitled “Dear Young(ish) Mainline Pastor Type People: Please Plant a Church.” Here is my disclaimer for this post: I am not writing this reply to fight Rev. Whitsitt’s ideas but to add some thoughts into this conversation. First, I do not disagree with what I believe is Rev. Whitsitt’s main [...]
One of my favorite modern writers Carol Howard Merritt wrote an article on The Christian Century entitled “Generational Roadblocks.” In it she identifies five obstacles to young adults’ participation in the church: 1. The leadership is from one generation. 2. The leadership lacks diversity. 3. Our congregations disregard technology. 4. The church ignores its physical [...]