On Practicing Justice - a book worth considering

By JohnGroen | October 11, 2009

When informed that child slavery exists in our world and that their slavery contributes to our ability to purchase inexpensive goods, people expressed surprise.  Want to practice justice?  Read this book.  Begin to follow where it leads.  Here’s a review from Theolog - the blog from the Christian Century.

October 8, 2009

On the shelf: Everyday Justice by Julie Clawson

by Bob Cornwall

“Every decision we make is an ethical decision, which forces us to choose whether we will act out of love or end up denying the image of God in others.” This quotation sums up CCblogger Julie Clawson’s new book Everyday Justice. Whether it’s the coffee we drink, the chocolate or cheeseburger we eat or the clothes on our back, our everyday choices affect the lives of people living near and far from us. Because we often can’t see the consequences of our choices, we don’t pay much attention to them.

Books like this one tend to get under our skin and make us feel uncomfortable, especially when they bring to mind texts like Matthew 25, which calls on us to attend to the needs of the “least of these.” But like the rich young ruler of this week’s gospel lesson, we find it difficult to let go of the things that give pleasure to our lives.

There are alternatives out there—though yes, they may be more expensive and inconvenient. Clawson suggests taking it slow at first: make just a few changes here and there. Start with CFL light bulbs. Choose fair trade coffee, and maybe combine some shopping trips to save gas. Clawson calls this “ethical consumption,” the decision to apply “our moral values and ethical standards to our consumer habits.” We can start this process by becoming more aware of the situation, and this book is a good place to start. Its stories and information can help us make better decisions, and each chapter ends with a list of resources.

Why should we care about these things? The answer should be simple for Christians: because God does. As we hear this challenging word, Clawson offers some words of grace. First, don’t panic. Do, what you can, because even small changes, when taken together with the changes made by others, can make a big difference. Second, she encourages us not to try this alone but instead do it as a community. It is “within the strength and support of these relationships [the Holy Spirit and our communities of faith] that we serve.”

Bob Cornwall is pastor of Central Woodward Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Troy, Michigan, and editor of Sharing the Practice (Academy of Parish Clergy). He blogs at Ponderings on a Faith Journey, part of the CCblogs network.

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Just Guys: a new article from the Fuller Youth Institute

By JohnGroen | September 1, 2009

Just Guys


By Brad Griffin Kara Powell and copied from the Fuller Youth Institute website found at: http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/2009/08/just-guys/


August 31, 2009


What’s the deal with guys?


Recent research warns of the chronic underachieving, emotionally drifting, and irresponsible “Guyland” of male adolescence.  But most of us in youth ministry don’t need research to tell us that there are new challenges inherent in working with boys.

Youth pastor and blogger Jeremy Zach recently voiced an ache many of us feel when it comes to the guys under our care:

Talking to a high school male about spiritual stuff is like basically talking to a wall… And trying to motivate a high school guy to pursue righteousness is a tough, tough task [1]

Clearly something isn’t connecting for guys in many of our ministries.  How can we as youth workers better equip ourselves and parents to face the current realities of boys and help them engage God and others?  Given that we’re also each raising a son, this is a question we wrestle with every day.

Excuses and Fears

Much of our culture’s collective anxiety about adolescent guys is caught up in various excuses and fears.  Excuses like “boys will be boys” or “it’s a guy thing” have become cultural blankets to cover all sorts of irresponsible and destructive behaviors from young boyhood through adulthood.

Meanwhile we’re overwhelmed by the fears that arise from the behaviors that prompt these excuses in the first place: boys are emotionally closed off, spend too much time playing video games and hanging out online, are too sex-obsessed, lack motivation, and often drift into adulthood with little direction.

More than a few of these fears are valid, but we struggle to find reliable lenses through which to interpret what’s going on with guys.  We should say up front that not every boy is the same (thank goodness!) and not every boy lives by the excuses and fears we describe below.  But these research trends are worth taking time to understand and respond to, for the sake of the guys—and the girls—in our ministries.

Guyland: The Secret Underworld

According to sociologist and gender studies expert Michael Kimmel, young men ages 16-26 live in a secret world of Guyland that resembles an uncertain holding tank.[2] His interviews with over 400 guys led Kimmel to conclude:

Guyland is the world in which young men live.  It is both a stage of life, a liminal undefined time span between adolescence and adulthood that can often stretch for a decade or more, and a place, or rather, a bunch of places where guys gather to be guys with each other, unhassled by the demands of parents, girlfriends, jobs, kids, and the other nuisances of adult life. [3]

Similar to the research of our Fuller Seminary colleague Chap Clark,[4] most of the guys in Kimmel’s study believe that they are completely on their own to chart a path through Guyland. By the time they hit high school, they can’t trust their parents or other adults—and most feel like they can’t trust each other either.  This is in large part because of the “Guy Code,” learned in boyhood and expanded in adolescence.

The number one rule in the Guy Code is, you guessed it, “Boys don’t cry.”  Kimmel observes, “Masculinity is largely a ‘homosocial’ experience: performed for, and judged by, other men.”[5] And it’s driven by homophobia—defined in Guyland code as the fear that others might think you’re gay.  “That’s so gay” is one of the most common put-down guys use in high school, and it can refer to anything—something you say, wear, or do.  So guys spend a lot of their energy attempting to prove (primarily to other guys) that they aren’t gay, that they are masculine enough to warrant independence in the “real man’s” territory.  In other words, while many maintain that our version of masculinity is simply hardwired by biology, few account for the way the masculine code is “coerced and policed relentlessly by other guys.”[6

High school has become the boot camp for Guyland, raising the stakes for the “boys don’t cry” code they have already learned and making the consequences for breaking it more severe. “How do I measure up?” is the daily question boys ask in the face of the guy code, and most guys we know feel like they fall short every day.  Breaking the dependence on that code starts with working on rule number one.  Boys are taught that they’re acting like girls—in overtly cruel as well as implicit ways—any time they express emotions, but also even when they feel them.  As a culture, we leave boys isolated and detached, essentially numb to any kind of emotion.  “Be tough.  Shut up and take it.  Don’t be a sissy.”

In fact, there’s some evidence that although boys express emotions less, they feel them more intensely, at least physiologically in measures of perspiration and heart rate.[7] Far beyond the biology of guys and emotions, the truth is that masculinity is multilayered and multifaceted, and to force a masculine profile into one specific box—whatever the box—is to deny part of the beauty of God’s creation of maleness (and femaleness, for that matter).

This denial of feelings also manifests itself in an anti-woman sentiment that runs as an undercurrent through Guyland.  The objectification and degradation of women is pervasive in the ways guys talk to one another, use and share pornography, and of course treat women.  So as they follow the Guy Code, guys not only fail to relate to themselves and one another, but also young women, with any authenticity.

Escaping Guyland

Those of us who feel called to help guys experience all God intends can take heart.   Just as research helps us understand the pull of Guyland, it can also give us some tips for helping guys find an escape.

Fostering Emotional Resilience

Kimmel suggests that one of the antidotes to perpetual Guyland is encouraging emotional resilience in guys—the development of an ethical and emotional core that helps guys bounce back in the face of adversity.[8] From his research, there are at least four factors resilient guys share:

1. At least one adult who made a difference, who believed in them and invested in them.

2. Parents—mothers and fathers both—are critically important, even to late adolescent males, to stay connected and help usher them into manhood.

3. A passion or interest area in which he can develop a competence.  This is even better if it broadens his set of social connections beyond high school.

4. Real, enduring friends.  Guys need at least one other guy to balance the opinion of the crowd and reduce the isolation inherent in the guy experience.  Further, nurturing female friendships cuts down on the objectification of women because guys learn to relate to real girls.  Either way, one genuine friendship can be enough to make a real difference for guys who are really struggling through adolescence.

Redefining Manhood: Just Guys

Having spent over 25 years studying and working with boys, psychologist Michael Gurian poses the question, “What is the purpose of boys?”  The answer from our culture seems to be, “We don’t know.”[9] No wonder, then, that adolescent boys seem to lack a sense of direction.  One of Gurian’s key insights in his book The Purpose of Boys is that boys often need to be led to purpose before they can lead themselves or others in purposeful ways.  They need communities of purpose around them to help them develop a purpose as boys—and as men.

Men, for better or worse, will define manhood to our boys.  And if men aren’t around to define, model, and usher boys into manhood, other boys will do it on their (and our) behalf.  Boys initiating boys into manhood (fraternities and sports team hazing offers plenty of ripe examples here) plunge males deeper into the abyss of Guyland.

Together with dads and other men in our church, we as both male and female youth workers can create meaningful rituals that help answer the question, “What does it mean to be a man?”  One all-boys’ school in Maryland defines this through a five-week service trip each year to the Dominican Republic, during which time the boys learn to work hard and live simply, all for the sake of others.  The answer to the question about purpose becomes “using your strength in the service of others.”[10] Giving all we have to serve others doesn’t sound like an all-American definition of manhood, but it does sound an awful lot like the Bible.

On that journey, we can help guys learn to speak out against injustice in their own communities and around the world. As Kimmel concludes, “Guys who are ‘just guys’ can become just guys—guys who are capable of acting ethically, of doing the right thing, of standing up against the centripetal pull of Guyland…They can actually become men.”[11] The perpetuation of the worst behaviors is fed by our own silence and our inability to help guys speak out.  Instead, we can help them see God’s heart for the oppressed and set them free to advocate and act on behalf of others.

A big key is to get boys connected with older generations.  If mentors aren’t jumping out of the shadows to nurture adolescent boys, go hunting for them.  Explore opportunities for guys to serve the senior men’s group at your church in some way, or to volunteer at a local nursing home.  Find fathers whose sons have left home, and invite them to join another boy on his journey.

Leading Forward: Alternative Paths

Below are a few more ideas for inviting guys to crawl out of the darkness of Guyland and engage each other, girls, adults, and God in new ways:

  • If you’re a guy yourself, model a countercultural reality for guys.  If you’re still in the under-30 crowd, find ways to live out a Guyland alternative.  If you’re over 30, and especially if you’re a dad of an adolescent guy, consider your own actions, words, and choices and the ways they feed into or react against the “Guy Code” script.  What are your true passions, and do the young men in your life know about them and see them lived out?
  • Both male and female youth workers can give guys outlets for expressing emotion and then talk about it together.  Sports are one place—and currently just about the only acceptable place—for guys to express emotions.  Guys come alive emotionally in sports, and feel more free to feel and show joy, sorrow, pain, even tears.  Tap into that reality by going to games together or playing sports together, and let these become teaching moments as you debrief the experiences, talking about the emotions elicited by sports.
  • Help guys build a moral compass that will actually lead them somewhere beyond Guyland. Foster a vision for integrity that values the image of God in others—both girls and guys.
  • Stop the gay jokes and comments in your youth ministry.  Seriously.  Any time we participate, laugh, or fail to speak or act in response, we approve of the code that cripples guys from showing any genuine emotion or sensitivity.  Your theological position on homosexuality itself is actually irrelevant here, because as Kimmel observes, the term “gay” refers to anything “not guy” enough.[12] Talk with groups of guys about phrases like “That’s so gay” or “You’re such a fag” and ask them questions about what they’re really thinking—or fearing—when they make those statements. Chances are good you’ll have to start with your adult ministry team first on this one.
  • Help parents understand that guys desperately need them—moms AND dads—to stay connected and involved throughout the “guy” phase, and give parents tools to keep communication channels open.
  • Advocate for and with parents in local school systems for anti-bullying and anti-hazing policies that help diffuse some of the more violent behaviors that guys carry out against one another in Guyland.
  • Encourage parents to engage boys in finding a way to care for someone or something else every day—a grandparent, a pet, a neighbor—to help build compassion and a sense of purposefulness as boys learn to channel their power for the good of others.
  • Help boys discover something beyond themselves to live for, to fight for, to serve.  Channel these purposeful desires into seeking justice for the oppressed and poverty-stricken.  Raise their awareness of world concerns like AIDS orphans or child slavery, and give them tangible ways to engage in both global and local care for others.  Help them experience the joy and sense of purpose that comes from being “just guys”.

ACTION POINTS

  • When you think of or hear the phrase, “Boys will be boys,” what comes to mind?  What’s encouraging about that?  What’s disturbing?  How is your perspective challenged by the insights in this article?
  • How have our youth ministries fed into and perpetuated the “Guyland” mentality?  Read this article with your team, then make two lists together of the ways your youth ministry both contributes to guy stereotypes and builds an alternative reality for guys and girls.  Most likely you’ll find items on both lists you’d like to respond to as a team.
  • Pick one or two of the “alternative paths” listed above to focus on for the next two months, creating an action plan for how you will implement that path.  Then evaluate how your team is doing on addressing guy culture and discipling the boys in your midst, and perhaps choose another change to implement in your ministry with guys.
  1. Read more of the dialogue on Jeremy’s blog from June 2009: http://www.smalltownyouthpastor.com/2009/06/youth-ministry-male-mentorship/ [13] [↩ [14]]
  2. Michael Kimmel, Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men [15] (San Francisco: Harper, 2008). [↩ [16]]
  3. Michael Kimmel, Guyland, 4. [↩ [17]]
  4. See Chap Clark, Hurt: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers [18] (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004). [↩ [19]]
  5. Michael Kimmel, Guyland, 47. [↩ [20]]
  6. Michael Kimmel, Guyland, 51. [↩ [21]]
  7. Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson, Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys [22](New York:  Ballantine Books, 1999), 10-11. [↩ [23]]
  8. Michael Kimmel, Guyland, 270ff. [↩ [24]]
  9. Michael Gurian, The Purpose of Boys: Helping Our Sons Find Meaning, Significance, and Direction in Their Lives [25] (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009), 4. [↩ [26]]
  10. Leonard Sax, Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men [27] (New York: Basic Books, 2007), 181. [↩ [28]]
  11. Michael Kimmel, Guyland, 267. [↩ [29]]
  12. Michael Kimmel, Guyland, 77. [↩ [30]]

©2008 Fuller Youth Institute

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Teachers Make a Difference

By JohnGroen | August 15, 2009

What do teachers make?

From the Jesus Creed blog, Friday August 14, 2009, posted by Scot McKnight

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education.

He argued, ‘What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?’

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: ‘Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.’

To emphasize his point he said to another guest; ‘You’re a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?’

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, ‘You want to know what I make?

(She paused for a second, then began…)

‘Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can’t make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make?’ (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.)

”I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to write and then I make them write.

Keyboarding isn’t everything.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math. They use their God-given brain, not the man-made calculator.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in the United States of America .

I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.’

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

‘Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn’t everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant…

You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make Mr. CEO?’

His jaw dropped, he went silent.

For a youtube presentation of this go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpog1_NFd2Q&feature=related

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A Thought While Preaching - about Jesus.

By JohnGroen | June 8, 2009

Sunday as I was preaching something struck me. We speak of Jesus being without sin in his relationship with God. There was never a time Jesus had to confess sin as we do. This is something you have heard before. I believe this is true of Jesus. But there is a complementary piece to this. Jesus never sinned against his family or friends or enemies either. We sin against each other. We say words we regret, words that cut into the psych of our children, friends, spouses. We think very little about using words that hurt against those we dislike, those we regard as enemies. So, yes, we sin against each other. If we have the Holy Spirit living in us we will regret these words. We will ask to be forgiven.

Jesus never had to ask someone to forgive his words or his behavior toward another person. Being Christlike, wanting to imitate Jesus challenges us to watch what we say to others and how we behave toward them.

The thought – Jesus never sinned against another person.

I have some growing to do in order to be like him.

Here is something I picked up from Dream Awakener – another blogger. The thoughts expressed here fit with what I’m saying above.

“Words are very important. When we say to someone, “You are an ugly, useless, despicable person,” we might have ruined the possibility for a relationship with that person for life. Words can continue to do harm for many years.

It is so important to choose our words wisely. When we are boiling with anger and eager to throw bitter words at our opponents, it is better to remain silent. Words spoken in rage will make reconciliation very hard. Choosing life and not death, blessings and not curses, often starts by choosing to remain silent or choosing carefully the words that open the way to healing.” - Henri Nouwen

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The Hardest Habit to Break

By JohnGroen | May 30, 2009

Edwin Friedman composed a number of wise fables.  One is about a moth that spends a whole day advising, nagging, talking at, a fly which flies against a window all day attempting to get out  The fly does not change its behavior.  When night falls it rests on the sill.  The moth sees a light and flies toward it.  The sound of an electric bug killer zapping a bug soon follows.

What’s the hardest habit to break?  Someone else’s!  How much time don’t we as spouses, parents, and friends spend attempting to get our spouse, our children, and our friends to change their habits.  Such a waste of time and energy.  And usually we end up quite frustrated.  The only person we can ever change is ourselves.  That’s hard enough.

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The Perfect Family

By JohnGroen | May 30, 2009

“Only Perfect Families attend our congregation here in Ann Arbor.”  Ever feel like that this is what some people project?  Well, maybe.  Read the following post from Jim Martin. I think he hits the nail on the head.

One of the greatest myths about family is that somehow it is possible to experience a perfect family.  Some Christians believe that because they follow Christ that it is possible to be the perfect family.

Now some may know this and yet many of us spend much energy trying to project to one another that we have the perfect marriage, family, children, etc.  Perhaps you know people like this.  Someone asks, “How are your children?”  “Wonderful!”  Or they may ask, “How is your husband?”  “Awesome.  He is really doing well.”  Those answers may be correct.  However, it may seem strange to continue hearing such answers when you know that the family is experiencing heartache with the children or the spouse.    Yet, they are always “wonderful.”

Is this reality?  Or, is this about image management?  Could it be that in order to protect their image, some people never really tell the truth.  Instead, they are content to settle for something superficial.

Some believe that the church is the place where all of the successful, happy, families gather.  No problems.  No heartaches.  No struggles.  Everyone has it all together.  Now if you view the church like this, you may feel somewhat intimidated by being a part of the church.  What if you are struggling in your marriage?  What if you are having financial problems?  What if you have come out of horrible home life?  You may wonder, “Is there anyone else in this church like me?”

When our children were growing up, I tried to be especially conscious of this problem.  I wanted them to grow up in a good home, where we loved one another and Christ was at the center.  Yet, I did not want them to think that they were supposed to project some sort of image about our family because I was a minister.  I did not want them to think that they had to be dishonest about life in our home in order to make me look good.

There are no perfect families.  They are not in the Bible.  They are not in the church today.  You may be a part of a really good family.  You may have a good marriage.  Yet, there are no perfect families because there are no perfect human beings.

All families, like all people, are imperfect.

What would help so many of us is to get the right perspective toward our families.  Instead of being preoccupied with managing my image before others, I need to be focused on living with the intent of loving my family with a God honoring love.  Consequently, I am to love God and love others, especially my own family.  Such love is sacrificial, self-denying, forgiving and persistent.

On July 20 of last year, I heard a segment of NPR’s, “This I Believe” which especially caught my attention.  Listen as this speaker reflects upon his earlier years:

I don’t know why I came to the decision to become a loser, but I know I made the choice at a young age.  Sometime in the middle of fourth grade, I stopped trying.  By the time I was in seventh grade, I was your typical degenerate: lazy, rebellious, disrespectful.  I had lost all social graces.  I was terminally hip and fatally cool.

It wasn’t long after I dropped out of school and continued my downward spiral.  Hard physical labor was the consequence for the choices I made as an adolescent.  At the age of 21, I was hopelessly lost, and using drugs as a way to deal with the fact that I was illiterate and stuck in a dead-end job carrying roof shingles up a ladder all day.

But now I believe in do-overs, in the chance to do it all again.  And I believe that do-overs can be made at any point in your life, if you have the right motivation…

Yes!  This is what a family is about.  Families are not places where we  pretend we have reached perfection.  Families are places where human beings can struggle with life and even experience a do-over.  Christ-followers believe that God’s grace through Christ gives the ultimate do-over.

I am curious.  What have you observed about the myth of the perfect family in the churches with which you are familiar?  In what ways does this myth do damage to other people?

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The Dying Rabbi

By JohnGroen | May 23, 2009

A  revered rabbi was dying.  Known for his wisdom, especially displayed in his last years, a young rabbi went to visit him, hoping to learn a piece or two of wisdom.

“What”, he asked, “has been the most important lesson you have learned in life?”

The dying rabbi replied, “When I was a young rabbi I thought I could change the world, and I worked hard at doing so.  Then after years of trying and failing I attempted to change my country.  Again, after years of trying and failing, I tried to change my village.  After fewer years it became apparent that that too was to fail.  Then I attempted to change my family.  Alas, failure.  I now realize that if I had attempted to change myself I might have changed my family, my village, my country and maybe even the world.”

What one thing have you attempted to change about yourself in the past month, half year or year?

How hard it is to change self!  Try for a year.  Call me and let me know when the year is up.

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Al Staal, our Children and Their Mothers, a poem.

By JohnGroen | May 12, 2009

This morning for our Children’s Time in worship I asked the children to describe their mothers.  I asked Al Staal, a word smith, to create a poem using these descriptions, which he did and here it is.  Thanks to Al and to the children for their descriptions.  Enjoy.

Mothers Day

Some Moms say that kids

are sugar and spice

but we say that moms

are especially nice.

Some Moms like to read

and some are quite tall.

They are pretty and work hard

but that’s really not all!

They do dishes and laundry

and drop us off at our school.

They are kind, helpful, and smart

and plant flowers too.

They love us and teach us

And cook us good food.

It’s no wonder our Dads say

they love our Moms too.

So, Moms, this poem

is a flower for you.

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Youth Ministry is Important

By JohnGroen | April 27, 2009

Youth Ministry is important.  That’s a given in today’s church.  Here’s a question/situation many churches find themselves in today.  How do we mentor our youth into the full life of the church?   There is a lot of discussion surrounding that and similar questions.  Below you’ll find a discussion taken from the Jesus Creed blog where an invited guest posted his thoughts.  Visit the Jesus Creed blog, find the April 24th posting, read the comments.  Post what you think here.

Here’s the post without the comments it generated.

Youth Ministry and the Church: by Chris Folmsbee

Friday April 24, 2009

Our friend Chris Folmsbee, a leader in youth ministry, offers us one more reflection on youth ministry today, and his topic — youth ministry and church — is as timely as it gets. Let’s think together today about the issue of how our youth are mentored into the church.

I’ve been thinking a bunch lately about how we help our students best understand the Church and its work in the mission of God.  I have received several recent emails in which youth workers have expressed a deep concern for their students understanding of the church.

Can the students in your youth ministry describe the nature of the Church?  Do your students recognize the role of the Church in the mission of God?  Are your students able to identify with the biblical metaphors of the Church?  All of these questions are born out of the concerns that I have heard youth workers repeatedly expressing. As we are all aware there has been a great deal of dialogue surrounding the data concluding that students are ‘leaving the church’ upon the completion of high school with no plans to return.  I’ve heard many reasons as to the cause of this great challenge we face ranging from the increased level of apathy of students (which I don’t think is in anyway the primary reason) to the abandonment of today’s youth by both culture and the Church to a myriad of other suggested causes that are in some way connected to the inability and desire for local churches to embrace change and new practices.

I’m not an expert on the issue of what is so often thought of as the most daunting challenge facing the church today — that being the mass exit of emerging adults.  For all I know there may be dozens of causes that have led to this challenge.  So I don’t proclaim my absolute conclusions.  I do, however, have a hunch.  My hunch is that many of our students, as a result of not knowing the Bible’s story, haven’t been guided toward an understanding of the work of the church in the mission of God and therefore have no framework for or devotion to the church and its nature and work.

What is your hunch as to the cause of such a challenge?  Maybe you have more than a hunch; you have a conclusion?  If so, what have you concluded and what might the church do differently to cultivate a passion for the church among emerging adults?

Perhaps a great starting point for our students is to help them see the Church as a people who are about conversion, community and conformity.

> By conversion I mean that the Church is to be a people concerned about evangelism, hospitality, generosity, liberation and formation.

> By community I mean that the Church is to be a people concerned about providing a sense of belonging, responsibility, inspiration, sharing, diversity and inclusivity.

> By conformity I mean that the Church is to be a people concerned about their desire to form spiritually.  That is, a community that is consistently seeking to arrange its personal and communal lives around the mission of God, the person and work of Jesus, submission to the gifts and roles of the Holy Spirit in order t become a people full of grace and dedicated to the healing of all people through salvation and justice.

What else might we consider as part of the framework to help students best understand the nature and work of the Church?  As far as you are concerned, do you feel like the Church is doing a good job helping emerging adults understand the Church?  How might the Church improve in its efforts?

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