Disclaimer - I couldn't come up with a suitably groovy title for this post so I gave up and just added 'on' to the topic. Its an old trick that works - now you know what this post is trying to be about.
I read earlier today a blog post from Rich Wilson, of Fusion/LoveYourUni, who wrote "Solving the 18-30 Crisis in the Church". I have a lot of respect for Rich, and love a lot of what the guys at Fusion do. Check out their website - I totally love and endorse everything Fusion has to say about Students and Churches here (I think the John Sentamu Quote here is bang on). Seeing the title to this post, I got excited, as this is a conundrum I find very interesting. Not least because I am an 18-30 year old person who loves Jesus, loves the local church, and is in one. And also not least because of the atrocious statistics that have been doing the rounds - our student pastor at Trent mentioned one study that showed around 70% of people who profess faith in Jesus end up falling away whilst at university. Whilst I think that there are some good points in Rich's post, a couple of things concerned me/puzzled me.
At the outset I need to put my cards on the table - I'm from a conservative background, have just graduated from university, and am now on a Discipleship Year at Trent Vineyard, a great church in Nottingham. I love the CU's I've had contact with, and I love the way that different bits of the church do mission and love students in different ways. I'm not claiming to have all the answers, and my post is based mostly on my own experience, but I thought I might butt in with my own two cents.
I'm grateful for Rich's "Solution Focussed" paragraph, as he points out the fact that no-one has yet come up with a possible solution to the problem of the 18-30's drain. I like that he uses the language of connection - because being plugged into a local church is key for every Christian. I also completely agree that "the Church needs to shift her attention to implementing solutions rather than focussing on the problems". That's massive - we do need to get on with reaching 18-30's, rather than just worrying praying and talking about it.
I'm intrigued by Rich's main point, that of "Radical Releasing". Personally, I'm concerned about the split that seems implied in the church. I absolutely do not want to get in the way of what God is doing and saying, but isn't the church for everyone, of all ages? I think we need to be cautious about creating specific things for specific age groups (in terms of separating out the sunday services). I love that at Trent (which isn't perfect but is a great Church that I love being a part of) the students are encouraged to join in the main gathering on a sunday and then be part of specific student activities on other days. I think Trent has a great model here - because it is important to recognise both the specific needs of various groups, and also the call of Jesus for the messy, cohesive, varied, bonkers grouping and gathering of people that we call the local church. And that means meeting people where they are at, loving individuals, opening the Bible/praying/ministering/talking/listening/coffee-ing/worshipping as and where necessary.
The second point that Rich puts forward is really exciting. And I think you'd have to be a bit odd to disagree with it. Training, conversation, unity and leadership are crucial to good mission, and good Churches. I'm really excited to hear stories from the "Student Learning Communities over the coming months, and all they guys and gals involved are in my prayers.
Finally, some general observations. I think we (as a Church) need to be careful that we don't make students out to be some weird, inaccessible hard to reach people group that require special treatment. Students (and all 18-30-somethings) are people too. That means they need love, fellowship, and understanding. There is no age barrier to the body of Christ - Churches should be places where all ages are welcomed. That probably means that we need to be better and integrating 18-30's. That we need to up our game with what we do to retain us. That we need to make sure we are relating the Bible to issues we face. That we need to listen to 18-30's, inside and outside of the Church. I'm grateful for my background at CSBC, where students18/30's seem to come and to stay. It's a completely different style of church from Trent - where students/18-30's seem to come and stay, too. I think thats because both churches are absolutely in love with Jesus, and seeking to make sense of that in the culture and places we find ourselves in.
I'm grateful for the work Fusion do, (and UCCF, Soul Survivor, etc etc) and I'm also grateful for the local church. I'm excited about the part that Fusion has to play in reversing the sobering trend regarding my generation. And I know that, ultimately, it is going to be all about Jesus and his kingdom.
Generic photo of people aged 18-30.
At the outset I need to put my cards on the table - I'm from a conservative background, have just graduated from university, and am now on a Discipleship Year at Trent Vineyard, a great church in Nottingham. I love the CU's I've had contact with, and I love the way that different bits of the church do mission and love students in different ways. I'm not claiming to have all the answers, and my post is based mostly on my own experience, but I thought I might butt in with my own two cents.
I'm grateful for Rich's "Solution Focussed" paragraph, as he points out the fact that no-one has yet come up with a possible solution to the problem of the 18-30's drain. I like that he uses the language of connection - because being plugged into a local church is key for every Christian. I also completely agree that "the Church needs to shift her attention to implementing solutions rather than focussing on the problems". That's massive - we do need to get on with reaching 18-30's, rather than just worrying praying and talking about it.
I'm intrigued by Rich's main point, that of "Radical Releasing". Personally, I'm concerned about the split that seems implied in the church. I absolutely do not want to get in the way of what God is doing and saying, but isn't the church for everyone, of all ages? I think we need to be cautious about creating specific things for specific age groups (in terms of separating out the sunday services). I love that at Trent (which isn't perfect but is a great Church that I love being a part of) the students are encouraged to join in the main gathering on a sunday and then be part of specific student activities on other days. I think Trent has a great model here - because it is important to recognise both the specific needs of various groups, and also the call of Jesus for the messy, cohesive, varied, bonkers grouping and gathering of people that we call the local church. And that means meeting people where they are at, loving individuals, opening the Bible/praying/ministering/talking/listening/coffee-ing/worshipping as and where necessary.
The second point that Rich puts forward is really exciting. And I think you'd have to be a bit odd to disagree with it. Training, conversation, unity and leadership are crucial to good mission, and good Churches. I'm really excited to hear stories from the "Student Learning Communities over the coming months, and all they guys and gals involved are in my prayers.
Finally, some general observations. I think we (as a Church) need to be careful that we don't make students out to be some weird, inaccessible hard to reach people group that require special treatment. Students (and all 18-30-somethings) are people too. That means they need love, fellowship, and understanding. There is no age barrier to the body of Christ - Churches should be places where all ages are welcomed. That probably means that we need to be better and integrating 18-30's. That we need to up our game with what we do to retain us. That we need to make sure we are relating the Bible to issues we face. That we need to listen to 18-30's, inside and outside of the Church. I'm grateful for my background at CSBC, where students18/30's seem to come and to stay. It's a completely different style of church from Trent - where students/18-30's seem to come and stay, too. I think thats because both churches are absolutely in love with Jesus, and seeking to make sense of that in the culture and places we find ourselves in.
I'm grateful for the work Fusion do, (and UCCF, Soul Survivor, etc etc) and I'm also grateful for the local church. I'm excited about the part that Fusion has to play in reversing the sobering trend regarding my generation. And I know that, ultimately, it is going to be all about Jesus and his kingdom.
I think that if your "Church" has tapped into a niche demographic, and you're exclusively opening your doors to said people group, then by very definition, it isn't really an expression of the Church any more. It's a social club. A gang.
ReplyDeleteChris Russell puts it like this: "The Church would be somehow less if you weren't part of it"
You think it's hard running a church with students and middle aged people in the same service? Try running a 1st century church with circumcised Jews and uncircumcised Gentiles in it! Paul doesn't tell the Corinthians, or anyone else, to split off into a Gentile congregation and a Jewish congregation (Peter tried it and Paul went straight to Jerusalem to have a go at him!)
Having said that, this side of heaven, our society is constantly trying to break people down, pigeon-hole each other until we can comfortably fit into a smaller group of people we can identify with. That's one of our problems with running a "student table" at Alpha; we don't want to close the group off to non-students, but similarly, a lot of students only feel comfortable opening up if everyone on their table is of a similar life stage to them.
There is a balance to be made here; to what extent do we open everything up to society as a whole because that's what heaven will be (every tribe, every tongue etc) and to what extent do we close things down to people with commonalities because that's what society looks like these days?
Maybe the answer comes at Pentecost, when a crowd of seemingly completely different (albeit mostly Jewish) strangers heard the gospel for the first time. How? The Holy Spirit wasn't about to let any cultural or language barrier stop Him; there were lives to be changed. Maybe if we're doing it right, we won't need to break into demographics...
Bobby, thanks for this, I think its a powerful comment, and I love the Chris Russell quote :)
DeleteI'm struck by the close of your comment...
"Maybe the answer comes at Pentecost, when a crowd of seemingly completely different (albeit mostly Jewish) strangers heard the gospel for the first time. How? The Holy Spirit wasn't about to let any cultural or language barrier stop Him; there were lives to be changed. Maybe if we're doing it right, we won't need to break into demographics..."