The Treasure of Our Youth

“O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.”
(Psalm 71.17)

We have a real treasure here in this church. We have a real treasure that we need to appreciate and celebrate, and for which we need to give thanks to God. We have a large collection of senior high youth who are calling this church “home,” who are coming here for spiritual nourishment, fellowship, service opportunities, and just plain fun, and who are coming not because they feel pressured to be here but because they genuinely want to be here.

What we have is something that many Presbyterian congregations that I know wish they had. They look at us and they think, “Wow. We’re jealous!” Some of them are trying desperately to get youth activities going. Many of them don’t have a critical mass to start with. Some of them look at their future . . . and they worry.

Across our denomination, things aren’t looking so great. Churches are shrinking; churches are closing; the average age of parishioners continues to rise; many churches have no senior high youth who want anything to do with the church. But look at us. Look at all these youth. Right now, we have nineteen senior high youth who are showing up for church youth events on a regular basis. Nineteen!!! And there are another half-dozen or so who aren’t coming to our youth events (yet!) but who have some kind of strong connection to the church. That makes a total of about twenty-five, all in grades 9-12. That’s wonderful! That’s fantastic!

Some of you may be wondering: “Where are they? I don’t see them.” If you’re here on many Sunday evenings, you’ll see them. If you’re here on a Wednesday afternoon, you’ll see them. Right now, thanks to our dedicated adult volunteers (primarily Beth Creamer and Tom Seely, with additional help this year from Bonnie Friend, Steve Van Dyke, and Amy Yanz, not to mention additional behind-the-scene assistance from the other members of the Spiritual Growth Committee), we’re offering programming for our youth typically a couple Sunday nights per month and just about every Wednesday afternoon. A typical youth group meeting is centered around a scriptural theme that provides the basis for some substantive conversation, plus ample time for food, fellowship, and games, all wrapped in prayer. We spend time talking about issues that these youth care about. We spend time reflecting on the Christian faith and its relation to daily life. We spend time checking in with each youth, to hear from them, in their own words, what’s going on in their lives that’s worth celebrating or that’s causing them stress or worry, and we offer our prayerful support and encouragement and love. There’s a lot of laughter. Sometimes – depending on what’s going on in the lives of these youth – sometimes there are tears. And there’s a lot of fun. One night recently, we formed a human knot and spent more than thirty minutes trying to get out of it – and in the process, discovered how well the group works together as a team. Another afternoon recently, the group went roller skating over at Edru in Holt and had a blast (and we learned that Steve Van Dyke hasn’t lost his touch). The group is currently engaged in a food and can drive, is about to head off on an overnight retreat, has plans to attend a Christian concert at the Breslin Center, is looking forward to lots more meetings between now and May, and – come summer – a mission trip to Lexington, Kentucky, where they will be working alongside youth from other Presbyterian churches around the country.

And then there are the Wednesdays! On a typical Wednesday, the senior high youth are showing up sometime between 3:00 and 4:00, depending on their after-school schedule. They have some time to relax and unwind from their long, busy days, get a healthy snack, and do some homework. Programming starts at 4:30, which typically includes a Bible study currently led by yours truly. Over the past several months, we’ve read through almost the entire book of Genesis, starting with the call of Abraham in chapter 12 and continuing all the way through the death of Joseph in chapter 50. The youth have had lots of questions, and they’ve been surprised at what they’ve been discovering in these stories of all-too-human people who lie and cheat and steal and sometimes do other things that aren’t really fit for a front-page article in a church newsletter. Honestly, if you’ve never read Genesis, you’d be surprised at what happens in some of those stories; certainly, the youth have been surprised. More than once, I heard comments like this: “That story just shouldn’t be in the Bible!” Along the way, they’ve been learning about the promises and the grace and the providence of God, which somehow manifests itself even when humans do things that are less than ethical or less than responsible or less than kind. The story of Joseph – which extends for about 12 chapters in the book of Genesis – is a long, epic saga, and the youth have been doing an admirable job summarizing the key details of the story to other youth who missed one or more weeks along the way. We just wrapped up Genesis and the youth enthusiastically said they want to head on into Exodus. How cool is that . . . youth who want to read the Bible and talk about it?!? So we typically read and talk for about an hour, then the youth move to some other activity. Sometimes, the youth have helped with cleaning or straightening; sometimes, they’ve worked on mission projects or bringing a word of cheer to people at Green Acres or Jefferson Street Square; sometimes, there’s time for a game of ping-pong or an invigorating conversation about their thoughts and beliefs in life. Sometimes, they’ll bring stuff that they want to talk about and get feedback on from adults whom they trust. There’s good stuff happening here!

“But” – you may be wondering – “where are they on Sunday mornings? Why aren’t they here?” Well, if you look closely, you’ll see some of them. I’d say that about a third of the group is showing up on Sunday mornings for worship. Yes, it would be nice to have more, and we’ll keep working on that. But let us rejoice in what we have. And let us consider the possibility that perhaps we need to make some adjustments in what we do on Sunday mornings so that more youth will want to make worship with the larger community of faith a priority in their lives. And let us not fail to notice that some of these youth are coming without their parents. What does that say? (In one case recently, a youth was coming first – and then started bringing their family!)

One reality we’re experiencing is that a number of the youth we are currently ministering to have not come to us with prior church experience, or are from families that are pretty indifferent to church involvement. This is both a joy and a challenge. It’s a joy because it provides us a wonderful opportunity to reach out and touch some people’s lives with the good news of the gospel who wouldn’t be hearing it otherwise. It’s a challenge because sometimes we wonder, Okay – they don’t know the basic Bible stories. Where do we even begin?” Once recently, on a Wednesday afternoon as we were reading through Genesis, one of our youth asked, “Do these stories take place before or after Jesus?” It was a sincere question. This youth literally didn’t know, and it’s certainly not her fault that no one has ever explained that detail to her until now. In some cases, we really are starting from scratch, trying to figure out how to talk meaningfully about faith and God and Jesus and the gospel. It’s a wonderful challenge! I’ve told some of my clergy colleagues about this unique situation that we’re finding ourselves in, and they have been filled with praise and words of encouragement for the good things that are clearly happening here at this congregation in the realm of youth ministry.

From time to time I hear some people in the congregation comment on how loud the youth can be . . . or how silly . . . or how rambunctious they can be sometimes. It may not always feel “decent and in order.” But that’s what youth ministry is like. If we want to have youth here – and my gosh, heaven help us if we don’t – then we need to accept the reality that it’s just going to be a little loud, a little silly, a little rambunctious sometimes. It’s okay! Do you remember what you were like when you were a teenager? I know, a lot of us have tried hard to block out some of those memories, because the teenage years are really awkward and difficult to live through. But I bet that your mom or dad or elders thought that you were loud, that you were silly, that you were a little overly rambunctious some of the time. If we want youth here – and heaven help us if we don’t! – then we need to be willing to let our hair down a little. We need to be willing to accept a little play in our lives. Play is a normal, healthy part of life. These youth are here because they want to be here, because they’re feeling that they are benefiting from the time they spend here. They need to feel safe here. They need to feel welcome here. They need to feel that they can be their true selves here. We spend time and energy working to create a safe, nurturing environment for them . . . and then we get the privilege of watching them (and helping them) grow and blossom into the people that God has created them to be.

From time to time, I also hear comments like, “We’re an older congregation.” Well, yes, there may be some truth to that. Gosh, we’ve been around for over 150 years! Many of you have spent many decades here. Like almost every other Presbyterian congregation I know, we have a lot of gray-topped people here. (I’m on my way towards becoming one of those myself!) But if we go about calling ourselves an “older congregation,” we run the risk of making that a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we think we’re an “older congregation,” then that’s what we will become. If, on the other hand, we consider ourselves “vibrant congregation filled with life and enthusiasm and activity and people of all sorts of different ages,” then that’s what we will become. Which attitude would be healthier for us to promote? Which attitude would be better for us to embody?

We have some amazing youth here, filled with life and energy and questions and exuberance and joy and promise. Do you know them? Do you know their names? You should! There’s Andrew and Chelsea and Conor and Danielle and Hannah and Holly and Isabel and Jacob and Jacq and Joe and Jordan and Kate and Kaylin and Margaret and Mason and another Mason and Riley and Sam and Taylore and Zoe . . . and there are several others who aren’t (yet!) plugged into the group. (We’ll keep working on that!) They’re pretty amazing young people. They’re good kids. They’re the senior high youth of Mason First Presbyterian Church. They’re a gift and a blessing. They’re a treasure that God has given us. They’re not just the future of the church – they are part of the church, now. We’ve been entrusted with responsibility for shepherding these young people in the faith. We’ve been entrusted with helping them grow to become mature and responsible young adults. We’ve been entrusted with the responsibility for sharing the good news of the gospel with these wonderful young individuals.

What a joy. What a blessing. What an opportunity. What a
treasure.

Thank you, God. Thank you very, very much.

Peace and blessings,

Bill