After spending the weekend thinking about youth and young adult ministry, you’d think I would have wanted a break. But, I sat in worship last Sunday with CYYAM (Council for Youth and Young Adult Ministries) members at Dover Congregational UCC in
“Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at
In this story, Jesus’ disciples have this amazing, life-altering experience, and then choose to say nothing when they get down from the mountain. I’d imagine that the valley looked a lot different to the disciples. They had no idea what to do with their new vision.
Immediately, my mind leapt to youth ministry. So many times, well-intentioned adults provide young people with amazing mountaintop experiences – retreats, national events, mission trips and week-long camps. Young people come down from these “highs” and often have no where to go with that energy.
I thought about how often the church forms youth ministry around such mountaintop experiences. Young people and a few adult leaders go off to one of these events. Young people come back, filled with a spiritual fire that inspires them to see new possibilities for ministry in the church. But those ministry efforts falter when they try to implement it. Worse yet, they go back and face opposition from the very people who they thought would support them.
When this happens, adults in the church risk teaching young people that faith only happens on the mountaintop, not in the everyday realities of life. Or adults communicate that the church wants young people “over there” rather than be an integral part of the life of the church.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with going to the mountaintop. We all need to get away and recharge our spiritual batteries and see things from a different perspective. But, we also need to be equipped to live our faith AFTER these life-altering experiences in the valley, which HASN’T been altered.
We shouldn’t be surprised when young people come back from the mountaintop altered and want to do something differently. So, please embrace these new ideas, even if you don’t know exactly what they mean or how they might work. The disciples sure didn’t understand after seeing the transfigured Jesus.
Nicole, you are so right, this is something always bothered me, because even as an adukt clergy I found myself coming back from some experiences that were awesome, but then I felt I had no where to go with them. There has to be totally integrated and inclusive ministry. It takes more consistent work and planning but it is most impoirtant. So glad you are with the Iowa Conference. Christine
I'm glad my thoughts resonated with you. This integration is something that is very difficult to do and is made even more difficult when inertia sets in.