AUTHOR: Robin Dugall
DATE: 8:38:00 AM
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BODY:
A very interesting article appeared in the news today that is further clarifying the changing winds of culture and the impact of postmodernity on the missiology and ecclesiology of the "Church". More and more students are looking for meaning but avoiding anything that has to do with "institution". I know that many, many leaders are arguing this point especially if they have (what some might consider) "huge and successful" youth groups. What numbers might demonstrate in one setting has nothing to do with the preponderance of students who are finding what they are looking for spiritually in divergent means. This article continues to point the finger at contemporary church that we are simply not getting it. A vast majority of my students (both in the Youth Leadership Institute www.yliapu.org AND my class at APU) want community and depth of relationships with people in a common journey of faith but are not getting involved in local church fellowships. Yes, we cannot discount what God has done with those who have been steeped in modernity and in "modern" church...but a new day is here and the future of the Body of Christ is changing. Read on for some good food for thought...
Teens put faith in online religious sites
By Toni Coleman Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON - Two in three teenagers say religion is important to them, but they don't want only to go to church, synagogue or mosque to express their spirituality, according to a study of teens' attitudes toward religion released Wednesday.
A clear majority of those teenagers - 92 percent - want a better connection with their religion, but almost half say they aren't sure how to achieve that, according to the study commissioned by the Jewish group B'nai Brith Youth Organization. Among those teenagers who find it difficult to connect with religion, 68 percent said they'd prefer a less conventional way to do so.
The study, conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, a market-research firm, suggests one thing: Teenagers do just about everything else online, why not religion?
"When you're a teenager, you're not thinking about religion that much," said Reem Nasr, a high school junior from Monmouth Junction, N.J., who participates at a Web site where young Muslims talk about everything from religion to school to politics.
"You're wrapped up in school and extracurricular activities," Nasr said. But going online is a "good way to understand your religion. I meet a lot of other Muslims. I have a better awareness of what's going on in the Muslim community in America."
Matthew Grossman, executive director of the B'nai Brith Youth Organization, said religious groups that want to reach teens have to do things differently from in the past. "Teens aren't going to be spoon-fed information. They want to define meaning for themselves and not have it defined for them."
On the youth-oriented Catholic site, phatmass.com, there's a video podcast of a speech given by Francis Cardinal Arinze, and products including Catholic hip-hop CDs and T-shirts for teens who want to "rep the pope," as in represent the pope. The shirt, with a hip, vintage look, displays a photo of Pope Benedict and says "B16," which stands for Benedict the 16th.
The study also found that religion loses significance among boys as they age. Among boys ages 13 to 15, 74 percent said religion was important to them, but that dropped to 55 percent for male teens 16 to 18 years old.
About 1,150 youths, ages 10 to 18, were randomly selected from the firm's database of 300,000 U.S. teenagers who signed up to participate in surveys when they visited various youth-oriented Web sites. Through an e-mail, they were directed to a Web site where they took the survey Oct. 19-24. The study has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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COMMENT-AUTHOR:
COMMENT-DATE:10:18 AM
COMMENT-BODY:I think that's why we have to get children reading and interacting with scripture, in worship and prayer, and understanding what the kingdom is all about at the youngest ages possible. I think it is all the more powerful when they can do these things in their own style/language/culture....Kidz Church...if you know what I mean. It is amazing how close to Jesus the young ones are and how well they can know his heart. It's not a guarantee, but it helps them stay more rooted in the faith as they become teens.
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COMMENT-AUTHOR: H. West
COMMENT-DATE:2:52 PM
COMMENT-BODY:When I first started reading your post, it reminded me quite a bit of myself. I'm sort of in that gap between being a teen as I am only in my second semester of college, but, as I have talked to you a bit about, as I began this part of my journey as a college studnet, one of the most prevalent (and challenging/frustrating) issues I have had to face has been, "what does church look like for me?" As well as questions about what my focus should be in finding this place and what church really means. I agree with this finding that my generation is seeking relationships and self-defined meaning and it does pose certain quiestions about how that fits with how we have done church in the past. However, as for the content of the article, something seems a little disconcerting about students looking to the internet for this kind of community in order to replace what some see as an "outdated institution." I agree the that internet does offer a plethera of spiritual resources and connection (i mean, its one of the only ways I am able to stay connected to YLI), but I think it is harmful to rely on the internet for your only source of Christian community. First of all, its artificial, and it also allows you to avoid important aspects of relationships that you cannot control. Instead of practicing grace and forgiveness, if someone in your "e-church" does something hurtful or uncomfortable, all you have to do is unsubcribe or choose not to reply. It allows you to hide parts of your life from those who are supposed to really be in your life, and so on.
I know from experience that really finding a place of genunine community and faith is hard, and it would be a lot easier to just choose something online, but there is something empty in that; there is something beautiful and passionate about being with real, living, flesh and blood people, even if it means really wrestling through the muck-- i think this is the real, eternal life Jesus was talking about.
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COMMENT-AUTHOR:
COMMENT-DATE:5:29 PM
COMMENT-BODY:Thanks for linking this article.
Peace,
Jamie Arpin-Ricci
www.emergentvoyageurs.blog.com
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H. West
COMMENT-DATE:2:52 PM
COMMENT-BODY:When I first started reading your post, it reminded me quite a bit of myself. I'm sort of in that gap between being a teen as I am only in my second semester of college, but, as I have talked to you a bit about, as I began this part of my journey as a college studnet, one of the most prevalent (and challenging/frustrating) issues I have had to face has been, "what does church look like for me?" As well as questions about what my focus should be in finding this place and what church really means. I agree with this finding that my generation is seeking relationships and self-defined meaning and it does pose certain quiestions about how that fits with how we have done church in the past. However, as for the content of the article, something seems a little disconcerting about students looking to the internet for this kind of community in order to replace what some see as an "outdated institution." I agree the that internet does offer a plethera of spiritual resources and connection (i mean, its one of the only ways I am able to stay connected to YLI), but I think it is harmful to rely on the internet for your only source of Christian community. First of all, its artificial, and it also allows you to avoid important aspects of relationships that you cannot control. Instead of practicing grace and forgiveness, if someone in your "e-church" does something hurtful or uncomfortable, all you have to do is unsubcribe or choose not to reply. It allows you to hide parts of your life from those who are supposed to really be in your life, and so on.