Storytelling
This morning I caught the number 43 bus up to the University District for an "Adult Forum" at Christ Church before their 10am service. We started out with just a few but the numbers slowly grew over the 30-45 minutes we had together. It's hard to do much of substance in a half hour, especially if you're only coming in once. Thinking we had more time, I planned for a discussion. I think I've decided a lecture style format would have been more appropriate even though I am generally opposed.
I try to begin presentations with some introductions of the Church Center and the Office for Young Adult and Campus Ministries in particular. I'll tell how we are not a national church but an international body of 110 dioceses present in 3 regional areas and 16 countries. I'll tell how the Episcopal Church Center is responsible for carrying out the mandates of General Convention, and operates under the direction of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Chair of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson, Chief Operating Officer Linda Watt, and Executive Council. I'll explore the recent initiative to move staff out of New York to better represent and communicate with the church body.
Then I'll launch into the history of the current form of young adult ministry, starting with Douglas' arrival eight years ago and the first Young Adult Festival at General Convention in 2003. The following two years brought fall young adult ministry consultations in Denver with representative from 23 and 63 dioceses in 2004 and 2005. These were run by our office in conjunction with the newly formed Committee on Young Adult Ministry. 2006 brought another Young Adult Festival followed by Camino, a service retreat for young adults, in San Francisco in 2007 and 2008's Brand New Way leadership summit. During this time other resources and relationships came into being, bringing us to my arrival on the scene in January of last year.
I tell this story because I think its important for us to know how recent this venture began, how it has slowly taken form, and how important these gatherings are to our development of a sense of identity in ministry together.
From here I decided this morning to open the floor a little bit to hear the story of those present. I invited those over 40 to start by telling the group about their twenties. Where were they? What were they doing? What were the big questions they were wrestling with? It was amazing to watch the clear break down of the generations as people told their stories. Women in their 80s talked about getting married, trying to restore normalcy, racing head first into family. Those in their 60s and 70s described a time of exploration and edited their stories carefully for content. They talked about "returning" to church. Another woman in her late forties/early fifties talked about grad school and career searching while beginning a family. One woman pointed out the incredibly real way each generation was reflecting the social climate of the day, the way that folks in their twenties were in a sense, a barometer of the state of a society.
I should have ended the discussion there. That was definitely the take home I wanted them to have. The reason we so desperately need the voices of those in their twenties is because they speak the culture in which they are immersed. Like it or not they live and breathe the air of the times.
The young adults in the group responded by talking about their own questions, their own desires for the recognition and responsibility of adulthood and we began to explore the kinds of cultural changes that young adult lives are currently reflecting: the malleability and omnipresence of the media, lived pluralism, the availability of information and the concurrent suspicion of the unexamined expert. We then hurriedly began to explore the response we as a church are called to make, the commitment and vulnerability of mentorship on a social, practical and spiritual level.
I wish we had had more time and more stability in our discussion, but Sunday mornings are hectic and early and, for young adults, often not the clearest moments (well, for this one at least). Lessons learned. Next time I might just bring a powerpoint and wow them with the fancy graphics. But then, whose story would I tell?
I try to begin presentations with some introductions of the Church Center and the Office for Young Adult and Campus Ministries in particular. I'll tell how we are not a national church but an international body of 110 dioceses present in 3 regional areas and 16 countries. I'll tell how the Episcopal Church Center is responsible for carrying out the mandates of General Convention, and operates under the direction of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Chair of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson, Chief Operating Officer Linda Watt, and Executive Council. I'll explore the recent initiative to move staff out of New York to better represent and communicate with the church body.
Then I'll launch into the history of the current form of young adult ministry, starting with Douglas' arrival eight years ago and the first Young Adult Festival at General Convention in 2003. The following two years brought fall young adult ministry consultations in Denver with representative from 23 and 63 dioceses in 2004 and 2005. These were run by our office in conjunction with the newly formed Committee on Young Adult Ministry. 2006 brought another Young Adult Festival followed by Camino, a service retreat for young adults, in San Francisco in 2007 and 2008's Brand New Way leadership summit. During this time other resources and relationships came into being, bringing us to my arrival on the scene in January of last year.
I tell this story because I think its important for us to know how recent this venture began, how it has slowly taken form, and how important these gatherings are to our development of a sense of identity in ministry together.
From here I decided this morning to open the floor a little bit to hear the story of those present. I invited those over 40 to start by telling the group about their twenties. Where were they? What were they doing? What were the big questions they were wrestling with? It was amazing to watch the clear break down of the generations as people told their stories. Women in their 80s talked about getting married, trying to restore normalcy, racing head first into family. Those in their 60s and 70s described a time of exploration and edited their stories carefully for content. They talked about "returning" to church. Another woman in her late forties/early fifties talked about grad school and career searching while beginning a family. One woman pointed out the incredibly real way each generation was reflecting the social climate of the day, the way that folks in their twenties were in a sense, a barometer of the state of a society.
I should have ended the discussion there. That was definitely the take home I wanted them to have. The reason we so desperately need the voices of those in their twenties is because they speak the culture in which they are immersed. Like it or not they live and breathe the air of the times.
The young adults in the group responded by talking about their own questions, their own desires for the recognition and responsibility of adulthood and we began to explore the kinds of cultural changes that young adult lives are currently reflecting: the malleability and omnipresence of the media, lived pluralism, the availability of information and the concurrent suspicion of the unexamined expert. We then hurriedly began to explore the response we as a church are called to make, the commitment and vulnerability of mentorship on a social, practical and spiritual level.
I wish we had had more time and more stability in our discussion, but Sunday mornings are hectic and early and, for young adults, often not the clearest moments (well, for this one at least). Lessons learned. Next time I might just bring a powerpoint and wow them with the fancy graphics. But then, whose story would I tell?
posted by Jason Sierra at 1:47 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home