Youth or consequences

Lutheran, The, Sep 2005 by Dworin, Diana

Congregations resuscitate ministries to draw in the next generation

For years Cross of Life Lutheran Church followed the same routine. Young people came for the overnight lock-in each spring and, every so often, they'd slip away for an out-of-town convention.

But mostly they'd do the same-old, same-old: hang out at the church, order a few pizzas and y maybe go bowling. "There was a time that we'd only get four kids out, and we thought that was pretty good," says Carole Syse, director of youth ministries for the 1,600-member church in Brookfield, Wis.

The yawns from Cross of Life's young people grew loud enough to rattle the older generation-and the adults didn't like the sound of their church's future. Members put Syse, a volunteer, on the payroll. They gave the youth control of their programs and leadership roles throughout the congregation, including two seats on the church council. All told, the changes put Cross of Life on a path toward becoming what youth and family ministry leaders nickname a Cheers church-a place where everybody knows your name.

"The more consistently we did things, the more connected the youth were to the church," says Syse, who now welcomes 25 youth to Sunday night events. "The kids are coming back because we've given them a place that feels like it's theirs."

Cross of Life's revival isn't unusual. Across the ELCA, hundreds of congregations are resuscitating their youth and family programs with an unprecedented urgency. It's a trend that stretches beyond this church and into the nation's larger Protestant faith community-from Baptists to Episcopalians to Presbyterians.

A survival instinct is kicking in. As baby boomers head toward retirement, most ELCA attendees are 50 or older, reports the ELCA Department for Research and Evaluation. At the same time, most young Lutherans check out of the church by age 21. For the most part they're gone for good, says Paul Hill of the Children, Youth and Family Ministry program at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.

"We're seeing an emerging consciousness within the church that we cannot continue to lose generation after generation," Hill says.

The first third of life

As churches autopsy their programs, they're examining their roles in faith formation. They're re-emerging with new concepts for breaking age barriers and drawing young people into the full life of their congregations.

For Stephen Friedrich, 20, a sense of belonging tied him to the church. Now that he's a youth ministry intern at St. John Lutheran Church, Knoxville, Tenn., he's convinced it's a key to keeping his peers in the pews. "Some teenagers view the church as an archaic thing, that the church just slaps you upside the head and says 'no' to this and 'no' to that," he says. "Other teenagers are really starting to see an empowerment in being a part of something that is bigger than just themselves."

Roland Martinson, a pioneer in youth and family ministry research for more than 40 years, says congregations are putting a new emphasis on what he calls the "first third of life"-a stage that includes childhood, adolescence, young adulthood and early parenthood. Martinson says it's a crucial window of opportunity for the church-especially because research shows that more than 90 percent of adults come to faith by age 18. "What we do in the first 30 years of life is constitutive," he says (see below).

From the get-go, First Lutheran Church, Northridge, Calif., connects with families. "Parents are most open when they ' ve just had a baby-they're rethinking their philosophies," says Dana Hanson, apastor of First. "It's a real challenge if we don't get there until their kids are in high school."

At First, parents get early guidance about nurturing their child's budding faith. Classes cover topics from child development to praying with preschoolers, and family milestones are celebrated during worship. "What we're trying to do is use a bunch of different ways to help parents feel comfortable about talking with their child about Jesus," Hanson says.

Faith formation has been a church priority for centuries since Martin Luther, a father of six, wrote his catechism in 1529. He created the book as a tool for the "head of the family" to nurture the faith of the household. "When Luther talked about working with young people, he talked about it as an opportunity and blessing," Hill says. "He railed against parents who didn't do their job well."

But faith messages parents send today compete for attention in a noisefilled, technological world Luther couldn't have imagined. That's why many congregations are pairing young people with additional adult mentors. Cross-generational support networks are a growing trend. "We're seeing the need for bringing people together," says Linda Staats, minister for faith formation, Grand Canyon Synod. "In the past, we've tended to send the adults off to where God is and we've just sent the youth to the youth room."

Acolytes in flip-flops

Mixing the youth room kids with the quilting circle isn't always easy. There are plenty of chances for miscommunication and generational stumbling blocks. An older member might bristle at an acolyte in flipflops. The kid in the robe might get the message that his shoes are more important to the church than where he's got his feet planted. "Of course, that's not what those adults are meaning to say," says Peggy Contos, an assistant to the bishop of the TexasLouisiana Gulf Coast Synod who specializes in youth leadership development. "It can be a real battle."