Three Worlds Diary

The Tree: A Personal Story About Marco

This is a personal story that I shared with my Dad in an email today. This past July, we had a 2 day hiatus in San Francisco before we headed to the Northern California Family Camp and to visit our supporting church in San Francisco.

I spent some of my childhood in San Francisco and was anxious to show them the places where I grew up, learned how to play American sports, and learned some life lessons as well.

Aside from the usual tourist stops, I took Marco to Neil Cummings Elementary School where I attended-- as well as to the homes we used to live in.  He found my elementary school very interesting because I took him to see the playground where I was bullied. I had told him that story earlier in the year.

There was a tough boy named Greg who I tripped by accident on the playground.  It was an accident, but Greg responded by pushing me, starting a fight, and pushing me down off the playground as a large crowd gathered to watch.  I was humiliated.

I got my revenge a couple of years later when Greg and I were put into the same class.  There was a tree on the playground where I started the "I Hate Greg Club."  The IHGC met during recess in the tree and we were all assigned titles like "President," "Secretary," and "Vice President."  I was the "Senator" (even though I was the founder, I preferred the title Senator).  When our teacher found out about the IHGC, she was furious at all of us and yelled at me.  The IHGC was immediately disbanded.

In the end, Greg and I ended up becoming friends.  It turned out he was just a hurting boy who was lonely.  Even as kids we could tell his mother was a mess.  His parents were divorced and his father grew marijuana in the backyard (Hey, who doesn't in San Francisco?  You think the gardens are for flowers?). I shared this story with Marco earlier in the year because last year he had a bully problem all year.  I told Marco the story of IHGC to demonstrate how out of my pain and frustration I became a bully too.  The point I was making is that sometimes when we are in pain, we find painful ways of acting out.  That's what bullies do and that's what we can do as well; even as grown ups. As always, Marco really internalized that story.

Last year, his bully would not let up from September to June.  He seemed to be very jealous of Marco.  But Marco never hit back and he never lashed out.  Instead, when he would get the opportunity to select a reading buddy and he would choose the bully.  In many ways, he tried to befriend the bully.

Eventually Marco's friends finally got tired of the bully and by Spring, they started their own little gang against the bully.  But Marco wouldn't join.  He risked his friendship with his friends to keep reaching out to the bully.

"To be a Christian is to take chances," he said to me as we drove home from school one day.

By the end of the year, he had made friends with the bully.  He had won the bully over with kindness.  When summer vacation came around, Marco read a note that the bully had written to him.

It said:  "To Marco.  You are the best friend I've ever had."

Marco's self-restraint paid off.  That's character.  The hardest thing to come by in life.

The Jesuits have a saying:  "Show me the boy at 7 and I'll show you the man."

So that is why I took him to see the tree at Neil Cummings Elementary School in Marin County, California on his summer vacation.

Sometimes the sins of the father are not passed on to the son, and I'm grateful for that.

Mt. Athos Greece: Eastern Orthodoxy

This video is worth watching.  It's a recent 60 minute piece on Mt. Athos--the holiest site in Eastern Orthodoxy.  Eastern Orthodoxy is a huge part of the European religious conscious.  For those of us living over here and working in Eastern Europe and Greece, it's a very important worldview to understand.  And it is so fundamentally different from Evangelical Christianity that it makes for quite the culture clash.  There is a brief commercial before the segment begins.

If you want to see Part II--it is here.

4th Annual Book of the Year Awards-2011

It's that time of the year again folks!  The 4th (or is it 5th?..I really can't remember, but I've been doing this for a while m-kay?) Annual Book of the Year Awards. Already, the celebrities are lining up on the red carpet as the limousines keep pulling up.  Look over there!  It's Joyce DeWitt of "Three's Company" Fame?  I believe I see "Linda Lavin!"  There, behind the E reporter, look it's Rex Reed.  My goodness, all the big names are here.  What is this? The premier of Joanni Loves Chachi?

Alright, it was easily my worst reading year in 20 years, surpassing last year which was my previous worst.  The purchase of an i-phone was a huge distraction to my reading this year.  I listened to Doves and Terence Trent D'Arby way more than I read this year.  On the positive side, I discovered apps with sermons which kept me busy on trains, planes and automobiles.  But 2012 has got to be better than this.  I have a list of books to for this next year and quite a few novels that are classics, so it has got to be better than this year.

Despite the bad year, the Top 10 books this year are not so bad.  In fact, some of them are marvelous.  So let's begin the countdown as soon as Fred Grandy of "Love Boat" fame takes his seat.

10. The Shining by Stephen King (416 pages).  This was my first Stephen King novel ever.  It was actually my first horror novel ever and I was expecting to be very scared.  I wasn't, which was disappointing.  By the end of it I was ready to lock myself up in a mountain resort and kill someone.

9. The Tenth Parallel by Eliza Griswold (336 pages).  A woman takes a multi-country journey to countries where there are fault lines between Christians and Muslims.  Her travels take her to Sudan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other locations.  It should have been called:  "Passport to Muslims and Christians Killing Each Other."

8. The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston (368 pages).  In the late 1970's and early 1980's, a creepy serial killer murdered young couples in the hills of Florence.  These brutal slayings inspired the creation of the fictional cannibal, Hannibal Lector most famously found in "The Silence of the Lambs."    The book is not just about an unsolved case, but about Tuscan culture and the ridiculousness of the Italian judicial system.

7. The Primal Wound:  Understanding the Adopted Child by Nancy Verrier(231 pages).  Fascinating but painful look at the effects of infant abandonment and adoption.  It takes a look at what happens before and after the adoption.  Be careful with this one.

6. Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa (288 pages):  Another novel.  People are disappearing near a mine in the Peruvian Andes and a couple of civil police from Lima are sent to investigate.  Leaving their modern society behind, they enter into the (non-Western) world of the Quechua Indigenous people of the Andes with their mysticism, ritualistic, and spiritual world.  It's a clash of cultures between the Westernized city detectives and the world of the mountain people.

5. Legacy Churches by Stephen Gray and Franklin Dumond (115 pages).  A book about why churches enter into steep decline and what it takes to re-invent themselves.  It's a must read for probably 90% of all pastors out there right now.  A great introduction into the dynamics that lead to churches hitting a plateau and decline and what can be done about it.

4. In the Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000 Year History of American Indians by Jack Page (480 pages).  A wonderful overview of the history of Native Americans which summarizes a lot of history into a very readable and compact form (obviously, 480 pages for 20,000 years but, hey, he's a good writer).  It breaks down simplistic view of the Native Americans, brings out the fullness of the diversity of the various tribes, and is full of fascinating facts like the fact that many tribes prophesied the arrival of the white man.  Also they were not primarily hunter and gatherers, but agriculturalists and city dwellers.  And the horse riding, Sioux of the plains we all love in "Dances with Wolves" were an aberration---a post white-man reinvention of themselves that moved them West and onto horses.  Really nicely done history.

3. Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden (256 pages).  The story of the hunt for Colombian Narco-traffic kingpin Pablo Escobar.  Don Pablo ushered in the age of the highly globalized, drug cartel that took over Medellin, and then Colombia. Pablo is an evil, but intriguing character and the way the cartel emerged from the slums to become more powerful temporarily than the government is fascinating.

2. A Land So Strange:  The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca by Andres Resendez (314 pages).  In 5th grade, I fell in love with the story of Spanish Conquistadors encountering the Americans in the 1500's.  All the stories are riveting but none more so than the story of Cabeza de Vaca (Head of a Cow).  Hoping to perhaps become the governor of newly discovered Florida, Cabeza de Vaca and 600 Spaniards set off to conquer land and find gold in an area they thought was close to Mexico City.  Instead, they were hit by a hurricane near modern day Tampa Bay, shipwrecked, lost in the swamps, and starving.  This was only the beginning of a journey into hell as they were captured by Indian tribes (some that don't even exist anymore), passed around as slaves, survived another large raft voyage, and trekked from Tampa all the way to Mexico City suffering the entire time.  They saw mystical things and went to places no Westerner had ever seen.  In the end, they ended up having spiritual powers themselves.  I won't ruin the ending but Cabeza de Vaca's journey was simply astonishing.  One day in the life of Cowhead is more dramatic than our entire lives. This guy is my patron saint.  I'd love to visit his tomb in Spain in the coming years.

1. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Surival, Resiliance, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand  (pages 398).  The true story of Luis Zamperini whose quest to become an Olympic champion was interrupted by World War II.  Much like Cabeza de Vaca, Zamperini's journey is simply astounding.  It's hard to decide between the two books, but Laura Hillenbrand's writing has such a remarkably wonderful flow to it that it reads more like a novel than like history.  I read this while on vacation in Costa Rica and just could not put it down.  While Cabeza De Vaca's story doesn't inspire (just astounds), this one adds the redemption piece that makes it a remarkable life lesson.  It was a gift from Rod Stafford of Fairfax Community Church in Washington, DC.  What a great one it was.  The best book I read all year!

Honorable Mentions: It's a doctoral dissertation but it's now published; Rod Stafford's "Free to Lead: The Decision-Making Ethos of Healthy Growing Churches" is a very good read about a completely under-written about subject: the fine line between unhealthy hierarchical leadership and overly de-centralized leadership as it relates to congregational decision-making.  Rod's Collaborative Hierarchy model would get a lot of churches out of the bogged down bureaucratic process that can keep them from healthy change.

Biggest Disappointments: Serpico and King of the Gypsies by Peter Maas.  Well, they were both made into films!  True, one of them starred Eric Roberts and Judd Hirsch, not such a great sign--true 'dat, but still, I thought these books would be a gripping insight into New York police life and American gypsy life.  They were really very underwhelming.  Perhaps at the time (the 1970's) this was a pretty gripping sociological read.  But I just wasn't feeling it.

Well, there you have it.  The show is over and Ricky Gervais did not make one bad joke.  What a memorable night.  Congratulations to Laura Hillenbrand for winning the big award.

Next year, more novels I think.  I could use the escapism, but I always find myself gravitating toward non-fiction.  The world is so interesting and these books made that very clear again this year.  See you next December at the 4th or 5th or 6th annual Book Awards unless the Mayan Apocalypse kills us all in 2012.

Peace out!

Interview with 3W Emerging Leader: Josh Weiger

At Three Worlds, we like to introduce the church to young, promising emerging leaders from North America, Europe and the Middle East.  We do this in a variety of ways (through internships, mission-trips, 3w seminars) so that the church can follow and keep an eye on our most talented young people committed to ministry.  Darren and Amy Adwalpalker (3W Seminar London), and Gina Shaner (3W Summer intern 2011) have been our first 3W Emerging Leaders.  This December, we brought our next emerging leader, Josh Weiger over to Europe to help us co-lead 3W Seminars in Liverpool (Birkenhead) and in Paris.  The subject was "Developing a Youth Ministry."  Josh is the youth pastor at Park Place Church of God in Anderson, Indiana.  Here is our interview with Josh:

3W: Josh, tell us about yourself?

My wife Audrey and I currently live in Anderson, Indiana and have been serving at Park Place Church of God for the last 4 years as associate Pastor with Youth.  We’ve loved our time of serving at Park Place and find our lives to be whole as we live, work, play, and serve all in the same community.  For fun I really enjoy playing Ultimate Frisbee and riding my mnt and road bikes.  I love spending time outside doing pretty much anything as long as the weather isn’t too cold.

3W:  Tell us about your cross-cultural experiences.

Being globally minded is something that my wife and I do very intentionally as we know God’s love is global and that our decisions really do have an impact on all of our neighbors.

At Anderson University I was first exposed to traveling abroad to the Dominican Republic through the Tri-S program.  Since then my love for travel and the global community has taken me to Romania, Hungry, Uganda, Rwanda, London, and now Liverpool, Paris, and Berlin.

I spent 3 months in Uganda right after I graduated from AU doing an internship with some missionary friends in the region.

3W: What do you think the church needs to understand about today’s youth?

Oh where do I begin…  I guess the first thing is that today’s youth have the world at their fingertips.  The amount of information/ the amount of real life these students are exposed to would be overwhelming even for adults who’ve already experienced so much. For the young minds of our students this much information can be overwhelming to say the least. So many of our students experience great anxiety and fall into all kind of dangerous habits, not knowing how to handle the real life circumstances with which they must deal.

I guess another thing that the church must understand is that students are extremely skeptical of you.  The get an unhealthy dose of those who claim to be Christ followers but that aren’t really the hands and feet of Christ. Students have seen the unhealthy church and don’t want to have a part.  Instead students of today’s culture want their life to count for something.  They are looking for something real, something to provide hope in a culture so overrun with fear and hopelessness.

3W: What has surprised you most about working with young people?

I’m always surprised by how much my time and the time of the youth mentors who invest in our students means to the students.  Whether it’s taking a few minutes to write a handwritten note or just taking a few moments to listen about their life.  Intentionally investing in students always bolsters fruit in the lives of the student and the mentor.  That’s why we go deep rather than wide, long term rather than short term.

3W: In Europe, you were exposed to a very extreme post-Christendom environment in Liverpool and in Paris.  What were your impressions of the situation in Birkenhead-Liverpool?

The physical surroundings in Birkenhead are a clear example of the spiritual condition in the neighborhood.  Many of the churches in the close proximity are either closed down, run down, or not seeing the use they once did.

It’s not just the churches though… the houses in the area are all row houses.  The physical space that these families share is a clear picture of the emotional proximity with which most people in this society bear their intimate details on facebook, twitter, or just interacting with one another.

3W: How do you think the religious situation for young people differs for Northern European Youth as opposed to in Indiana?

The immediate difference that I see is the plethora of cultural backgrounds in the European context.  Many of the students in my community don’t get a chance to travel outside the state, let alone get exposed to multiple languages, cultures, and religions every day.

3W:  Our 3W Seminar the you co-lead in Liverpool and Paris was about “Structuring a Youth Program.”  What part of the seminar do you think was most important for churches to grasp?

Be Present and Engage!  As it says in the Message:  1 Cor. 7:17

“And don’t be wishing you were someplace else with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and Obey and Love and believe right there.

3W: Do you have any particular impressions about Three Worlds and its effort to reach out to youth and emerging leaders in Europe/Middle East?

I believe wholeheartedly in the research and observations the Three Worlds team has done and how that has influenced the ministry practices that have resulted.  I’ve experienced "the Three Worlds" in my ministry setting, but have not had the language with which to process what I’ve experienced.  This trip has been insightful to me and affected the way in which I think about the ministry with which I’m involved. It will greatly influence the lives of those with whom we invest in the future.

3W:  You did some sightseeing, what were some of your favorite sights or experiences of the trip?

The Liverpool Cathedral’s “Great Space” truly is a most incredible space that you must see if you are anywhere in that proximity.  Just breathtaking! In Paris just about anywhere that Patrick takes you is an awesome place.

I won't soon forget my experience at the Arc de Triumph as I was up top when a political group swarmed together.  They quickly collaborated, strung up a large banner and by that point I knew I better get off of that roof.  So I hurried down the steps only to see a sea of political pamphlets raining down from the sky.  Immediately the police closed the Arc and went to the roof and detained the people on the roof.  It was a close call, but good ole' intuition paid off.

While we were in Liverpool we got a chance to go just 30 miles south to Wales… and what can I say except CASTLES!!!!!

3W:  We thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to help to lead a 3W Seminar and for putting up with the hectic travel schedule.  You are amazing at what you do and we love you!

The Next Christendom: Discussion 3

Today we look at Chapter 3 and 4 in our continuing discussion of Philip Jenkins book, "The Next Christendom."

Chapter 3 begins by pointing out the truth that Christian missionary work was often related to imperial/colonial expansion.  Spain, Portugal, and Britain didn't just take Christianity, but they took their governments, customs, and laws with them--often claiming land along the way.  A famous quote from Kenyan Jomo Kenyatta sums it up:  "When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land.  They said 'Let us pray.'  We closed our eyes.  When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land."

So it is no accident that in the minds of many Westerners and non-Westerners alike, Christian mission equals colonialism.  "Christianity is a Western Religion."  But the story is not quite so simple.  Despite the imperialism, genuine Christianity did gain a foothold in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Asia and local movements rose up that were true expressions of the faith--not just imposed upon the people by Westerners.  Local (indigenous) African expressions of Christianity that became movements showed up as early as the 17th century.  By the 1950's, there were quite a few of these movements (certainly not all orthodox) led by African prophets totally disconnected from Western denominations.  These churches are called African Independent Churches (AIC's).  Independent denominations could be found by the 1880's and of course today, there are many large denominations that are completely African.

Chapter 4:  This chapter deals with the denominational (and Roman Catholic) presence in the non-Western world and how institutional Christianity has been challenged by these new movements.

In 2001, according to the World Christian Encyclopedia, the present net increase of Christians in Africa was 8.4 million a year (23,000 a day).  A large number of Africans still belong to institutional, Western churches like the RCC or the Anglicans.

In Latin America, growth has occurred most quickly amongst the Pentecostals and Evangelicals.  They tend to be more committed to actual church attendance as well. Pentecostal Christianity usually grows fastest amongst the poor. The response is some places of the Catholic Church has been the emergence of charismatic Catholic Groups like El Shaddai in the Philippines.  China, Vietnam, and Indonesia have all seen explosive growth of Pentecostal and charismatic groups.  Much of this Christian growth is happening in urban centers with large populations of migrants.  Women are often the pillars of non-Western churches.

Jenkins sums up nicely how Christianity is not viewed as spiritual hocus-pocus as it often is in the skeptical West:

"Southern Religion (non-Western Christianity) is not other worlds in the sense of escapist, since faith is expected to lead to real and observable results in this world.  The believer's life in this world is transformed through conversion, and the change echoes through every aspect of lives, from ethics of work and thrift to family and gender relations. (p.77 first edition).

Patrick's Comments:

One of the things we would like to do here at Three Worlds is begin turning the page on the impression of Christianity as an imperialist religion:  Particularly here in Europe and even in the Middle East.  The truth is that the most dynamic, fastest growing churches in Europe are probably non-Western and do not trace their roots back to European Christendom.

This is a pretty big shock to the average person in Paris, London or Berlin.  The impression is that Christianity must be Western and must be dying.

Even the choice of name "Three Worlds" was intentional as it gives us the opportunity to point out that there is not only one world of Christianity (the Western institutional one).

The logo begs the questions: "What is Three Worlds" and "What ARE the the Three Worlds?"

Most Europeans, Westerners, even Middle Easterners only know one of these worlds:  the traditional world of institutional Christianity which seems to be on the decline.  Jenkins entire book is about the explosion of the third world of Christianity: non-Western (southern) Christianity.

This 4th chapter is particularly pertinent to 3W because we are trying to act as a bridge between the Three Worlds and also as a link between institutional Christianity and the new forms of post-Christendom and non-Western Christianity that are forming around institutional Christianity.  The reality is that not everything about institutional Christianity is bad or dying.  It wasn't even at the height of the colonial enterprise.  At the same time, however, non-Western Christianity must be allowed to emerge and challenge.  But a final "however" is that there is such a thing as heresy, Christian cults, and unaccountable Christian movements and churches that do not act in a Biblical way.  There is a role for any group or organization willing to be flexible regarding the emergence of new expressions of Christianity, but still committed to orthodox, Christian truth.  Three Worlds aims to do just that.

Previous Discussion 2 here

Previous Discussion 1 here

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Celebrating! Oldhams Get the Green Light!

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We are all celebrating here at Three Worlds about the Oldhams receiving 100% of their support!  This means that soon the Oldhams will be on a plane to Egypt and will officially be over here working for our Three World objectives.  Ken and Keli worked very hard to raise their funds.  Over the past few months, Ken has been traveling tirelessly sharing about their passion of the Egypt and talking about the 3W vision.

The other side of the story is YOU!  The churches and individuals who have made this happen (and make Three Worlds happen!). There were churches making room in their budgets despite the budgets being fixed, there were commitments made on faith, there were individuals sacrificing during a recession, there were churches that are already supporting 3W personnel and added one more family because they believe in what we are doing and in the Oldhams, and lots of others that have made pledges.

As I was sharing recently, the fundraising process is boot-camp.  It is a giant leap of faith.  You don't have a job, insurance, and you have to spend your time on the road never knowing if the long 8 hour drive will lead to a new partner or a rejection.  Your support plateaus at some point (maybe 10%), and all the while you long to just get on the field to do your work.  Even Jamie and I still have to do this even though we are Regional Coordinators.  So we are all utterly dependent on your generosity.  It is humbling, it is challenging, and I think ultimately, if you are the right person for the job, it is refining.

All of us over here in Europe and the M.E. are very excited to have the Oldhams here.  Please pray for their transition, especially for the children. Our team is prepared to love on them and give them a whole lot of support.  The kids are going to have lots of "3W Aunties and Uncles" looking after them.  And we have plans in the works to expand the level of care and love that we can give our 3W kids.

Last night as we waited to get the final results (the push over 100%), it felt like waiting for electoral votes on election night.  When word came through at about 11PM Berlin time we celebrated. The Oldhams are still not done fundraising however, as our goals it reach 110% which is very important because there has to be a protection against shortfalls and also schooling expenses for the kids.  So there's still room to continue giving, but there is enough to get them on their way.

Of course, this is only the beginning of the adventure--one that will have many twists and turns.  Our hope is that 3W's system will be the shock absorbers that will enable the Oldhams and the next generation of leaders to handle the challenges that come along with greater support and ease.  Thank you for coming along for the ride.

Purpose Driven Cathedrals?

The Vatican is getting tired of Catholic churches starting to resemble multi-purpose facilities--devoid of the beauty and grandeur of classic Cathedrals.  So they are clamping down. From the article in the Vatican insider:

"A team has been set up, to put a stop to garage style churches, boldly shaped structures that risk denaturing modern places for Catholic worship. ... Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Benedict XVI, consider this work as “very urgent”. The reality is staring everyone in the eyes: in recent decades, churches have been substituted by buildings that resemble multi purpose halls."

This highlights an interesting tension that is occurring not just within the Roman Catholic church, but within the Protestant Church as well.

While Protestant churches usually do not have the grandeur of Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, many of our churches are realizing that the church is not meant to be an institution or a building.  We put a lot of time, work, and energy into sustaining the ministries in the building (as we should), but it has become increasingly clear to many Protestant traditions that the church has to live outside of its walls.  We have to engage the community, and be a presence in the world outside.  Churches that become insular and inwardly-focused, not only do not grow, but are not that effective at sharing Christianity.  Worse they can ghettoize themselves from society.

This is increasingly a well-understood concept in Protestant Christianity.

In the Roman Catholic church however, there has been a longer tradition of priests and nuns doing much of the work outside of the church, and the lay people going to mass in ornate Cathedrals.  There has been a bigger disconnect between the outside world and the world within the Cathedral.  This has given Evangelical Christianity--particularly Pentecostal Christianity a huge boost in traditionally Catholic parts of the World like Latin America.  Roman Catholic churches, in places like the Philippines, Brazil, and El Salvador are finding that they need to act a little more Protestant--even Pentecostal (or at least Charismatic) to keep up with competing churches.  Lay people are being used, sermons in mass are more down-to-earth, and yes, the buildings are more for community use than to simply glorify God through architecture.

Is the Roman Catholic Church's attempt to clamp down on ugly buildings an example of once again missing the bigger trends?  That in today's world, people are not longing for a glorious institution or building to support, but rather to a support a relevant movement and cause that has a concrete impact on their communities?  Perhaps, perhaps not.

Here in Europe, we walk into gorgeous Cathedrals just about every week.  A few days ago, I was in a beautiful Orthodox Cathedral in downtown Beirut.  A few days before that, in a beautiful one in Greece.  Before that, in a number of beautiful churches in France and Spain--most recently, my favorite of all-time Sacre Coeur.

There is something wonderful about these Cathedrals that goes beyond the magnificent architecture and craftsmanship.  There is a sense of timelessness in these Cathedrals--a blocking out of the superficial world outside.  There may be a Subway Sandwich shop across the street from Notre Dame, but once you walk into that Cathedral, it all points to one thing: the story of Christ's work on the cross--the churches themselves in the shape of a cross.

Building multi-million dollar Cathedrals is not a great option in today's age for a variety of reasons:  the extravagance, the global recession, our new anti-institutional age, the scandals of the church, the need for the church to be accessible etc.  But I wonder in what ways our own churches and faith-worshipping communities can build structures or programs that point toward transcendence?  That point toward the work of the Cross.  That point toward a sense of timelessness that blocks out the artificiality of so much of the world.

"Let the (Youth) Come to Me"

This week, Josh Weiger (Youth Pastor at Park Place Church of God) and I are leading 3W Seminars on "Developing a Youth Program" in Liverpool, England (Birkenhead) and Paris, France.  My guess is that of all the seminars we offer at 3W, this one will probably be the most requested.  Attracting youth to church is never easy.  By it's very nature, church is a place of absorbing norms, keeping traditions, and practicing spiritual self-control.  That pretty much describes the opposite of what we all want to do as teenagers.  Being a teenager is about experimentation, breaking rules, and living in the moment.  Not such a great match eh?

At the same time, churches need youth and young families to survive.  They cannot allow themselves to age and ignore the younger generations.  They must continually attract and integrate them--absorbing some changes and resisting others.  It's a tough balance.

When a church decides to focus on young people (and I'm glad that so many are in the European/Middle East region because that is what 3W is all about), it is embarking on an uncertain adventure.  There are no guarantees that many young people will join the church.  Even if they do, there are no guarantees that they will stay with the church or keep their lives straight and narrow.  It is a risk.  But we shouldn't do it to build up our churches or just for our own survival.  But rather we should do it because young people need God and need an opportunity to find him.

Jesus said "let the children come to me," which always makes us say 'awww.'  Had Jesus said, "let the modern teenagers come to me," we might not have been so charmed.  Teenagers can be irreverent, self-absorbed, and very inconsistent.  They sound a lot like the Disciples, actually, who were all of those things plus young to boot (possibly teenagers during Jesus' ministry).

Of course the concept of "teenagers" is a new post-World War II phenomenon.  Through most of human history, by the age of 12 or 13, you were expected to work and contribute to the family and clan.  The delaying of adulthood made possible by the modern world creates people that on some levels are mature enough to think like adults and even procreate like adults, but yet keeps their lives unstructured enough that the age becomes one of experimentation and constant identity-seeking.

As I shared at the seminar in Liverpool, when I was a teenager going to church, was I a good kid?  Or was I a bad kid?  I was both and neither.  I loved church but my spiritual maturity was virtually zero.  Trying to be the same person in church as I was outside seemed near impossible.  I loved participating in church, but sometimes it was with motivations to please God, other times it was for my own ego boost.  That's what we are dealing with when we work with young people.  Things are not so neat and simple.  That's why the pay-offs are often not immediate.

Nevertheless, a positive church experience in our youth can have a dramatic impact on us for the rest of our lives.  Church was the one place as a teenager that I felt truly safe.  I would not have been able to articulate that.  I certainly could not have affirmed my pastor and youth pastor to say something like:  "Gee, I'm experiencing a lot of discomfort and insecurity in 8th grade, but by golly, I feel like a valued human being when I attend Wednesday Night youth group."  Yet the words of affirmation and encouragement I received in church had a lifelong impact on me.

In the church, we often pretend that so much is measurable.  It should be obvious if our church is healthy, or growing, or if we are producing good disciples.  But the reality seems to me to be much more complicated.  I've been in large mission-fields with lots of churches that are utterly dysfunctional.  I've been in small churches that have more unity than churches 100 times their size.  One would think that by the time Jesus arrived in the Garden of Gethsemene,the Disciples should have been at a pretty good point--well trained, consistent, on the road to greatness.  But when Jesus needed them most, they fall asleep and run.  Total failures? Was the whole discipleship project a complete failure? No.  The road had a lot more twists and turns to come, but Christ's investment in them was worth the while for all of us.

The Economist reports that the situation for youth employment in Europe is a disaster and getting worse:

For the periphery, it is frightening to think that conditions may actually grow worse. Jobless rates in Greece and Spain are already at eye-watering levels. Among young people, those under 25, rates of joblessness across the whole of southern Europe are startling. In Greece, 45% of young people were unemployed as of August, which is the last month for which data are available. In Spain, the rate is 49%, up sharply from a year ago. In Italy, youth unemployment is 29%; in Portugal, it is 30%. Even in France, 24% of young people are without employment.  Within a few months, southern Europe may be home to more young people without jobs than with them.

For a lot of the youth of today in Europe, life is not turning out as they thought it would.  The things that they thought would be there--affordable education, work, and a higher standard of living--are turning out to not be dependable.  As much as young people often come off as jaded to the world and indifferent to spiritual things, the fact is that their spirit is being broken on many levels.

*Many come from broken-families and have had multiple step families.

*Many are living with a large amount of debt.

*Many have image and self-esteem issues.

*Many come from abusive homes.

*Virtually all of them live in societies where authentic community is completely absent.

After the Pope's recent visit to Spain, 8,000 youth committed their lives to the priesthood and to becoming nuns.  This, in one of the least religious societies in the world, where the Catholic church is in extreme decline, and amidst terrible sexual scandals plaguing the Catholic church.  So what did the Pope do?  He challenged them.  He gave them an opportunity to go down a different path.

We don't know how big the pay-off will be?

There are no guarantees.

But all of our churches must ask ourselves the question:  "Are we challenging our youth and offering them a different path?'