Youth as the Cornerstone of the Church

1 Peter 2:2-10New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built[a] into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture:

“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
    a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him[b] will not be put to shame.”

7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the very head of the corner,”

8 and

“A stone that makes them stumble,
    and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,[c] in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

10 Once you were not a people,
    but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,

    but now you have received mercy.   
  
Good morning friends.  I am so grateful to be up here once again presenting the Word.  This morning's readings have really resonated with me.  From the baptismal connection I see in the beginning of the reading from 1 Peter, to the teachable moment we have preserved as Jesus answers Phillip and Thomas in this morning's Gospel.   When we baptize new children into this congregation, we commit to be their partners in faith formation for a lifetime.  We would hope nothing more than that they would, "long for spiritual milk and grow into salvation" as the text from 1 Peter says.  And I am sure many of you resonated with often quoted phrase of "I am the way the truth and the life."  In this morning's readings, we are provided with a summation of the call for Christians individually and for the church as an entity.  In the reading from 1 Peter, the text is actually a quote from Psalm 118 and Isaiah 28 with the imagery of the cornerstone.  I am sure if I were to ask each person here what is the "cornerstone" program is, I would come up with many different answers.  The experience of church is different for each person and that is a good thing, especially in a congregation who has put diversity and welcome at the heart of our mission.  The goal, however, is that within that diversity, each individual would find the most meaningful pieces for themselves while affirming that another's spiritual needs may be met by a different piece.  That is why we have such a wonderful variety in our music program right?  While one person may connect deeply with an organ piece deep with those lower register room shaking tones, another might connect with the multiple instruments carrying the melody and harmony of a Waters Sunday.  Diversity of interest is also why each Sunday we offer three adult education courses to choose from.  Not everyone here has the same interests and needs and so we have built this spiritual house on the foundation of diversity and an acceptance of varying needs.  

     But how do we meet the diverse needs of the kids and teens in our community?  When we commit at baptism to support each child as they grow we commit to supporting their individual faith. That process certainly starts with supporting the family in faith building through programs like Splash! but it continues through the work of really getting to know the kids and teens in our congregation and helping them to develop their relationship to the resurrected Christ and this community. 

     For the kids who are seekers and the kids who feel more clear in their understanding, the church is there to provide guidance, support and pose new questions.  Throughout their early faith lives, the children in this congregation are supported and strengthened by providing a responsive Sunday school program, and a quality Confirmation program.

     Officially, the end of Confirmation happened this last Thursday for two members of our congregation, Haylie and Michelle, who met with Council to read their statements of faith, and be approved as adult members of this congregation.  That means that they are no longer children of members.  They are no longer kids, they are awarded the rights and responsibilities of adult members of St. Andrew.  Congratulations ladies! And what does the future hold for these two youth?  For Haylie who is interested in kids and dance, and Michelle who is interested in law and fashion…Will they ask the same questions?  No they won't ask the same questions.  But I believe they will support each other in this journey, and with the right programs and mentors in their lives they will seek out the best way to be those "living stones".  To let themselves be built into a spiritual house.

     But what if I was to tell you that they are walking into a blank wall?  Would you be concerned?  If I said there was no youth group for them to participate in would you frown and furrow your brows?  Or if I said the youth group has no official leader and very few attendees, would you stand up in outrage?  For too long, we and most churches have relied on a tried and true model of youth ministry that operated on the Field of Dreams motto of "Build it and they'll come" or that sought to provide fun entertainment just to get them in the room.  But what happens when they are there?  Why did they come?  What will sustain their commitment to be there?  The model of youth ministry based on gathering on Sunday nights with the guitar playing Youth Pastor is a vision from a wonderful part of our history, but not something that is drawing kids in today.  I'm certain you have heard me, or other leaders talk about the frustration in trying to compete with sports schedules, clubs, music and other friends to "bring kids to church".  The opportunities for other activities are vast, and we can't compete with those programs.  So there are fewer kids to play the planned games.  Fewer teens to attend the trip and more teens disengaged from the "youth group." 

     This year the Kids and Teen Ministry Team has taken on the task of reframing our youth program; allowing the program the room to breathe and speak for itself.  To take out all the regular features of the youth program and re frame our entire policy toward "youth."  This year, we have been trying to ask if the pattern for youth ministry I was handed when I started is still working, and the hard truth is that it isn't.  For what will happen to the spiritual house if the only offerings we provide are those that don't meet the living needs of our teens? We are losing teens, not through families moving out, but through the teens dropping back, staying home, seeking elsewhere. From several parents of our teens, I can feel the frustration that creates when their child doesn’t want to come to church and I know the tension that can build in the family dynamics.  It is time to make a change.  It is time to respond to the younger members of our community as the adult members we have confirmed.  It is time to recognize the stumbling blocks that WE as a congregation have put in their way.  It is time to see the rocks that are making our ministry fall. And that begins with naming the culture of youth in this congregation and the community at large. It isn't about numbers.  It isn't about hanging out in the youth room with me.  The question that is always the hardest to answer is "How many youth come on a regular basis?" I never know how to answer, because even there were 3 there my response may cause concern that there isn't enough teens.  Or the follow up question may come, "So what are you doing to get more next time?"  It isn’t about numbers.  So this fall, we aren't programming youth ministry activities. 

     Instead we are preparing for our ministry with high school students.  It is a small thing really, but it speaks to a much bigger paradigm shift for all committee chairpersons, potential leaders and current leaders. Teenagers are adult members of this community.  They are a group with specific constraints on time, but their interests are just as diverse as that of our adult congregation. 

     I'd like you to take a look at the diagram up on the wall and really read through it.  On the left  you will see a model similar to what we do now.       We advertise fun events, we organize bring a friend events, we provide a single classroom on Sunday where all of them are supposed to want to come, we hire professional staff to run the programs, and we rely on volunteers to make all that programming happen. In the past year, we have done poorer and poorer at this as volunteers were not to be found, relying more and more on my position as the main route of any activity being planned.  This isn't fair to our teens.  This is frustrating.  This is tragic.  As only one member of this community, my route to connecting with the youth is pretty narrow.  I love hanging out with them.  We have a very special group of teenagers at this church.  But I am only one member of their spiritual community.  All ministry regardless of age, is about making connections.  For these teens whose interests range from robotics to running guitar to comedy, my skills aren't enough to pull them in just to attend this fabulous weekly meeting, to draw them to the church just to be members… and I know it. 

     Instead, if we look to the right side of the diagram, you see a different model. A model that isn't asking how many are there.  Even when there is only one teenager, this model still holds water.  Because we should still be able to articulate how that one teen is being ministered to using this model.  Let's make ministry responsive to the mission of the church, and something that anyone, of any age, could attend and walk away with a feeling of Sabbath from their daily lives.  It doesn't rely on age requirements or group numbers.  This model asks for the involvement of mentors, not volunteers.  A volunteer can be a body in a room, but a spiritual mentor is someone who is a co-learner.  Who has gifts in the same areas as the teens.   Defined by Brian Kirk and Jacob Thorne of the blog "Rethinking Youth Ministry", and the book Missional Youth Ministry: Moving from Gathering Teenagers to Scattering Disciples, spiritual mentors are "people of all ages and spectrums of life—who could be with our youth through all the years they’re growing up in church."

     When we look toward next year's education hour for our ministry with high school students, and even as we look for Sunday school teachers, Confirmation Guides and Nursery Assistants, the Kids and Teens team and I will be looking for people who are interested in taking their commitment to each baptism performed here seriously.  We are looking for people who have a faith story to tell.  For people who usually attend adult education, for people who usually walk in right when service starts and leave immediately after, for people who grab a coffee and sit in the narthex each Sunday, for grandparents and parents and those without children.

     But more than that, I am looking for the committees, the taskforces, the ministry teams to start seeking out youth.  Yes I can connect you with a teenager, but you can too.  Yes I can beg and plead for people to be volunteers for an event being planned, but this fall, I won't.  I am asking you to stand up today and tell the kids and teens in this congregation that you are willing to make your baptismal commitment mean something.  I am asking you to enter the conversation on ministry for, with and alongside the next generation of this church, not out of a need to perpetuate the congregation, or to give them something to do while the adults attend this meeting or that but because you are willing to affirm their baptism into the people of God. 

     This fall, we will be living out this vision of seeing high school students as adults by using an adult education course for the education hour that invites interaction from teens, young adults, and those young at heart to study faith questions together using a curriculum called Animate. Which uses pastors and theologians like Nadia Bolz-Weber, Rachel Held Evans and Jay Bakker to tell a story and utilizes discussion on what it means to live an animated faith. These sessions are not your typical High School Bible Study.  This is something new, and you are invited to be a part of the NEW story unfolding here at St. Andrew about our ministry for high school students.  

     Even those of you who are still sitting in the pews not sure that you are called to do this work, who are hearing these words and don't see yourself reflected here, let me call you out.  You are reflected here.  And it is up to every one of us to create the culture of welcome we say we stand for in our welcome statement.   " All are welcome, without exception, regardless of ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental ability, education, income, or family status.  All are welcome here to worship God, receive the sacraments, and share in fellowship, leadership, and service."  But age is a barrier more often than we even recognize.  Teenagers aren’t really welcome until every one of our congregation's teens are greeted by name by more than just a few regular people.  We will know age is no barrier to welcome when you, yes you, seek a teen's involvement in fellowship, service, earth care and worship activities not as a youth representative but as a young adult.  We will know we are fully welcome when there is no chore involved in recruiting spiritual mentors, not volunteers, to stand alongside our teens in fellowship, education, and service activities. 

     So at this point, you might have already wondered to yourself, why is she wearing a T-shirt if she knew we was going to preach today?  This shirt came from the Oregon Lutheran Youth Organization event two years ago that was hosted right here.  And what more could I say to you about why youth ministry matters to me.  It is because of this.  This work on our ministry for high schoolers isn't a by-product of doing church.  It is about a commitment to loving each child and teen we baptize like Jesus loved.  Radically, completely, with welcome and respect.   Love like Jesus friends.  It's not just a trend. 

Amen

* Spiritual Mentors explanation from Kirk, Brian; Thorne, Jacob (2011-06-07). Missional Youth Ministry: Moving from Gathering Teenagers to Scattering Disciples (Youth Specialties) (p. 92). Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Kindle Edition