20's-30's-40's

Some of the greatest conversations I have about faith happen in the most unlikely places.  Today I was with one of my favorite people to talk with about faith--I'll call her Faith Friend.  She had me captive for a few hours, so we had a good conversation!

In the midst of the conversation I had a bit of a light bulb moment.  I recently attended a meeting at new church that was kind of a visioning meeting, looking ahead at where they want to be.  It came up that this particular group of people is concerned with reaching out to the 20-30-40 year old set.  Faith Friend and I are both in that group.  We've both grown up in the church and while I'm continuing in a traditional church setting, she is exploring new options.  Part of what she is looking for is a place where discussions happen.  That got me to thinking...

I am becoming more and more convinced that the church universal has created their own image problem by making faith too religious, IE putting a lot of rules and regulations on faith that aren't either biblical nor are they friendly.  That religious factor has turned many off of church, which has resulted in the vacancy of the 20-30-40 and maybe more set.

In my time with the Young Adults in one of those age groups, I noticed that they were more apt to come to a time of discussion than traditional worship.  They became engaged in the discussions and gained just as much from those times as from traditional worship.

What would happen if, instead of all the hoopla of traditional worship, we gathered together in groups, maybe small groups within a larger group?  Intentional groups though, not just randomly putting people together.  What would happen if those groups were together and listened to a speaker for a few minutes, maybe 10 altogether, and then talked about it?  I'm not talking about easy topics of discussion either.  Let's talk about the taboo things, let's get gritty and real.  What would happen if instead of being expected to sit and receive, we were expected to participate in our worship experience through discussion and practice?  I wonder if church wouldn't be more appealing if we tore down some of the walls that we have put into place and were willing to think outside the box.

Some thoughts that I will continue to ponder.