We held Social Hour this morning because of the news from Nigeria and watched as it spread like wildfire around Facebook. One commenter on our page drew this bit out: “Theologically, I believe people like Okoh are simply stuck in a Christianity which denies emerging Truth and denies the Holy Spirit. Their scapegoating is ignorance and prejudice, pure and simple, regardless of the issues that are driving it.” An interesting point, given the focus we pay the spirit on Pentecost and Trinity Sundays.
“Attracting young people to the church–or not” drew a few interesting comments that also illustrated the generation sprawl that’s happening when someone pointed out that there are several generations younger than the boomers. There’s always notions that the music is too stuffy or the liturgy is inaccessible, but 14-year-old Jack weighed in with the following:
i think young people just don’t know about the episcopal church. the ones that get the attention are the people like the Westboro Baptist Church which turns these younger people off of church. I’m 14, and if my church switched to contemporary music I’d probably be one of the first ones to leave and find a traditional parish. … What the Episcopal Church believes in and stands for is something I think a lot of young people want but aren’t finding in other churches.
The problem, I think, is that of those who even know what the Episcopal Church is, most don’t know what we believe or stand for with things such as full inclusion. There needs to be a way for them to find out.
Have we tried text messages?