20-Somethings in the PCUSA

Something that has been on my mind rather frequently is the role of young adults in the church. I wrote a bit about it in my post about the TAMFS webinar, but it continues to be on my mind so I will focus on it for this post. This topic is regularly on my mind because it affects me a great deal. Being twenty-two years old, in the church, contemplating my future as a possible pastor within the church brings the issue to the forefront of my attention. Additionally, I have been reading Jim Kitchens' book The Postmodern Parish, which I highly recommend and a quote from it has continued my thinking about young adults in the church. Kitchens writes, "We puzzle over why older members want to hold on to forms of church life that may have inspired them when they were young, but that do not meet the needs of today's 20-somethings." I find this to be very true, at least in my area. There are programs for the youth but once you hit a certain age, usually somewhere in the sphere of 20, it is difficult to find a place to belong within the church.


For the children there are Sunday school classes catered to their age level. For the youth there is youth group. For the adults of the church, they have their own Sunday School class and gender specific meetings (at my church [Clinton Presbyterian Church] it is Men's Breakfast and Ladies' Lunch Bunch). But what is there for those that fall in between. Those of us that are too old for a youth group and yet feel to young to be in the same Sunday school class as our 70 year old members? Outside of my congregation is exists as well. There are summer camps and youth retreats for those in middle school and high school, but what of those in college? When there appear to be no interest paid to this range of members how are we to feel?


The more I think about this gap within the church, the more I pay attention to the different things I attend. Yesterday, at church, I looked around the sanctuary and saw three people under the age of 35. If we raise the age to 40, it only grew be a very small number, which included The Pastor! This is not in just our congregation, according to Presbyterian Research Services, 8 in 10 worshipers in PC(USA) pews are aged 45 or older. I go to Presbytery meetings and look around and I am almost always the youngest person and unless their are seminarians present, the only one under 35. If I take a look at our Middle Governing Bodies, it is the same story. At the Synod of the Northeast meeting back in October, I was the only YAD. No other Presbytery sent a Youth Advisory Delegate, and for some presbyteries it was because they did not bother to ask a youth. At the meeting I stood up and asked who in meeting was under the age of 40. There were two people at the entire Synod meeting...myself and my pastor (Rev. Cindy Kohlmann).


I think it is time for the PCUSA to realize the role that the young adult members are capable of playing. Both the median and mean age of PCUSA members is 60 years old. I am a little over 1/3 of the age of the majority of our members. I wonder if we found a way to include those in that 20-somethings category, if that statistic would change? The Youth are the future of the church and we need a voice in the church. Furthermore, I believe that the Youth of the church need to have a voice and representation. From the chances I have had I have been able to meet people from all over the country. Attending Synod meetings and conferences has allowed me to meet amazing people within the church (like our Former Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow and Vice-Moderator Byron Wade). The young adults of today are the future leaders of our church and I think it is time that the 20-somethings have a chance to show their potential.

*My experience pertains to The Presbytery of Boston and the Synod of the Northeast. For those Presbyteries and Synods that have opportunities for the 20-somethings, that find ways to keep the 20-Somethings involved in church and have found a way to minster directly to them, I applaud you.*

My Role at AUC

One of the big problems I have with being a Presbyterian at a Seventh-day Adventist college is theological difference. The main things are the same, because we are protestant denominations, but the extra things, and mainly the lifestyle things, are very different. Presbyterians and Adventists both believe in Jesus and the trinity, and we use the same bible. Presbyterians use the creeds and we are a more reformed tradition. Adventists have a prophet, not found in the bible. Her name is Ellen Gould White. She wrote books about how to live properly. She saw visions from God and because of her writings and visions she is a prophet within the church.

When I met with the Committee on Preparation for Ministry last week one of the questions they asked me was about what difficulties I have had as a Presbyterian in this environment. I told them about some of the theological differences I have faced and what I have felt when certain topics have come up. One of the real touchy subjects that come up is homosexuality. This tends to be a touchy subject no matter where you are, however being in an über conservative Christian setting the tension is only exemplified. The general consensus over here is that homosexuality is evil, all homosexuals are going against the bible and they need to convert to the straight life. I, on the other hand, disagree with this sentiment. For the most part I keep my views to myself. When things I do not agree with get mentioned in class I just keep my head down because I do not feel like dealing with the debate that would come up when I say what I believe. Homosexuality is not one of the topics that I stay quiet through. Even though it gets me glares and often I do not feel safe after speaking up I do anyway. If I do not speak up, no one will.

I skipped my New Testament Epistles class on Thursday but during the class one of my classmates told be everything that was taken place (via facebook chat) and once again the topic turned to homosexuality. I was not there to give the nonjudgmental viewpoint. While I was glad that I was not present to have to listen to all of the homophobic things being said I realized that I have a role in this place. I am the person who stands up for others. Even though those others have not made themselves known, I stand up for them. If I did not say what I feel needs to be said I would not serve my role. 

Neither Male Nor Female

The sermon I preached in class. I am not sure it actually sunk it because there was no response. Apparently when a woman preaches it is silent but when a man preaches there are plenty of  "Amen!" and "Mercy!"

Some of you know that I spent a portion of my break in Cameroon. It is a country in western Africa, bordering on Chad, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic. It is a conservative country with the majority of citizens being either Christian or Muslim. You either go to a church or to a mosque, but EVERYONE practices something. One of the interesting things while in country was watching the social status of different people. Ordinarily, as a young woman I would have been at the bottom of the totem pole. And yet, here I was a white woman, an ordained elder, and studying to be a pastor. Evermore the pastor I was with was a young female pastor who had left her husband at home to come on this trip. We confused them.

You see, Cameroon and the majority of western Africa is very conservative. They still hold to the ideals that women need to stay at home and take care of the children and be completely submissive to their husband. They follow teachings that are male centric and while yes, Paul did say "As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches.  They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?" (1 Cor. 14:33b-36 NIV). That was not all he had to say on the matter and yet this is what conservative Christianity focuses on.

In the letter to the Galatians, chapter 3, verse 28, Paul writes  "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (NIV) This verse makes us all equal. We are all on the same level. Race, nationality, gender, socio-economic class, with this verse, all of those things is thrown away. Paul states that we are all one in Christ. Like the verse in first Corinthians, this is taken from a letter written by Paul, and yet it contains a very different message. No longer is he keeping women silent and making them submissive but rather he is putting them on the same level as men.
Throughout his numerous letters Paul makes examples of different women. 

In his letter to the Romans, he makes an example of Phoebe (of the church of Cenchrea). In the same letter he makes an example of Priscilla. In his letter to the Philippians Euodia and Syntyche are the women he makes an example of. And in Philemon it is Apphia he chooses to mention. These women are not made example of for their wrongdoing. Paul does not choose to talk about them because they are not submissive enough, but rather he selects these women as an example for the great work they are doing for the church and in the church. Phoebe is pointed out as the diakonos of the church. This translates from the Greek to mean minister or deaconess. Pretty high position for a woman, if women are meant to be submissive. Priscilla is referred to as his synergoi, or co-worker in the church. Euodia and Syntyche are evangelists, spreading the good news in the area. Apphia is addressed as one of the three leaders of the church in Philemon. All of these women are honored and mentioned by Paul as serving the church.

In New Testament times most of the leaders, immersed in the male-centered Graeco-Roman culture, simply took male dominance for granted. Not Jesus! Jesus embraced those that it was uncommon to embrace. One of the groups he recognized and gave respect to was the woman. Whether it was touching a menstruating woman  as he does in  Mark 5:25, or talking to the Samaritan woman (John 4:7-30) or welcoming women as the first witnesses of His resurrection, He always treats women with dignity, as a fully human person. At times, Paul reflects Jesus’ pattern, but unfortunately for the most part he was a man of his culture, enjoining women to keep silent and wear veils to show their submission.

Our goal as Christians is to live as Jesus lived. The role of women in the New Testament is a varied one. They go from being the submissive property of their husbands to being ministers, deaconesses and church leaders. If we, as Christians, are to live as Jesus did, if we are to mimic His actions then we are to lead lives that respect all. We are to live in such a way that we respect the dignity of all people, as Paul said to the Galatians, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."