Adventist Youth Do Not Remain Silent.

[Gregory Matthews]

See:

 

http://atoday.org/a-tip-of-the-iceberg-recap-of-global-youth-day-march-21-2015.html

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

 

I believe that another factor is that young people (and not only young people, either!) are less willing to sit and listen to sermons than to be actively engaged in ministering to people as Jesus did. Here is just a taste of the activities that went on this year:

• Health fairs
• Literature Evangelism (sometimes on skateboards and inline skates!)
• Visiting sick and elderly
• Giving food, clothing, and other necessities to homeless people
• Helping on building sites
• Working on clean-up projects
• Caring for, even bathing, people in need
• Singing, clapping, and dancing with all ages, to share the love and joy of Christ
• Sharing everything from smiles to balloons on street corners

 

 

How is the above any different from 45 years ago?

[Outta Here]

I don't think it is any different than 45 years ago, except for possibly this:

 ‘It shows our youth are willing to engage in the mission of the church if we are willing to give them leadership. I am very proud of our young people.’”

And that , in my experience is different than just 10-15  years ago in my local church. My two children no longer want anything to do with the Adventist church--they asked for participation roles, they asked for opportunities to succeed and be a part of the hands-on Christian experience, but instead they were met with "You're too young." What they heard was, "You're not good enough." And when the rules finally changed and more and more young people were encouraged to participate, my two had already left the church. 

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

It must vary from church to church. Clear back to the 60's, the young people in my home church were given a number of Sabbaths every year where they were wholly responsible for everything.  And if they had ideas to do things, I can't remember any time when the "adults" refused...  

 

And I remember when my best friend and I were called on by the Nominating Committee to take positions in the church when we were teenagers.  

 

Sad to hear that such things weren't on a church-wide basis...

[fccool]

I like to see Youth engaged in positive activities, but I think the author is attempting to make it bigger than it really is:

 

• 21, 426, 780 Tweets with #GlobalYouthDay
• 7, 942, 906 Tweets with #GYD15 hashtag

I'm in a media marketing field, and that seemed a bit unusual to me for a religious organization.   It would be truly remarkable if it was true for organization like Adventist church.   I did my own research, and I couldn't find anything near that number.

 

I got consistently 20,000-25,000 results combined for a month, and it seems like they have tagged on 3 digits to top it off .  Where do they get more than 20 million from from two different sources covering it (including Adventist Review)?   Do they fact-check their articles?   

 

http://topsy.com/analytics?q1=%23GlobalYouthDay&via=Topsy

[JoeMo]

One thing at our (very small) church that has young people coming back - our sermons are interactive (kinda like at the Boulder Church; in that people from the congregation are allowed to ask questions or challenge (but NOT confront) the speaker and each other.  The younger folks appreciate being able to speak out without fear of reprisal or denigration.  They have more insight into the practical meaning of scripture than many of us old folks have!

 

Of course, this might be difficult (if not impossible) in a larger church.

[Gregory Matthews]

The Boulder congregation is the 3rd largest congregation in the Rocky Mountain Conference.

[JoeMo]

"The Boulder congregation is the 3rd largest congregation in the Rocky Mountain Conference"

 

Yes; and y'all are using an electronic Q&A platform that works for a larger congregation.  At Living Stone, the 20 - 30 people in the congregation simply raise their hands and pose their comments or questions to the entire congregation in real time.  If the speaker is at a loss for an response, frequently someone in the congregation has one.  Like I said; that works in a small church; but it would not be practical in a church as large as Boulder's.  It makes it easier on the speaker.  Also, we don't have a pastor; (or elders or deacons for that matter); so speaking responsibility rotates through the congregation.  But no one is a seminary-trained minister.  Our "culture" is that we are all "pastors".

 

From what I've seen and heard, Boulder would be my choice of a church if I didn't live 60 miles away.