hypersync

Sh*t New Yorkers Say - YouTube

2012-01-30T22:16:11Z

Yes, it is true, this is what many a New Yorker says. I have to admit, I say these too many of these very things and too often! This is one of the best "Sh*t [people] Say" videos!

The Great Drop-Out

2012-01-21T22:39:44Z

Very interesting interview on NPR with Barna Research's David Kinnaman on why so many young people are dropping out of the institutional Church. Give a listen!

Here are a few paragraphs from the interview:

MARTIN: What are the young people telling you about? Whether they're taking a break, a temporary break or dropping out altogether, what are they telling you about why?

KINNAMEN: What we really boil it down to - you know, each person that we interviewed had very specific experiences and challenges and the church was, in some way, inadequate in their mind to that. And yet, when we looked at it from a broad perspective, the way I would conclude this is that we're living in a more complicated age, more complicated questions about marriage and the diversity of this generation, the technology used in social media

And, in a nutshell, what we learned is that churches aren't really giving them an answer to these complicated questions that they're facing, these lifestyle issues and challenges that they're facing. And it's not really a deep or thoughtful or challenging response that most churches are providing to them.

MARTIN: And are you finding this phenomenon across what people consider liberal and conservative churches or do you find it concentrated in one side or the other?

KINNAMEN: Well, one of the surprises for me was I figured that we would see some differences between young Catholics, for instance, and young Protestants and young mainline versus young evangelicals. But I think the overriding theme was that this generation, in so many ways, is post-institutional, regardless of their traditions. So many similarities in their reasons and their reactions to the church and to Christianity.

Some of the things that were different was I think many churches that deal well with complexity didn't give a sufficient amount of conviction or commitment required of the young people that they work with. And then, conversely, those that had a strong degree of commitment and sort of emotional connection with the church didn't deal well with the complexity. So it was sort of a double-edged sword for many of these churches.

Much of this is coming from this much viewed recent YouTube video:

Here are a some additional information -

Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church (The Barna Group)
Five Myths about Young Adult Church Dropouts (The Barna Group)

]]>

'You Lost Me': Young Christians Rethink Faith

January 20, 2012

Nationwide, many 20-somethings are leaving their churches behind. David Kinnaman and his staff at the research company, The Barna Group, interviewed more than 5,000 Christians, and he says the dropout issue is real and urgent. Host Michel Martin speaks with Kinnaman about his book You Lost Me.

TRANSCRIPT:

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We want to talk more about faith and spirituality now, and now we want to focus on why so many young Christians seem to be leaving the church and you might not see it if you look at the sold out Christian rock or gospel concerts or packed pews at Christmas, but then how do you explain this popular new video? In the last 10 days, Jefferson Bethke's spoken word poem has gotten more than 15 million views on YouTube. We'll play just a short clip of it.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "WHY I HATE RELIGION, BUT LOVE JESUS")

JEFFERSON BETHKE: See, the problem with religion is it never gets to the core. It's just behavior modification, like a long list of chores. Like, let's dress up the outside, make it look nice and neat, but it's funny. That's what they used to do to mummies while the corpse rots underneath. Now, I ain't judging. I'm just saying we're putting on a fake look because there's a problem if people only know that you're a Christian by your Facebook.

MARTIN: Our next guest says the so-called dropout problem in American Christianity is real. He's written a new book about it. It's called "You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith." David Kinnamen is the author of the book. He's also the president of the Barna Group. That's a private, nonpartisan research group that conducted a lot of the research that informed the book.

And David Kinnamen is with us now. Welcome. Thanks so much for joining us.

DAVID KINNAMEN: Thank you, Michel. My pleasure.

MARTIN: So the money issue - the money bite here is that more than half of all Christian teens and 20-somethings leave active involvement in the church?

KINNAMEN: Correct. Yes. So 59 percent of people who were 18 to 29 who were churched as a teenager said they had dropped out after attending some time regularly. What's so fascinating is 57 percent said that they're less active in church, but only 29 percent said they're less spiritual.

So it's interesting because they're less churched. They're rejecting institutional forms of church, but they're not necessarily rejecting spirituality.

MARTIN: Now, you say in the book that the ages 18 to 29 are the black hole of church attendance. This age segment is missing in action from most congregations and that's not because these young folks weren't raised in the church or had some experience with church. It's just that something's happened at a certain point where they decide to leave.

Isn't that kind of dropping out, changing your lifestyle, something that every generation goes through? I guess I'm asking you, why do you think it is there's something particularly dramatic about what's happening with this group?

KINNAMEN: Well, you know, doing this research, it's interesting that you started with the story of that video because we try to capture the voice of this generation through all the interviews that we had done. We did more than 5,000 interviews with teens and 20-somethings and pastors and parents. This is something old, but it's also something new.

And, as you put it, it's every generation goes through its own spiritual formation process, but what's different now is that this generation is living in a much more complicated time, and because of that, I think this dropout problem is all the more urgent and we have to pay attention to it and its new nuances.

MARTIN: What are the young people telling you about? Whether they're taking a break, a temporary break or dropping out altogether, what are they telling you about why?

KINNAMEN: What we really boil it down to - you know, each person that we interviewed had very specific experiences and challenges and the church was, in some way, inadequate in their mind to that. And yet, when we looked at it from a broad perspective, the way I would conclude this is that we're living in a more complicated age, more complicated questions about marriage and the diversity of this generation, the technology used in social media.

And, in a nutshell, what we learned is that churches aren't really giving them an answer to these complicated questions that they're facing, these lifestyle issues and challenges that they're facing. And it's not really a deep or thoughtful or challenging response that most churches are providing to them.

MARTIN: And are you finding this phenomenon across what people consider liberal and conservative churches or do you find it concentrated in one side or the other?

KINNAMEN: Well, one of the surprises for me was I figured that we would see some differences between young Catholics, for instance, and young Protestants and young mainline versus young evangelicals. But I think the overriding theme was that this generation, in so many ways, is post-institutional, regardless of their traditions. So many similarities in their reasons and their reactions to the church and to Christianity.

Some of the things that were different was I think many churches that deal well with complexity didn't give a sufficient amount of conviction or commitment required of the young people that they work with. And then, conversely, those that had a strong degree of commitment and sort of emotional connection with the church didn't deal well with the complexity. So it was sort of a double-edged sword for many of these churches.

MARTIN: Well, give me an example. Can you just kind of describe one of those conversations that captured this for us?

KINNAMEN: Sure. Well, I think one of them is a conversation that we had. I mean, I have talked to a young person, Colleen(ph), who was asking her youth pastor whether she should sell her eggs for college. And this is, you know, right at the center of the complexity of today's ties because they have instant access to any kind of information available about any kind of thing, you know, theology, religion, faith, human sexuality, reproduction choices, college, education. They have these huge aspirations to make a difference in the world, to be educated.

MARTIN: Well, what did he say? I mean, what was his answer?

KINNAMEN: Yeah. He said, you know, I don't think there's one Christian response to that. But he walked her through a process of trying to say, you know, is it necessary for you to go to college? And, if so, let's find a way that the church can support you in getting that education.

MARTIN: Well, what's wrong with that, though? I mean, that seems like a loving and both intelligent and affirming response.

KINNAMEN: It's a great response. The big challenge is that most pastors, most families in churches - they're not prepared for those kinds of questions. I think this young youth pastor did a great job, but I think a lot of questions, as we learn from our research - they're not being asked. In fact, one of the major reasons young people said that they were leaving churches was that they felt like they couldn't ask their most pressing life questions in church.

So we heard the question from Colleen, but many of these young people feel like they're so disconnected. They're so entirely disparate worlds, they can't really ask these pressing life questions in church.

MARTIN: Do you have some specific suggestions for faith leaders who are seeing this in their own congregations and want to address it?

KINNAMEN: We do. I mean, first of all, every congregation is different and I think there needs to be very customized and thoughtful and deep responses to that. We don't want a one size fits all response, but one of the things I thought was a great concept that we uncovered through the research was this reverse mentoring idea. This generation has the ability to help an older generation, an established generation. Many of these traditionalist churches deal effectively with issues of science and social media and gender roles and yet, at the same time, these young people need the input and wisdom of today's older generation.

And what's so beautiful about this next generation is they actually really want the wisdom of today's grandparents and elders and they're facing huge questions, as every generation does, but they're very open to the input of older adults and the wisdom that they could offer.

So this idea of reverse mentoring - we need young people to help enliven and invigorate our congregations and we also need older adults to give good life coaching in the midst of these very different and complicated times that young people are facing.

MARTIN: David Kinnamen is the author of the book, "You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith." And he was kind enough to join us from NPR West in Culver City, California.

David Kinnamen, thanks so much for speaking with us.

KINNAMEN: It's my pleasure. Thanks again for having me.

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Smartphones, Smart Pastors, Smart Church

2012-01-11T17:52:16Z

"The dining scene hints at the fact that many youth and young adults today have a relationship with technology and social media that is core to their formation. With this access to the Internet and, through it, the world, their worldview is significantly different than that of pr

via @daylife

evious generations"

This is an important article and commentary by Adam K. Copeland that anyone... everyone... who has a desire to impact the lives of emerging generations should read!

Read the whole thing here:

Smartphones, Smart Pastors, Smart Church

App Store - Dayspring Church

2012-01-10T09:56:05Z

It isn't a matter of just employing technology, but understanding how emerging generations are integrating with changing technology. Current technology, in and of itself, is always passe among emerging generations.

I made a Facebook post a while ago about the passe nature of the World Wide Web among younger people with respect to APPS on smartphones and tablets and how they are usurping the Web. I believing that in the coming decade everything will change, again. As today's emerging generation moves into their 20's and 30's, they will access information and engage their social networks not from the World Wide Web, but they will interact with the world and get their information through APPS rather than the WWW.

Anyway, way back when I started our new campus ministry at Bowling Green State Univ., (Dunamis Outreach, part of Chi Alpha Campus Ministries) we were a part of a new church in Bowling Green, "Dayspring Church" (we had four hundred attending on Sundays in just four years). Well, I came across Dayspring's APP on iTunes.

So, were are we with respect to emerging culture?

Check out their APP on iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dayspring-church/id476240885?mt=8

Sometimes...

2012-01-06T19:35:43Z

Sometimes, I wish I was a liturgist, then I would be competent in liturgy. I wish was a theologian, then I could deal with theological issues more correctly. Sometimes, I wish I was Church historian, then I could expertly deal with issues past and present. I wish I was a biblical scholar, then I might feel like I actually have something to say. I'm none of these things. My interest - where young people, faith formation, and technology collide. That's where I want to be, but it means I will be none of the above.

Speaking of the Presidental Race of 2012

2012-01-06T16:25:55Z

I think this is rather humorous! Not that I'm taking sides, mind you, although I certainly do have an opinion. So, give a look, and realize what most of the world must think of us as average citizens in what is supposed to be the "greatest country on earth."

For some reason, Yahoo! doesn't allow this video to be embedded.

http://news.yahoo.com/video#video=27797158

Migration by Chance

2012-01-06T10:43:48Z

Here is a stunning video of migration - a group of Starlings. As the videographer wrote, "A chance encounter and shared moment with one of natures greatest and most fleeting phenomena. "

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

New Year

2011-12-31T14:13:58Z

Last day of 2011. I always have a bit of anxious anticipation thinking about what the new year will bring. I've learned that when I'm open to whatever may come, I am generally amazed at what the past year brought forth - positive and negative. This past year has been no different!

Happy New Year, everyone!

I'm Christian, unless you're gay.

2011-12-17T15:37:03Z

Dan Pearce writes this piece on his blog, "sdl." It is worth reading! It is about, after all is said and done, how we live out the calling of Jesus Christ - how we are and are not living up to the example and commands of Jesus. Here are a couple paragraphs to give you a taste.

"Why is it that sometimes the most Christlike people are they who have no religion at all?

"I have known a lot of people in my life, and I can tell you this... Some of the ones who understood love better than anyone else were those who the rest of the world had long before measured as lost or gone. Some of the people who were able to look at the dirtiest, the poorest, the gays, the straights, the drug users, those in recovery, the basest of sinners, and those who were just... plain... different...

"They were able to look at them all and only see strength. Beauty. Potential. Hope.

"And if we boil it down, isn't that what love actually is?

"Don't get me wrong. I know a lot of incredible Christians, too. I know some incredible Buddhists and Muslims and Hindus and Jews. I know a lot of amazing people, devout in their various religions, who truly love the people around them.

"I also know some atheist, agnostic, or religionless people who are absolutely hateful of believers. They loathe their religious counterparts. They love only those who believe (or don't believe) the same things they do.

"In truth, having a religion doesn't make a person love or not love others. It doesn't make a person accept or not accept others. It doesn't make a person befriend or not befriend others.

"Being without a religion doesn't make somebody do or be any of that either.

"No, what makes somebody love, accept, and befriend their fellow man is letting go of a need to be better than others.

"Nothing else.

"I know there are many here who believe that living a homosexual life is a sin.

"Okay.

"But, what does that have to do with love?

"I repeat... what does that have to do with love?

"Come on. Don't we understand? Don't we get it? To put our arm around someone who is gay, someone who has an addiction, somebody who lives a different lifestyle, someone who is not what we think they should be... doing that has nothing to do with enabling them or accepting what they do as okay by us. It has nothing to do with encouraging them in their practice of what you or I might feel or believe is wrong vs right.

"It has everything to do with being a good human being. A good person. A good friend.

"That's all....
"My request today is simple. Today. Tomorrow. Next week. Find somebody, anybody, that's different than you. Somebody that has made you feel ill-will or even [gulp...] hateful. Somebody whose life decisions have made you uncomfortable. Somebody who practices a different religion than you do. Somebody who has been lost to addiction. Somebody with a criminal past. Somebody who dresses "below" you. Somebody with disabilities. Somebody who lives an alternative lifestyle. Somebody without a home.

"Somebody that you, until now, would always avoid, always look down on, and always be disgusted by.

"Reach your arm out and put it around them.

"And then, tell them they're all right. Tell them they have a friend. Tell them you love them.

"If you or I wanna make a change in this world, that's where we're gonna be able to do it. That's where we'll start.

"Every. Single. Time.

"Because what you'll find, and I promise you this, is that the more you put your arm around those that you might naturally look down on, the more you will love yourself. And the more you love yourself, the less need you'll ever have to find fault or be better than others. And the less we all find fault or have a need to be better than others, the quicker this world becomes a far better place to live.

"And don't we all want to live in a better world? Don't we all want our kids to grow up in a better, less hateful, more beautiful "world?

"I know I do."

Read all of the post.

Think on such things - try to come into the idea that the Way of Jesus Christ is so contrary to this American culture of ours! It matters not how much the left or right or liberal or conservative or Roman Catholic or Evangelical or Anglican or Protestant or Independent wants us all to believe that THEY (their group, their belief system, their denomination, their church) have it all exactly right and so lovingly warn everyone else that if they don't get on board they are going straight to the Lake of Burning Fire for all eternity -crispy critters.

We are blind. Why? Because we are fallible, because we see in part, because we know in part, and because we will not know fully until we get on to the other side. Why, then do we have to pretend that we or I or s/he or us are exactly right?

New Order?

2011-12-14T15:52:42Z

Henry Kissinger speaking with Chairman Mao.

The following quote by Henry Kissinger in his recent book, "On China," relates to the reasons for the profound one year change from near-war animosity between China & the U.S. to both governments preparing for Nixon's historic first visit to Mao's China. This is the "It" that begins the quote. What lessons can we learn for our dealings with the prevalent proclivities we find in our antagonistic and animosity filled culture and the Church's engagement with it?

"It did so by sidestepping the rhetoric of two decades & staying focused on the fundamental strategic objective of a geopolitical dialogue leading to a recasting of the Cold War international order." (On China, Kissinger; p. 234).

Is such a reordering possible in our two-decades old U.S. Culture War that has perverted our governmental processes and the Christian Faith in the U.S.?

What should we sidestep? How do we do it? What remains of the enduring "strategic objective" of the Church - for those who claim Christ who desire to find a way beyond the hubris, the anger, the bitterness, the spitefulness, the willful ignorance, the vengeful attitudes and actions that subsume so much of what is the Body of Christ, today?

Discovery

2011-12-11T12:43:20Z

It seems, and I experience, that within the Christian Faith, which is by nature relational (contra to the religion that developed around it), the more questions that are answered or settled the more we realize what we don't know and what is yet to be understood and discovered! It is invigorating and confounding at the same time. It is infinite.

This, I think, is a similarity to the exercise of science. Together, these both are the seeking of truth and knowledge, even though on different plains of experience, explanation, and understanding.

Adele - "Someone Like You"

2011-12-10T15:44:23Z

This song is beautiful and marvelously tells the story so many of us have experienced and too often hidden in our hears. The announcer does a wonderful job introducing Adele. The song, she, certainly does bring up memories and heartaches. This is a true performer and artist - she is able to bring the lyrics to life.

The New "Anglicans"?

2011-12-07T17:51:31Z

When I was in seminary (2002-2005), Gene Robinson was consecrated the new Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. I don't believe this was any kind of "political move" or a decision by the diocese for reasons of political-correctness, but the people of the diocese voting for a priest they knew, had faith in, and considered to be faithful to the Gospel. The fact that he was gay and had a partner didn't keep them from voting for him. There are, of course, lots of opinions about him, the diocese, and act of consecrating him a bishop in The Episcopal Church. A whole lot has happened since then.

One aspect of the outcome has been the leaving of many Episcopalians to other Christian bodies and the creation of the Anglican Church of North America - a place where disaffected Episcopalians could flee and where some of the other "Continuing Anglican" bodies could affiliate. The hope was/is that this new church would replace the Episcopal Church as the official Anglican Provencal institution. This hasn't happened. IMHO, many of the actions taken by the four dioceses, the parishes, clergy, and people who left the Episcopal Church and their motivation proves to be very American, but not very Anglican.

One such new institution is the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA). This group actually left the Episcopal Church earlier, over women's ordination, I think. They ended up being under the authority of the Anglican Church in Rwanda. The Rwandan Church consecrated new bishops to oversee this new church institution. The Rev. Church Murphy, former Episcopalian, was one of these new bishops. He now leads/led this group of churches.

So, now, some things have happened between the House of Bishops of the Rwandan Church and now-bishop Murphy that raises the ire of Murphy and some others in the AMiA. The Primate of Rwanda went about disciplining Murphy, which, of course, Murphy didn't like. An ultimative was give to Murphy and the consequences for non-compliance were spelled out. A couple days ago, Murphy and the other AMiA American bishops affiliated with the Rwandan Church have announced that they are splitting with the Rwandan Church. Who knows what will finally play out, but it seems that Murphy and company may end up creating yet another Protestant denomination in the U.S. - another sect.

When I moved out of American-Evangelicalism and into Anglicanism (via TEC) in the mid-1990's, I recognized that there was a great deal in common between American-Evangelicalism and Anglican-Evangelicalism. One issue that wasn't really dealt with in my parish was the difference between the two. I've come to learn the difference. There was a real failure among priests to teach "Anglicanism" - whether Evangelical, Anglo-Catholic, or Broad Church - and how it is distinct and different (yet similiar) to the other traditions. I think this is an underlying issue among a lot of folks who left, who stayed, who broke-off, etc. It is my opinion that this is a primary reason underlying the actions of Murphy and others.

Anglican-Evangelicals are Catholic! American-Evangelicals (within which I was raised) are not. As a matter of fact, they are often anti-Catholic (both in polity and with respect to the Roman Catholic Church). I think many American-Evangelicals who came into Anglicanism through the Episcopal Church, like myself, never learned the difference between Anglican- and American-Evangelicalism. When the going got tough within the Episcopal Church, many of us reacted just like American-Evangelicals, which means there was no issue or problem believing we could simply break-off and start our own thing, since to divide is the time-honored American-Evangelical way of "solving" or avoiding problems. They, we, I, didn't act like Anglican-Evangelicals, who because we are Catholic, simply don't separate, break-off, or form a whole new church. There are times when conservatives are in the ascendency and times when liberals are, but it seems to me that a fundamental difference within Anglicanism is that we suffer through if we have to because the Church is the Church Catholic, period, and cannot be divided.

Chuck Murphy and those of the AMiA who now spurn Rwanda are simply following the path they set out on and doing the very American-Evangelical thing. It is expected. That is how American-Evangelicals react to so many of the interpersonal and authoritarian problems. I say this not out of anger or bitterness toward my former tradition, because I am very glad of it, but out of a real desire to be authentically "Anglican."

What does it mean to - include?

2011-11-29T09:48:38Z

From the Episcopal News Service, November 28, 2011, reported the conclusion of the disciplinary charges made against the Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence:

"The Episcopal Church's Disciplinary Board for Bishops Nov. 28 said it cannot certify that Diocese of South Carolina Bishop Mark Lawrence has abandoned the communion of the church.

"'Based on the information before it, the board was unable to make the conclusions essential to a certification that Bishop Lawrence had abandoned the communion of the church,' the Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson Jr., board president, said in a statement e-mailed to Lawrence and reporters."

Link to the article details...

I am thankful for this. After working 20 years in higher education, I can say that I've found (pseudo) liberals (in name only) to be particularly exclusive and spiteful despite their demand for the right of radical "inclusion." Whether I agree with this bishop is not the point - the point is that if we truly, honestly want a Church in the Anglican tradition of allowance of different perspectives, then he and his diocese have the absolute prerogative to be included. Whether I am personally gleeful, hurt, thankful, angry, or whatever emotion I might have related to their perspective is irrelevant. We are not a fundamentalist Church, whether the fundamentalists are liberal or conservative.

Inner Man

2011-11-28T11:34:09Z

"But even if one is content with a certain high usefulness in his chosen field, there is another phase of the whole matter. The Church has some useful information for that man which his inner being craves.

"The Church believes that the man wishes to know why the great gift of life was given him, how he may see beyond the affairs of the moment, what is expected of one so richly endowed in mind and heart, what shares he has in the improvement of the race, what he must do to enrich his own living, what thoughts he must think to understand his own relation to God and the world, what efforts he must make to gain real and durable satisfaction, what he may do to avoid the devastating sins, to whom he may appeal to quiet his conscience, how he may gain comfort in time of loss, how he must estimate necessary sacrifices, what powers he may appropriate to expand life and purpose, what unfading compensations there are for righteous effort and finally what his destiny is to be.

"The Church is the guardian of all this knowledge. Imperfectly as it may teach such traits, nevertheless that truth is its treasure."

- George P. Atwater, "The Episcopal Church: It's Message For Men Of Today;" pp 175-176.