On the side...
Some interesting stuff....
Skye Jethani over at Out of Ur asks the question "Did youth ministry create the emerging church?" He quotes Tony Jones telling a group of evangelical professors: "You all have strong feelings about the emerging church movement, most of them negative. Well, you are directly responsible for the emerging church movement." Zing! Jethani goes on saying:
Tim Stafford tells a story of a conversation that he had with the sister of a well-known Christian leader who had left the church and how it has negativity affected her relationship with him.
Skye Jethani over at Out of Ur asks the question "Did youth ministry create the emerging church?" He quotes Tony Jones telling a group of evangelical professors: "You all have strong feelings about the emerging church movement, most of them negative. Well, you are directly responsible for the emerging church movement." Zing! Jethani goes on saying:
The problem is a result, at least in part, of what Kara Powell calls the “Kitchen Table Syndrome” that marks many evangelical churches. This is how she describes the isolation and separation of youth from the adults in the community--much like the way kids get their own table at Thanksgiving. It’s a “separate but equal” vision of ministry. The intent is to provide age-appropriate teaching, which is certainly good. But the unintended result is the formation of youth ministries that do not carry the values and traditions of the wider church.In addition, by isolating students they are less likely to form meaningful relationships with older adults in the congregation–relationships that would provide continuity within the church from one generation to the next. Without this continuity we shouldn’t be surprised when 25-year-olds emerge who want nothing more than to deconstruct the way the church operates, slash the authority hierarchy, or just leave the church altogether. To use Jones’ logic, it was the youth groups of the 80s that created the Emerging Church of the late 90s, which sought to deconstruct the church systems of the 80s.Link
Tim Stafford tells a story of a conversation that he had with the sister of a well-known Christian leader who had left the church and how it has negativity affected her relationship with him.
As the sister said, “He has always been totally enamored with miracles, and with the gifts of the spirit, as though that was the proof of the faith. I’m not impressed with gifts of the spirit, but I would be with fruit of the spirit. Just listen to me. That would be love. That would be the presence of God. That would show me that God is at work in your life.”Link
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