new church life: jan uary / february 201 4
These are the top five trends I noticed
in the survey, and I have tried to represent
as many of the responses as I can.
I want to leave you with one more
thought: every time I read the survey results
I am left feeling a little defensive. I really
love the Church, so it is easy to feel that
way when I hear someone talking about it
negatively, or voicing an opinion that I see
as uninformed, and my instinct is to jump
in and correct that person. But through
reading these results I was struck by the
importance of listening.
On a human level, one of the best ways
to make people feel safe and understood
is just to hear what they have to say
without attacking or defending. On an
organizational level, it seems necessary to
make some changes if we are going to grow,
and a step in that process is to find out what
is in the hearts and minds of young people, even if it’s hard to hear.
So I leave you with an appeal to listen to the voices of young people in
your congregations, and especially to hear the emotion behind the words so
that you can better understand where they are coming from.
I leave you with
an appeal to listen
to the voices of
young people in
your congregations,
and especially to
hear the emotion
behind the words
so that you can
better understand
where they are
coming from.
Rachel Buss is a junior at Bryn Athyn College, majoring in Religion.
She plans to get a master’s degree in Psychology and become a
counselor. She says she loves the New Church and cares deeply
about getting young people involved. She has been interning in the
Office of Outreach for a year and a half, and has worked with the
Bryn Athyn Church to create opportunities for young people to get
involved. She is a resident assistant in Glenn Hall, the dormitory for
the Academy of the New Church Girls School.
[email protected]
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