Optimistic about the future
23/05/16 04:33
Recently I was listening to some previously-downloaded podcasts and came across a TED talk given by Al Gore in February. The talk outlined the reasons why he is optimistic about the ability of humans to find a solution to global climate change before it is too late. He ended the talk with this story:
When I was 13 years old, I heard that proposal by President Kennedy to land a person on the Moon and bring him back safely in 10 years. And I heard adults of that day and time say, "That's reckless, expensive, may well fail." But eight years and two months later, in the moment that Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon, there was great cheer that went up in NASA's mission control in Houston. Here's a little-known fact about that: the average age of the systems engineers, the controllers in the room that day, was 26, which means, among other things, their age, when they heard that challenge, was 18.
I always think about 18-year-olds at this time of the year. High School graduation was yesterday in our town. Our congregation has a slump in this particular age group. After having several graduates for quite a few years, we have only one graduate this year. But despite the fact that my part of the ministry of the church doesn’t involve much youth work, I still have a keen interest in youth and youth culture. I was surprised to learn the statistic about the controllers and systems engineers at NASA in the late 1960’s, but when I think of it, it really makes sense.
I’ve been known to joke that I reached the height of my intellectual powers at the age of 25. Although I have accomplished a lot since those days and there are some things in my life that are definitely aided by experience and wisdom, there is another sense in which I had a kind of intellectual brilliance and passionate fire about my life in those days that has since been at least a little bit dulled. I completed my doctorate just before I celebrated my 25th birthday. I was a published author, had one of my pieces translated into other languages, was recognized several who’s who listings, and was ready to begin my career. I could read and process information at a very quick pace and was able to solve intellectual challenges and puzzles with ease and speed.
But at age 25 I lacked the patience, insight and managerial skills to do the job I do today. I didn’t have the experience of having preached through the lectionary multiple times and incorporated as many biblical passages into my life as is the case today. I read my sermons from those days and know that the congregation I now serve wouldn’t tolerate such a tirade of poorly informed sermons.
In those days I was completely sold on the value of youth mission trips. I planned, promoted organized and fund-raised to travel with youth to many different locations knowing the power of trips and service to transform the lives of youth. It took me a couple of decades of working with youth to discover that the best experience for those youth was not to travel in a group of people the same age, but rather to participate in intergenerational activities. Even more powerful than a youth mission trip is a mission trip that incorporates people of many different ages. In our partnership with our sister church in Costa Rica we have taken several trips that involved teens and people in their seventies and representatives of every decade in between.
If I were given the opportunity to respond to Vice President Gore’s talk or to have a conversation with him about the subject, I would share his optimism, especially when it comes to the brilliance and potential of youth for leadership and solving major world problems. But I would add that even more amazing things come from the interaction of youth with people of other ages. If you combine the intellectual brilliance, energy and enthusiasm of youth with the wisdom, maturity and experience of age the potential is even greater.
It is this passion for people of different ages working together that inspires much of what I do in the church these days. I believe strongly that although there are many places in our culture that divide people by age and segregate them into age groupings, the church is an institution that is committed to being intentionally intergenerational. To be honest, there are church groups that show little enthusiasm for age diversity and there are congregations that are made up of people who are all of a similar age. However, there is still much of intergenerational life in many congregations. The congregation I serve leans a bit toward the grey- and white-haired set, but if you speak with any of our members you will discover the intense desire to expand our community to be more inclusive of younger members. The church is open to leadership from all ages and celebrates the youth in our midst with genuine care and affection.
By many accounts I am approaching the age where it will make sense for me to step aside and allow someone who is younger to take the reins of leadership in the church. Before I do, however, I hope that I have at least one more opportunity to work as equal colleagues with those who are much younger than I. I believe that we have much to offer to each other and to the church.
Bring on the leaders in their twenties and thirties, and allow them to work side by side with those of us who have been about this business for as long as they have been alive. Together we just might provide dramatic leadership to a church that is continually changing and growing.
Without a doubt, I am optimistic about the future of the church.
When I was 13 years old, I heard that proposal by President Kennedy to land a person on the Moon and bring him back safely in 10 years. And I heard adults of that day and time say, "That's reckless, expensive, may well fail." But eight years and two months later, in the moment that Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon, there was great cheer that went up in NASA's mission control in Houston. Here's a little-known fact about that: the average age of the systems engineers, the controllers in the room that day, was 26, which means, among other things, their age, when they heard that challenge, was 18.
I always think about 18-year-olds at this time of the year. High School graduation was yesterday in our town. Our congregation has a slump in this particular age group. After having several graduates for quite a few years, we have only one graduate this year. But despite the fact that my part of the ministry of the church doesn’t involve much youth work, I still have a keen interest in youth and youth culture. I was surprised to learn the statistic about the controllers and systems engineers at NASA in the late 1960’s, but when I think of it, it really makes sense.
I’ve been known to joke that I reached the height of my intellectual powers at the age of 25. Although I have accomplished a lot since those days and there are some things in my life that are definitely aided by experience and wisdom, there is another sense in which I had a kind of intellectual brilliance and passionate fire about my life in those days that has since been at least a little bit dulled. I completed my doctorate just before I celebrated my 25th birthday. I was a published author, had one of my pieces translated into other languages, was recognized several who’s who listings, and was ready to begin my career. I could read and process information at a very quick pace and was able to solve intellectual challenges and puzzles with ease and speed.
But at age 25 I lacked the patience, insight and managerial skills to do the job I do today. I didn’t have the experience of having preached through the lectionary multiple times and incorporated as many biblical passages into my life as is the case today. I read my sermons from those days and know that the congregation I now serve wouldn’t tolerate such a tirade of poorly informed sermons.
In those days I was completely sold on the value of youth mission trips. I planned, promoted organized and fund-raised to travel with youth to many different locations knowing the power of trips and service to transform the lives of youth. It took me a couple of decades of working with youth to discover that the best experience for those youth was not to travel in a group of people the same age, but rather to participate in intergenerational activities. Even more powerful than a youth mission trip is a mission trip that incorporates people of many different ages. In our partnership with our sister church in Costa Rica we have taken several trips that involved teens and people in their seventies and representatives of every decade in between.
If I were given the opportunity to respond to Vice President Gore’s talk or to have a conversation with him about the subject, I would share his optimism, especially when it comes to the brilliance and potential of youth for leadership and solving major world problems. But I would add that even more amazing things come from the interaction of youth with people of other ages. If you combine the intellectual brilliance, energy and enthusiasm of youth with the wisdom, maturity and experience of age the potential is even greater.
It is this passion for people of different ages working together that inspires much of what I do in the church these days. I believe strongly that although there are many places in our culture that divide people by age and segregate them into age groupings, the church is an institution that is committed to being intentionally intergenerational. To be honest, there are church groups that show little enthusiasm for age diversity and there are congregations that are made up of people who are all of a similar age. However, there is still much of intergenerational life in many congregations. The congregation I serve leans a bit toward the grey- and white-haired set, but if you speak with any of our members you will discover the intense desire to expand our community to be more inclusive of younger members. The church is open to leadership from all ages and celebrates the youth in our midst with genuine care and affection.
By many accounts I am approaching the age where it will make sense for me to step aside and allow someone who is younger to take the reins of leadership in the church. Before I do, however, I hope that I have at least one more opportunity to work as equal colleagues with those who are much younger than I. I believe that we have much to offer to each other and to the church.
Bring on the leaders in their twenties and thirties, and allow them to work side by side with those of us who have been about this business for as long as they have been alive. Together we just might provide dramatic leadership to a church that is continually changing and growing.
Without a doubt, I am optimistic about the future of the church.