Yes, that's right I'm a Christian ... and I go to church. I even like church ... the majority of the time. Unfortunately, there is a problem in my church. It's small. Growing, but still small.
My school was part of the church and so in junior high and high school almost all of my friends went to youth group on Wednesdays and sometimes church on Sundays (only a few of us were there every week). The age group wasn't huge but it was big enough to feel involved in. Then everyone graduated and branched out, leaving a very small college group that continued to shrink.
Until about a year and a half ago the only consistent attendees out of high school were my best friend and myself.
Having said that, the last two years the church has grown some and the college age has increased with more high school kids graduating ... that still leaves a problem for my best friend and myself.
These newer "young adults" are just entering college, whereas we have just graduated. So there's a good 4-5 year gap there ... and the next closest to our age has a good 4-5 year gap as well. It doesn't really feel like we fit in in either place. So where are we left? What do we do?
We aren't really treated like adults because we've grown up in the church and are seen as too young by those 4-5 years older ... and we aren't really seen as "young" by those younger than us. It's a tough place to be and lately I have been struggling with it.
When I was in the worship band I felt like I was part of the church again, but once I quit I felt like just another body in a pew. People didn't approach me about helping out as much and someone even asked where I'd been when I had been at church nearly every week. It was a disconnect I wasn't used to experiencing.
Now, I don't regret my decision. I really loved working for the paper at CSUF and having a section to myself (and a slight organization problem) there really was no way I could have finished in time to make practices every Tuesday, but going from being incredibly involved to almost nothing so quickly was tough to take.
Church is about fellowship with other believers, those who believe as you do. But at different ages you learn and believe different things as you search and grow in your faith. It's difficult to know how to approach the problem and, frankly, I haven't figured out the right way to go about it.
There's been talk of a new young adult Bible study going on and I'm really pushing for it. I realize I'm no longer the youngest and I need to become more comfortable being seen as an adult in the church. I also need the fellowship and mental push a Bible study atmosphere pushes me into. Discussions from Bible studies and hearing other points of view force me to take a step back and really think about what God has to say ... and even what God is telling me about my role in the church.
The Bible says the church is like the body of Christ, and as each part of out bodies has a purpose so does each person in the church. Right now I feel like ... a sprained ankle or something. I'm not doing my job ... because I have no idea what it is.
I'm not sure what will come of this problem but I do know I'm getting tired of being stuck in the middle and need to find a way to contribute.
I think I rambled a little but that's all I have to say for now.
'nuff said,
Crysania
Hey...Good blog. I will pray for ya! I know what ya mean, and i think that the hope for sunday mornings is to ignite a spark that will cause others, both inside and outside our church, to be more intrigued with the things of God so that a true "Young Adults Group" could happen. I personally have really taken being a "young adult" (whatever that is lol) as a time in which i can help out the youngsters. I have been where they have been, and feel that i have at least a small amount of Godly wisdom that i can impart on them on a daily basis. Sort of what i am doing here at the school. I guess it is a little easier for me since i have a job in which i am constantly serving to some extent with youth. But anyways, it is good to think of those things, and good to know that, as weird as this sounds, that the young adults in our church are wrestling with these thoughts, and in essence longing for more in their relationship with the Creator!
ReplyDeleteSo I'm not really involved with my church like I used to be (translation: I haven't been in like 3-4 years) but my church has an annual national young adult conference which was always really cool when I attended. They were for 18-34 year olds (I think) but it was predominantly that age group you were talking about...the post college, pre-married, baby-having adult. And while I didn't go so much for the religious aspect but rather for the social, community building aspect, everyone seemed to get a lot out of it. A lot of people left with a re-connection to the church or felt refreshed or enlightened having heard different points of views and what not. That said, I don't know if you can just go out and start a young adult conference for your church, but it might be something cool to organize or look into down the line...
ReplyDeleteoh and sweet blog by the way! hope you keep it up!
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