It is a Learning Experience

I whole heartedly believe that the young people of the Church are in fact the current Church. There's no doubt in my mind about that. We see that in the baptismal covenant, in scripture, and even the canons of the Episcopal Church (as well as other denomination's legislation). Young people are acknowledged as the current church.


However, do I believe that young people are fully capable of leading the Church? Of course not. There are certainly aspects of Church administration that young people do not have an understanding of, such as business, law, and so forth. Nonetheless, this is the perfect learning opportunity: being acknowledged as members of the body, and being allowed to work with people that know things that we don't necessarily understand. Yet.

It is a learning experience.

There are plenty of opportunities for young people to learn, but I encountered one in particular in my home parish this past Sunday:

Our Vestry, together with the Stewardship Committee, released the "1% Challenge", which asks each current pledging unit of the parish to increase their annual pledge by 1%. To my surprise, this would bring an unimaginable amount of funds into our budget which would balance the budget, increase programs and ministries, and possibly bring in a new member to our staff. During this campaign, various members of the congregation have stepped forward during the Peace to tell their story in stewardship, and that they are planning to increase their giving by 1%. We also learned that the entire Stewardship Committee was increasing their pledge by 1%–leading by example.

These are all incredible things going on in my own parish. They are wonderful for the adults to do, and even more wonderful for the young people to witness. It is an inspiration for young people to see charitable giving, and the stories behind those gifts.

So, if you believe my blog is all about the young people being fully capable to lead the Church, and they should, but I believe that young people are fully capable to be apart of the Church, and in that, they should have a learning experience. They should have the time to learn new things from the other adults they are in communion with. Adults do this with other adults. Youth do this with other youth. And youth can do this with adults. And adults can do this with youth. There is so much learning that can be done. We are a community of learning.

That's what the Church is–a learning experience.