Name: Evan Hearn
Age: 25
Relationship to the Collective: Young Adult Advisor

Describe the event in three sentences or less: Over the course of two days, leaders and participants of spiritual innovation hubs from across the country met against the backdrop of the historic Alexander Hotel in Indianapolis. Our objective was to share the experiences, successes, and shortcomings of our respective initiatives – each seeking in its own manner to bring together young adults and the Church in new and lasting ways.

What did you notice during or about this event? Everybody came with questions and left with more, yet among all of us there seemed to be a sense of optimism and faith. While none of us had any definitive answers to the big question of, “How do we get young people involved in their communities in a spiritual sense?”, all of us appeared to be advancing down our own paths.  

What impacted you the most? I was most impacted by the richness of interaction between older hub leaders and young adult participants such as myself. It would be no exaggeration to say I was able to converse with some intellectual titans of Christian thought and spirituality – people who have dedicated their lives to this kind of work. Yet simultaneously, I was able to learn much about the work my peers are involved in – this diversity of backgrounds made for a constant exchange of perspectives and lessons learned.

What about this event struck you as spiritual and/or carried spiritual significance for you? As someone who has struggled for many years to find a faith community, being able to participate in this event carried a significant spiritual weight for me. There is a lot of spiritual joy to be felt in being welcomed and accepted by strangers at every opportunity, and these two days were filled with such moments.

What new or next thing, if anything, did this experience inspire you to do/be/or try in the future? This gathering reestablished in my mind that the project I am helping with, the Good Start program, is on a good track. While there is still much to do and further to go, I feel confident that we are advancing towards making a real material difference for young adults in the Marble Falls community, which will undoubtedly entail and facilitate spiritual growth.

If you want to find out more about how the “In Our Words” series got started, click here.

The post In Our Words: Reflections from Indianapolis appeared first on 787 Collective.

Senior Sermon: I don’t know…by Todd Jones

Preached on: February 25, 2019 at APTS

Scripture: Luke 4: 1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    to protect you, and on their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

I want to begin with a small confession that I imagine most of you will understand all too well. I will next be preaching on March 10^th at First United Methodist Church in Harlingen, TX. This will serve as something of an introductory sermon, as I will start as their Youth Pastor in June. That day in March happens to be the first Sunday of Lent, and when I checked the lectionary, I saw that the Gospel reading for that day was the passage that I just read out of Luke 4. Since these sermons were fairly close together, I chose to save myself some work and did some double dipping by using the same text for both. So, for those of you who attend churches that use the lectionary, you’ll probably hear this scripture again in a couple weeks and you’ll be able to decide which sermon you like more.

But even though that is how this passage came to be read in this time and place, as I prepared for this, I found that it is an incredibly appropriate text for this occasion of a senior sermon. I also find it rather poetic that this same text is at the heart of both an ending, goodbye type of sermon like this one and a beginning, hello type of sermon like the one I will give in Harlingen in a couple weeks. Now, I know that this is not really goodbye and that will not really be hello, for a number of reasons, including the fact that there are three months left in the semester, but still, I enjoy the balance and duality of these two things. A beginning and an end.

I especially enjoy it because this passage is also something of a beginning, hello moment as well as an ending, goodbye moment for Jesus. This passage is one of several that make up the beginning of Christ’s life of ministry. Prior to this story, Jesus is baptized in the Jordan by John, and the Holy Spirit descended on him and led him out into the wilderness. And directly after this comes Christ’s sermon in Nazareth, his hometown, where he declares that he is the fulfillment of God’s promise to proclaim good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and so on. When he finishes speaking, he is thrown out of town, and he goes on his way to start casting out evil spirts, healing the sick, and calling disciples to follow him. This is all the beginning of a journey that will eventually lead Jesus to the cross. It is the beginning of something incredible and historic. But, it is also an ending. It’s an ending to the life Jesus knew before. It’s an ending to being known as Joseph’s son, or perhaps Mary’s boy. It’s an ending to a private, quiet life as a carpenter or stonemason or whatever it was that Jesus was doing for work. The life he is about to begin will look nothing like that life. That life is over. It is a huge pivot moment for Jesus.

And for that reason, it was impossible for me not to put myself in the place of Jesus in this story. To make myself the main character who is experiencing such a significant ending and beginning. It just fit too well with where I am right now. So, as I reflected on this text, Jesus became me and the wilderness became Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Those 40 days became my four years. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are so many ways that this place is nothing like the wilderness that Jesus experienced in this text. But, let’s not pick apart the metaphor just yet. Save that for later, when we are around the lunch tables.

Anyway, as I put myself in the story and made it fit my experience in this place, I began to ask myself, “What ‘temptations’ or ‘tests’ did I experience here?” Now, one way to look at this is academically, with the tests being specific classes or assignments that were particularly difficult to complete. One might be Jen Lord’s massive annotated worship service paper at the end of Intro to Worship. Another might be writing an exegesis paper at the end of a long semester when you just don’t have anything left and you’re grasping at straws trying to say something, anything. Or perhaps one is sitting in Bill Greenway’s class just trying to understand half of the concepts he’s talking about. These were most certainly times of trial that I experienced in this wilderness.

Another way to look at it is through a community lens, with the tests being different times when it was particularly difficult to live into beloved community. Times when is seemed impossible to achieve the goal of being a winsome and exemplary community of God’s people. These, too, represent metaphorical temptations and tests in this wilderness. A third type of test might be personal, as all of us experience various hardships in our lives during our time in seminary. We experience losses and enter into grief. We question our identity as people of faith. Our families take on extra burdens because of the demands of our theological education. The tests and temptations in this place are certainly abundant, just as they were for Jesus in the wilderness.

But why? Why does Jesus enter the wilderness? Why does he fast for 40 days? Why is he tempted and tested by the devil? And why are we tested and tempted in this place? And who is doing the testing? One could argue that it is an essential part of preparation for ministry. A time of pruning and purifying that must precede one’s life of ministry. One could also argue that it’s a way of weeding out the ill equipped. Only those able to pass the tests in the wilderness are qualified to preach the good news. Another argument could be that these temptations force us to lean more fully on God and less on our own strength. Or perhaps there is no reason or meaning to any of it. Perhaps none of it really matters. All that matters is getting through it so you can move on to the next step.

But I’m not going to make any of those arguments. In fact, I’m not going to make any argument at all. I don’t know why Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. And I don’t know why seminary students experience trials and tribulations. There could be reasons for all of it, some of it, or none of it. I don’t know. And I think that is what seminary has taught me more than anything else. That I don’t (and can’t) know everything. Or even many things. I don’t know everything about God. I don’t know everything about humanity. I don’t even know everything about myself. And I won’t.

But I do know some things. I know that I was created in the image of God and have a need for God in my life. I know that I am loved by God and have been called by God to minister to the poor, the captive, and the blind. I know that God speaks to me through creation and through scripture and leads me by way of the Holy Spirit. And I know all of those things are true about all of you.

And I also know Jesus knew these things. And knowing them is what got him through his temptation in the wilderness. Knowing these simple truths was all he needed to withstand the temptations and pass the tests. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Now, I imagine most of you have not had the experience of crafting a senior sermon, as this is just the second one of the semester. So let me tell you, it’s a very strange thing to do. On the one hand, there is a desire or pull to use this to show off some of the things you’ve learned during seminary. You want to prove that you know how to use good seminary words like kenosis and eschatological. You want to demonstrate your exegetical and preaching skills. Additionally, there is a pull to offer some wisdom to your classmates. To share about your seminary experience in a way that enlightens and edifies. And at the same time, there is another pull to simply focus on the text and speak truth about God in a way that is meaningful to you and the people who will hear you.

I don’t know if I’ve manage to accomplish any of those things in this sermon. I didn’t write a focus or function statement either so I can’t use them as tools for evaluation. But to be honest with you, I’m pretty tired of evaluation right now, so I think I’m ok with that. If nothing else, this sermon gave me an wonderful opportunity to reflect on this pivotal moment in my life (and in many of our lives). It allowed me to reflect on where I was when I entered seminary, where I am now, and where I hope to be in the future. It provided a space to recognize the temptations and tests that I have encountered along the way and see how I succeeded (and failed) in meeting them. And it has left me even more convinced of the simple truths of God’s love, God’s calling on my life, and God’s leadership through the Holy Spirit. But why should I be the only one who benefits.

I’m going to shut up now. You will have the next few minutes for silent reflection. Feel free to use it however you wish, but I do want to invite you, whether you’re a senior or not, to consider this moment in your life. To reflect on your own wilderness experiences (whether they are related to this place or not). And to ask yourself “What do I know?” “What are the simple truths I can hold on to?” and “How do those truths sustain me in the midst of tests and temptations?”

For more information about how our Proclaim series started, click here.

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On March 12 & 13 I attended the Young Adult Initiative Consultation in Indianapolis as a member of the 787 Collective. This was my first time at this conference, the fourth year it’s taken place, and on the flight up from Austin I read a packet of information from the previous year. This packet summarized the demographics and feedback of the young adults, pastors, congregation members, and Innovation Hub leaders. The first task at the conference was to write on posters hung around the great hall our questions and/or observations based on this packet. I asked how both the white dominance of the previous conference and LGBTQ inclusion had been addressed. The answer to the former was, to my delight, that the leadership team from the Lilly Endowment had worked to deliberately amend the racial imbalance!

Amid plentiful delicious food, I met members of similar collectives from across the country. We asked each other questions, shared concerns and stories, networked, and provided an array of resources. After a brief powerpoint presentation about the statistics of young adults who have left institutional Christianity, there was a panel of young adults and a panel of Innovation Hub leaders. Common themes were the importance of authentic connections, service-based faith, and intersectionality. Dr. Anne E. Streaty Wimberly from Connecting With Hope Innovation Hub in Atlanta blew everyone away with her call for using stories to bring different generations together.

That afternoon I attended the breakout session “Beyond Church Walls.” Fifteen people attended and seven were men, seven were women, and one nonbinary person. Rev. Michael Baughman from The Zoe Project in Princeton facilitated this session about where young adults seek community or fulfillment away from church, how congregations can make use of “third space” gatherings, and the functions of social media. I was blown away by a young African American woman who stated “the people you center in leadership are what you get as a result.”  I was also pleased that the conversation around social media was multilayered and nuanced, as opposed to labelling it as all-good or all-bad. When a session participant asked what the drawbacks of a social media-less church could be, I pointed out that white nationalist organizations are very skilled at using social media to recruit, network, and plan events. A church with one such white nationalist organization in their community would be helpless without social media.

After the breakout session, representatives from the Lilly Endowment announced that they wanted volunteers to suggest and lead similar breakout sessions the next morning. I leaped out of my chair and offered to lead a session on “how congregations can be more LGBTQ-inclusive or, if that’s moving too quickly for you, how congregations can talk about what their LGBTQ-inclusivity might or might not look like.” The next morning I facilitated this hour and a half long session; ten people attended, six were women and four were men. I was very active in the Milwaukee LGBTQ community in college, I’m a co-leader of my church’s LGBTQ ministry, and I am currently pursuing a Masters degree so that I can work in LGBTQ ministry professionally. Additionally, I provided the list of resources that is posted at the end of this blog entry. The ten participants asked very smart questions, brainstormed what their congregations could do in their local communities, and prioritized bridge-building compassion. When I explained the history of the Stonewall Inn, I suggested using such stories, as Dr. Anne had mentioned the day before, to unite uncertain congregants and LGBTQ youth.

My time at the conference was incredible, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to meet so many different people with a similar mission.

Organizations:
New Ways Ministry
Call to Action
Equally Blessed
FutureChurch
Q Christian Fellowship
PFLAG
Dignity USA

Podcasts:
Queer Theology
Queerology
The Liturgists episode “LGBTQ”
Nancy episode “God + the Gays”
Making Gay History
Blue Babies Pink

Books:
More Than A Monologue: Sexual Diversity and the Catholic Church
Sexual Diversity and Catholicism
Radical Love: an Introduction to Queer Theology
Ministry Among God’s Queer Folk
Building a Bridge
Nobody Passes
The Sexual Self
The Invention of Heterosexuality
The Trouble with Normal
Queer: A Graphic History
PoMoSexuals
She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders
My Gender Workbook
Transforming: The Bible & the Lives of Transgender Christians

The post Notes from the Field: LGBTQ Resource List appeared first on 787 Collective.

            I remember hearing this quote from a Fresh Air interview with Bishop Gene Robinson when it first aired way back in 2013 and being eagerly in agreement with his words.  I was rebounding from a bad breakup with a church I had attended for nearly fifteen years and was making my way back into church again after some time away.  I had many of these same feelings about church – I was tired of the religion but still desired worship in community.

            I ventured out of my comfort zone to the local Presbyterian church, and, to my surprise, the look and feel of worship was familiar to my previous (non-denominational) experience.  The leadership wore regular clothes, a praise/worship team led the music with drums and guitars, and we worshiped communally.

I found what I was seeking in this church.  In this group of imperfect people I found a community who came as they were to worship God.  The music wasn’t always exact, the pastors occasionally flubbed their sermons, the congregation didn’t always read in unison, and the ushers sometimes forgot to greet visitors.  But they all admitted their imperfections and worked at making worship better.  It was an honest house of worship and an authentic community – it was good church.

            When I attended my first Presbyterian service in Austin, I was a bit perplexed by what I experienced.  The leadership wore robes, the music was accompanied solely by the organ and we sang EVERY verse to EVERY song, there was confession…and profession…and public prayer…and communal reading.  The service was ‘high-church’ with plenty of liturgy, order, and staidness – not the Presbyterianism I had known.

            As different as this worship service was for me, it was just that – different.  It wasn’t wrong, it wasn’t improper, it wasn’t displeasing to God.  The stylistic differences in worship between these two churches didn’t negate the things that kept me coming back: I found places where I could worship God and places where I belonged.  I found congregations that were true to who they were and didn’t try to be something they weren’t.

            Worship can be a tricky thing for leaders to plan and do: how do we do it faithfully?  How do we do it according to our denominational standards?  How do we make it pleasing to God?  How do we maintain the religion and give people space to access God?

            While the ‘things’ that we do in church are important, we get into trouble when we make them more important than why we do them.  The main reason why people go to church (or synagogue, mosque, or other house of worship) is to feel closer to God,[2] and those of us working in the church should make this movement toward God as accessible as possible.

My suggestion is this: be the best church you can be, and be authentic in your worship.  If your worship is more traditional, you don’t have to be like the church down the street that has the rockin’ worship band.  If your worship is more contemporary, you don’t have to venture down the high-liturgy path.  Don’t try to be a church that you’re not.  Do what you do well.  Do what you do honestly.  Do what you do authentically and make space for your congregation to access and be in relationship with their Creator.

[1] Terry Gross, “Retired Bishop Gene Robinson On Being Gay And Loving God,” last modified January 10, 2013, https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=169066917

[2] Pew Research Center, “Why Americans Go (and Don’t Go) to Religious Services.” August 1, 2018.  http://www.pewforum.org/2018/08/01/why-americans-go-to-religious-services/

Guest blogger this week is Austin Seminary student, Sheth LaRue. He is in his second year at the seminary and loves to write. He is the editor of our student newsletter Kairos. If you’d like to read more of his work, his blog can be found here.

The post “Good Church” by Sheth LaRue appeared first on 787 Collective.

Our first 787 Studio short course is coming up on April 11th at 7 p.m. with the fantastic Josh Blaine! The event will take place on the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary campus. Come enjoy the fellowship and the learning as he shares his approach and philosophy around building community with and through song.  Register here!

The post 787 Studio: Community Sing! appeared first on 787 Collective.

Nostalgia: This Is Your Space, Not Mine
1 Samuel 3:1-10; Philippians 3:12-18

Someone once joked, “My alarm clock and I had a fight. It wanted me to get up, I refused. Things escalated. Now I’m awake & it’s broken. Not sure who won the fight.”

I’m not sure how many of you feel like that most mornings, but I can relate. And I bet most of us can relate to this morning’s scripture when Eli is ‘woke’ by Samuel. It’s a popular scripture passage and is often used for confirmation classes or others who have experienced some form of “call” from God. Let’s look at the passage again.

Three times Samuel awakes Eli who he thinks has called him. Samuel exclaims, “You called me, here I am!” Eli tells him to stop it and get back to sleep. After the third time, Eli says, “Knock it off. If it happens again, don’t wake me up…it must be the Lord calling you. Wake him up and say, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” And that’s exactly what happened. The Lord calls, again, and Samuel answers, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”

Students in seminary certainly relate to this scripture. Like Samuel, they have heard the Lord call them, sometimes repeatedly – we get many students in their 40s, 50s, or even 60s. They’ve often heard the call many times before. Then at some point they let the noise, the Eli’s of their world drift off to sleep. They listen….they finally listen and they say, “Lord, your servant is listening” and they discern God is calling them to a life of ministry. And so they come to seminary.

We often focus on the “call message” in this passage, and rightly so. I focused on it for much of last year’s Theological Education Sunday sermon. But recently, I found there’s another message that can be easily overlooked. The passage, as well as the one we read from Philippians, also serves as a wake-up call to God’s community. There’s the obvious wake-up call – Samuel literally awakes Eli not one, not two, but three times. There is also within this passage a figurative wake-up call from one generation to another. And in this case, it’s a wake-up call from the younger generation to the older.

Eli is old school. I know that phrase is cliché, so maybe it’s better to say, Eli is old church. As one bible commentator notes, “Eli represents the vested interests who are used to having their way, and who expect that the place that they have occupied in this present generation will continue indefinitely, even into the lives of their children, world without end.  By contrast, Samuel represents those to whom no one ever listens, the people who are regularly dismissed as unimportant, peripheral, or out of touch with “the real world.”  It is such people, the text shouts in whom the Lord delights in using as conduits for bringing God’s Word to the people.” (https://politicaltheology.com/the-politics-of-1-samuel-31-20/)

It’s no accident that Samuel is called during the night. Eli is asleep. Eli is the high priest and he will be the second to last Israeli judge, with only Samuel succeeding him. After that, the country will be ruled by Kings. So maybe Eli is asleep because he’s tired after leading the Israelites for so many years. Maybe he’s asleep because he’s become complacent and it’s just habit. Or maybe he’s asleep because the work just doesn’t excite him anymore and he’s nostalgic for the old days. Regardless the reason, Eli is asleep when Samuel, the younger generation, is called by God to lead.

In just these short 10 verses, we learn that God is not always okay with the status quo. We learn that God delights in finding new conduits for bringing God’s word to the world. We learn that God can do that in as little as one night.

In our world though, it tends to take a bit longer to accept and give way to new conduits. It’s been at least 15 years since we started lamenting about declining church memberships and the increasing of nones and dones. For a long time, much of the church has believed that with a small tweak here or there we can return to our “good ol’ days.” We pine for, we become nostalgic for the way the church was “back in my younger days.” Speaking of nostalgia, I remember when I used to be nostalgic: I miss those days.

In the late 1600s, Swiss medical student Johannes Hofer invented the word nostalgia — combining the Greek words for “return,” and “pain”— to describe how Swiss mercenaries fighting in other European countries behaved. One report explains, “These soldiers were reportedly plagued by an obsessive longing for their homeland, which manifested itself in hysterical fits of crying, anxiety, heart palpitations, diminished appetite and insomnia.” They felt real pain because they wanted to return home.   (https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/8492/nostalgia-and-faith)

Dr. Neel Burton writes for Psychology Today. In one article he notes, “Today, nostalgia is no longer looked upon as a mental disorder, but as a natural, common and even positive emotion, a vehicle for travelling beyond the deadening confines of time and space.”

A vehicle for travelling beyond the deadening confines of time and space. However, many psychologists also warn, that when over played, nostalgia can tempt us to dwell in the past and make us ineffective in the present. Maybe that’s why Paul warns the Philippians: Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.

It’s a bit of a balancing act, not only for individuals but for churches too – finding the value of shared stories and life lessons learned in the past without being so tied to the past that we are ineffective, complacent, asleep, or we fail to strain forward to discover what lies ahead as Paul says.

A couple of years ago, John Hamm starred in a film called Nostalgia. I don’t know if I can recommend it to you. While I loved it and found it provoking and moving, a couple of co-workers I suggested watch it were not so glowing in their reports. So that’s a 33 percent rotten tomatoes from just our office.

The movie follows several story lines about nostalgia. A couple of those stories intertwine and all of them focus on the question of how does our tie to the past impact the present and the future. In the clip you will see, a brother (Will) and sister (Donna) are in the attic of their childhood homes. Both parents have died recently. The sister has asked her 20 year-old daughter, (Tallie) to help them go through the attic items.

(Movie dialogue):

Tallie: So how long am I going to have to stay and help?

Donna: Are you?…I mean…

Tallie: Well I was thinking I could go up to Kathleen’s lakehouse with her and Marie. They invited me, I could be back Sunday afternoon.

Donna: No, you can’t go sweetheart. You can’t. I’m sorry you can’t go, I told you about this…

Will: Let her go, I don’t care. We can do this on our own. I don’t mind, let her go to her friends.

Donna: Please stay out of this, this has nothing to do with you. (looks towards daughter) But we made an agreement and I just expect you to stick by it, that’s all.

Tallie: No. I, I, I will and I know…I know that it matters, it’s just hard for me to understand what this all means to you. I get that you grew up with it and that it’s probably always been here. There’s just a lot of it…and it takes up so much space. Space that we don’t even have, Mom. So, I’m just a little confused. That’s all.

(Pause, Will and Donna look at each other, befuddled)

Tallie: I mean I do like these uh… (picks up homemade stuffed animal)…these little grandma-y things. But, I don’t know…Being up here isn’t fun. And it doesn’t remind me of my times here. I actually never even came up here. So, most of this stuff is stuff I’ve never actually seen. I mean most of it has probably been where it has been since before I was born. (long pause)

So…this is your space, not mine. Um, but it’s really cool that you are both really into it. And I mean that I’m happy that I get to see you Uncle Will and that you flew here to see us. So…

Donna: Yeah. (Looks at Will) Me too.

Will: Me too.

Daughter: So, I’m glad you found these cool records (a box of vinyl in the attic) and if you come by some cool tunes, you can just send me the names and I’ll download them.

Will: Deal.

Daughter: But Kathleen keeps texting me. Can I go or not? (Donna nods). Thank you. (As she leaves the attic) I love you both.

End clip.

“It’s hard for me to understand what this all means to you. I get that you grew up with it. This is your space not mine.” I don’t know that the filmmakers intended this scene to say this, but when I heard the daughter passionately tell her mother and uncle those words, I couldn’t help but wonder if that’s not exactly what Generation X and the millennial generation have been telling the older generations. This is your church, not mine. I get that it is what is important to you. I understand what it all means to you. I get that you grew up with it. But this is your church, not mine. Hello generation Samuel. And it’s probably too late for the Eli old church to be woke. God is calling a new conduit to be the church.

Although greatly behind the curve, I believe most seminaries have begun to see and understand this shift to the Samuel generation. Students arrive and are more like the daughter in the movie clip, or Samuel if you will, and less like the parents or Eli. Often it seems the seminary learns more from students than vice-verse because most of today’s students come to us with ideas about churches without walls, youth groups without pizza parties, congregations without prejudices.

Seminaries must learn how to help students learn to listen to, interpret, and proclaim the word of the Lord. At the same time we must help these future pastors learn how to examine scripture with a critical, historical, and theological approach, even amongst the ever changing norms and needs of each generation.

Here’s one way Austin Seminary is trying to answer the needs of the Samuel generation. At the end of this academic year, in May, we will graduate our first students in the new Master of Arts in Youth Ministry Degree. Students in the program learn how to be more intentional in leading young adults in ministry. Students gather on campus a couple of times a year for an extensive long weekend of classroom training. They also do lots of study together online. But the whole time they are working in youth or young adult related jobs at a local church. For three years they get to put their studies to work in a real world, practical setting.

Another example of the seminary listening to the needs of the Samuel generation is our 787 Collective, which is funded in part by a grant from the Lily Foundation. Named after the first 3 numbers in the Austin zip code, the 787 collective works with Austin-area congregations seeking to engage with young adult through creative ventures that deepen love for God, self, and others. Churches submit ideas for innovative programs they feel might connect with young adults. A key point is that these programs are not about increasing membership on church rolls. Rather, programs are designed to discover new and innovative methods for bridging Christian communities and young adults. Discovering ways that will transform both populations not simply for the 20th century church’s self-preservation, but for the benefit of young adults in our 21-century community, for the great pleasure of sharing the way of Jesus, and ultimately for the renewal and transformation of the Church. The renewal and transformation of the Church, doesn’t that sound like God’s call to Samuel?

Those are just two ways the seminary is answering the call to the Samuel generation. Or to use Paul’s words to the Philippians, ways that we press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. By the time we know all the ways, most likely it will be time for a new generation to be called while generation Samuel sleeps.

Remember the two words that form the word Nostalgia – return and pain. The good news this morning is that God’s kingdom offers us just the opposite of that. Through Christ Jesus we are offered a time not to return to, but a time we can look forward to with forgiveness from the pain of our sin. Knowing that, with great joy let us remember Paul’s words to the Philippians and forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead. To God be all glory. Amen.

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To RSVP for this free event and see a map of how to get there, visit the event brite site here.

To learn more about James Hersch, visit his website.

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We are already deep in Advent, but want to share a link to the Advent playlist that many of us enjoyed over the past few weeks and that still might inspire or illuminate these last few days until the beginning of Christmastide. While compiling the list, we asked Collective participants to choose music based on what Advent meant to them and/or what song they think speaks to this season. The outcome is varied, as are the musical genres, but if you’re traveling the next few days, hanging at home, or running final holiday errands, we invite you to download the playlist and let it inspire your own thoughts about the season.  The pain and joy of waiting, the desire that a better world will come, and our communal prayer for the way of light in times of darkness: This season feels as much about learning to abide and find joy in the waiting as much as the anticipation of better things to come. There will be more to follow (Christmas then Epiphany followed by Ordinary Time), but get started here:

 787 Collective Advent Playlist

For those new to Spotify, you can create an account at no cost (if you wish) and this will allow you to stream the playlist for free if you are connected to the internet with the occasional ad interruption.  Follow this playlist or the channel to stay posted as we consider this new exploration of liturgical time, and if you have suggestions for future playlists (“this song totally reminds me of Lent!” for instance), please email your contribution to mcoon@austinseminary.edu.

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Name: Betsy Appleton
Age: 35
Relationship to the Collective: Team leader for First English Lutheran Church.

Describe the event in three sentences or less: This was a celebration dinner to mark the “end of the beginning” of the work of the 787 Collective. Most groups are wrapping up their formal discernment processes at this point. We met to enjoy a meal, learn what shape others’ projects are taking, and celebrate the ways we will connect with 20somethings through the continuing work of the 787 Collective.

What did you notice during or about this event? I noticed that all of the projects described were unique, which is remarkable since we all followed a common process.

What impacted you the most? I was struck by how well the conversation prompts provided worked to facilitate more depth in conversations. Although I genuinely enjoy talking to people about Big Ideas, Wicked Problems, and the things that are meaningful in their lives I tend to be reticent and unable to ask questions that could be personal, out of fear of offending someone. This was well managed by the question prompts.

What impacted you the least? I was disappointed I didn’t get to try the delicious-looking vegetables I (gladly!) left for the non-meat/non-dairy eating folks to sample first.

What about this event struck you as spiritual and/or carried spiritual significance for you? As I noted above, I really enjoyed the conversations prompted by the questions we were given.

What new or next thing, if anything, did this experience inspire you to do/be/or try in the future? I realized through the dinner conversation that I have not taken much time these days for contemplation and prayer. It is easy for anyone to crowd out room for this sort of practice, and I need to carve out a bit more time for that.

Name: Evan Hearn
Age: 25
Relationship to the Collective: Young Adult Advisor

Describe the event in three sentences or less: Local congregation leaders, the leadership of the 787 Collective, and Young Adult Advisors came together for an evening. We broke bread, mingled, and listened as the congregation leaders shared their proposals for projects meant to improve their churches’ relationship with young adults in their communities.

What did you notice during or about this event? I noticed an incredible diversity among those in attendance. Men and women of different ages, races, and backgrounds found a common denominator in their calling to serve their communities. This shared calling was more powerful than these minor differences, and everyone had a smile and was open to conversation.

What impacted you the most? What particularly interested me was the diversity not just of those attending the event, but also of the project proposals that were shared. Each leadership team had clearly spent time soul-searching: they had reflected on their church’s relationship with young adults in the community, they had thought about how best to reach out to these young adults, and they had formulated clear means of doing so. Whether it was the organization of dinners with young adults – with the appropriately millennial name of “Sup” –, the invitation to participate in a day of silence and meditation, the plan to offer help with real-world skills to marginalized communities, or any other of the dozen proposals shared throughout the evening, each leadership team had something to offer which was appropriate for their community.

What about this event struck you as spiritual and/or carried spiritual significance for you? It’d be hard to say what didn’t strike me as spiritually significant about this event. To see such a diverse group of people coming together with such well thought out proposals, in a shared mission of spreading a message of unity, hope, and progress, was profoundly impactful. There is something inherently spiritual about a group of people coming together for a good cause, and this evening was a perfect example.

What new or next thing, if anything, did this experience inspire you to do/be/or try in the future? It’s always inspiring to see passionate people work towards a goal: for me, this event inspired me to try and be more creative with my own work, and to think about how I can reach out to others in different ways.

If you want to find out more about how the “In Our Words” series got started, click here.

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