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Where Are the Young People?

By Jin S. Kim

July 21, 2011

As a pastor in the mainline church for almost twenty years I have become especially attune to

the winlin! of youn! people in the local church. "he typical American con!re!ation simplyma#es little sense to the post$Boomer !eneration. "hose between the a!es of 20$%0 see thechurch toay as complicit in an co$opte by the ways of the worl, not the way of Jesus of

&a'areth. "hey have little interest in perpetuatin! the institutionalism of the (onstantinian

arran!ement.

(hurch of All &ations, the church that I have the !reat privile!e of servin!, was foune with aemo!raphic of 2)$*) year$ols in 200%, mostly from the Korean American bac#!roun. "hat

we now have every !eneration represente in si'able numbers, an from over 2) nations an

cultures, is somethin! that we truly believe only +o coul have orchestrate. e have !leanesome insi!hts alon! the way about the future of the church in a post$moern conte-t.

unamentally, we nee to as# some har /uestions not merely about the content of our faithafter all, Jesus is the same yesteray, toay an foreverbut about the waywe are

communicatin! our ancient faith in the contemporary worl. nli#e the uran in which Arabicis enshrine as holy writ 3or the 4atin 5ul!ate throu!hout the meieval a!e6, the Bible re/uires

translation in every time an in every place, an the church is the livin! community of believers

that oes the basic wor# of translation, that the worl mi!ht believe. 7ne reason that mostenominations are e-periencin! massive ecline or stallin! in !rowth is that they have lost the

youn!er !enerations. e no lon!er seem able to communicate the !ospel messa!e in a winsome

an compellin! way in this !lobali'e, multicultural an multi$epistemolo!ical a!e.

"he basic problem is that we remain a 8urocentric, white, mile class church wee to a wayof oin! faith that is eeply epenent on 8nli!htenment 9ationalism, whether they be liberal or

conservative churches. "o ta#e the :resbyterian (hurch as an e-ample, it is common #nowle!ethat the :(SA has been eclinin! numerically since 1;

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7ur youn! people on@t buy the meta$narratives of

1. ncritical patriotism an American e-ceptionalism 3my country, ri!ht or wron!6.

2. ne-amine white supremacy, both the nativism of the 9i!ht an the paternalism towar

minorities of the 4eft.

*. nfettere consumerism at the e-pense of !lobal fairness an environmentalsustainability, an enless consumption as a personal copin! mechanism.

%. 9u!!e iniviualism an the subte-t of the American ream, which is essentially Cthe

accumulation of enou!h competence an wealth so as not to be in nee of another human

person for one@s well bein!.D

). (hristian enominational sectarianism, parochialism an triumphalism in the face ofaily encounter with reli!ious pluralism.

"herefore, the local church coul rive !enuine spiritual renewal if it respons evan!elically tothese emer!in! nees

1. 7ur youn! people are searchin! for their vocation. "hey are eucate enou!h for a Eob orcareer in the present orer, but are esperately searchin! for a callin! that inspires.

2. 7ur youn! people hun!er for healthy relationships, to meanin!fully an eeply relate to

another human bein! 3half !rew up in ivorce or sin!le parent homes, an others inysfunctional househols6.

*. 7ur youn! people are see#in! Christian communitythat functions li#e a iverse yet

intimate family as they are pla!ue with loneliness, isolation an alienation.

%. 7ur youn! people are loo#in! for stabilityin a hi!hly mobile worl, and concretenessin an increasin!ly virtual an socially networ#e e-istence.

). 7ur youn! people esire authentic faith. "hey are prone to a!nosticism or even rawatheism as they see little evience of a +o that ma#es a ifference in the reli!ious

institutions of the ay, namely the local church.

I woner if those of us who serve in pastoral an enominational leaership are ourselves the

chief obstacles to !enuine renewal, as our careers are built on the ol orer. hat other voices

must we see# to inclue an en!a!e in orer to fearlessly follow the >oly Spirit into a chan!in!worl=