Thursday, March 1, 2007

The importance of youth ministry

Sing it! [All that's green PDF]

Taizé restored my faith and Christian identity. I grew up a spirit filled youth, but lost my faith in early adulthood. The anti-intellectual stance of my church background was at odds with my growing intellectual awareness. Honest questions were construed as doubts, doubts as rejecting faith, rejecting of faith as sin. In the end I had to choose between faith and honesty, even sanity.

This was a choice that no sincere youth should have to make. And ministers within my denomination were not competent to help me see other alternatives.

So I became a reluctant atheist. I wanted to believe, but I could not. I experienced this loss of faith as bereavement and lasting grief. It took me about a decade to work through this crisis.

The close of this decade came as my wife and I decided to start a twice-monthly Taizé prayer service at our "do-it-yourself" Unitarian Universalist congregation. Music had always remained a way for me to connect with some vestiges of faith. There was enough that we ventured into exploring Taizé music and prayer. The experience of leading these services for three years had stripped away years of confusion and pain. I began to reconnect with the simplicity of the gospel. I came as a child and found rest sitting in God's presence with Christ.

It was not about resolving academic debates, eliminating doubts, finding new twists on doctrine, cleaning up my own life, or any such contortion or effort on my part.

Rather the answer is simply in the presence of God. Christ makes an opening in our hearts and the Spirit enables us to trust.

After a few years of leading this little Taizé group, my prayer life became more contemplative. I used to watch single votive candles as they melted night after night. Through their ebbing away they were becoming entirely transformed into light. There emerged within me new songs, new little contemplative songs.

In time I began sharing these songs with my Taizé group. "All that's green" reflected my awakening and was one of the first I shared.


All that's green will sing for you, alleluia!
And my heart will echo true, alleluia!

Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia!

I continue to write and share these songs as the Spirit. My latest venture is to share them in my blog, AfterMyOwnHeart.blogspot.com. My hope is that these songs will be a welcomed--and free--resource to small groups, churches and individuals.

Blessings to all youth ministers who are learning how to share the presence of Christ with young people who really are intelligent and spiritually sensitive.


This post was a response to http://rethinkingyouth.blogspot.com/2007/02/contemplation.html
Please visit this blog by Youth Pastor Brian for views on progressive youth ministry.

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