Two altars of unhewn stone, a three-wick pillar candle surrounded by hundreds of tea lights, rocking guitars and a sanctuary full of church leaders worshipping God with abandon. These are my memories of the Generation Next conference held by Trinity Community, Oro, Ont., in June.
The conference focused on encouraging and challenging church leaders to make changes in order to minister to the next generation. The statistics show that much of what we do at church — the music we use, the traditional sermon without any visual aid, the use of archaic language — does not connect with "unchurched" people. Generation Next, with its music that sounds like Top 40 radio, bold use of visuals and accessible language, is calling for change.
And the call was exciting. Stephanie Wood, an 18-year-old co-youth pastor at Gilmour Memorial Baptist Church couldn't stop uttering one word as I spoke with her about the conference: "Wow." She went on to say, "the music is awesome. I'm amazed that this conference could be relevant to people 65 and over, [while still being] relevant to me."
It is a call to reach out to a generation that is alienated from God.
It's a call that will require sacrifice — remember those two altars of unhewn stone? They were placed on opposite sides of the platform at the front of the sanctuary. At the beginning of the conference, Carey Nieuwhof, lead pastor at Trinity, explained that one was the altar of sacrifice and the other was the altar of thanksgiving. Trinity as a church has been able to spend considerable time at the altar of thanksgiving as they watch their congregation grow. But they first had to spend considerable time at the altar of sacrifice — giving up the but-we've-always-done-it-that-way mindset, giving up traditional church music, giving up three church buildings and a wealth of history in order to amalgamate into a new congregation and build a new place to worship. Conference attendees were encouraged to write down what they are willing to sacrifice and place it on the altar during the weekend.
During one of his sessions, Reggie Joiner, the executive director of Family Ministry at North Point Community, Alpharetta, Ga., provided a pivotal definition of relevance: using what is cultural to communicate what is timeless. The church has the timeless word of God in scripture. It is pure folly to ignore the opportunity to make God accessible to the next generation by using culture.
Amanda Richards, a 25 year-old member of Knox, Agincourt, Ont., reflected that as a new Christian she thought she had to learn about how things are done in the church. But after attending Generation Next, she changed her mind. "Well, maybe I don't need to learn church culture," she stated. "Maybe I'm to teach people about culture outside of the church."
Change is necessary, change is possible. Change is frightening — but it does not have to be done alone. One of the most impressive images used during the conference was that of a three-wick pillar candle (representing God, the three-in-one) surrounded by hundreds of little tealights (representing churches and believers gathered together in ministry). Nieuwhof used the image to close a panel session in which members of the Generation Next network spoke about the support they received from Trinity and each other as they attempt to implement changes in their own churches. Everyone on that panel said how crucial it was to know that they are not alone.
My heart aches for a world that needs God, but doesn't know how to seek Him. I want to know how to help people discover faith in Jesus Christ. I want to do whatever it takes to communicate the timeless truth of a God who loves us and who is near to us. Generation Next called me back to that passion and helped me figure out that sacrifice doesn't have to be a bad thing — it can lead to thanksgiving.
