Nostalgia is Not Enough

Re Want Young People in Your Church?, November

Please accept my compliments on the superb issue on the Presbyterian Young People’s Society. For anyone who went through equivalent Christian organizations, it brought back memories.

Mine began at a YMCA camp near Orillia, Ont. Established by the legendary Stu Watson, aka “Mr. Y,” it was run on a shoestring budget, which enabled my parents to send my brother and me for two weeks for only $100. It was the best investment they ever made.

The camp was run by teenagers under the minimal guidance of Stu. They took us down railway lines, through the woods, down rivers and lakes, taught us how to make and break camp and not least of all, opened us to the power of ghost stories and legends to haunt our imaginations.

While I was attending university, the Christian community was active, high-spirited and dedicated to having a good time in the name of the Lord. It was a blast—full of humorous, good-natured and wonderfully turned out young men and women on the threshold of life. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
Unfortunately, by the time I began my studies for the ministry, the demographics had changed and very few teenagers were willing to get involved. In my first charge, the youth group disbanded. Plus the attitude of the church was changing.

No longer were young people appreciated. They were noisy, spilling and damaging stuff and weren’t considered reliable. It was easier to go with the flow rather than fight a losing battle to have them around.

This was brought home when in one congregation the Sunday school wanted to hold a picnic on a Sunday. They were turned down by the session for “violating the Sabbath.” When I protested, I was shot down in flames.
Much later I successfully convinced a presbytery to subsidize a dozen youth from our congregation to go to the big summer Presbyterian youth gathering in the United States. The only condition was that they report back. None of them did, which left a sour taste.

In my last congregation, the Sunday school died when the young people grew up and moved on to other activities—and no one really noticed; life was happy the way things were. So while the Record article was nostalgic, it was a reminder that we who were young are young no more and we have nothing but our memories to console us.

In response, I have undertaken youth ministry outside the walls of the church. I’m an apprentice minor hockey and soccer referee and a liftee at the ski hill, places where there are young people and young families. I have no idea what influence I’m having but that’s not the point. I look back and deeply appreciate all the things the church and older people did for me to mould the person I became.