Judy Mallory-Warkworth Ont
Somewhere in their middle decades, most people experience a time of radical re – evaluation of their lives, which often leads to significant change—the so – called mid – life crisis. They feel a need to develop those facets of their lives they have previously ignored. They raise many questions that often go unanswered. And that, I believe, makes it a time of opportunity for the church.
The oldest members of the Boomer generation have been through this time of re – evaluation; the youngest are in it or are approaching it. In the past, this generation left the church in great numbers. And although the reasons for those departures are many and complicated, the result is that they have largely gone through life without the hope, comfort and encouragement the gospel provides.
Seniors are in a position to reach Boomers effectively—more effectively, in fact, than they can reach the younger generations. Time and again I have heard people say we need to work at bringing young people into the church. Well, we certainly need to take good care of the teens and young adults who are part of our congregations. But we are kidding ourselves if we think that a church composed largely of seniors is going to be able to make itself attractive to unchurched youth who are two or three generations younger! Boomers, on the other hand, are the children of those seniors, and we have a chance to reach out to the next younger generation and their friends.
This is not a plea for a national program to turn seniors into evangelists. But I believe we can only minister effectively if we first face some questions: Do we really believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ makes a difference in our lives? Does the message that God loves us unconditionally really touch us deeply? Do we seek to open our hearts so that we are ready to receive God’s love and reflect it in our lives? Do we really love our children and their friends? Do we care about their spiritual welfare? Do we tell them how God’s love makes a difference in our lives?
Unless a ministry to Boomers flows out of love for God and love for them, it will fail. Otherwise, they will rightly see our efforts as self – serving attempts to keep our institutions going.
A major part of our problem is that we have taken to an extreme the words of St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel always; when necessary, use words.” In my experience, it is hard to find a Presbyterian church where people are comfortable talking about God’s love and how it affects their lives. St. Francis lived in a different world than we do! How do we expect people who have little or no memory of Christianity to interpret our lives in Christian terms? If we are to reach out to the Boomers with the gospel, we will have to begin speaking clearly about the place God has in our lives. That involves a major change in Presbyterian culture.
We must develop ways to encourage people to speak more freely, and to make ministry to Boomers a priority. Here is a golden opportunity on our doorstep. Our children and their friends are a mission field that is ripe. The question is whether we are willing to make the effort to reach them with Good News that can change their lives for the better.
