Something I’ve been thinking about since my Zoom last week with the Presiding Bishop and my fellow FFL scholars:

Church folks are always saying they want to get young people in their churches to stay. Bishop Eaton said her response is always, “Why?”

Do you want children, youth, and families in your church as a means to an end?
Or because “they are the future of the church”?
Or as a way to ensure your church keeps on after you?
Or to bring in fresh energy to your congregation?
What is your reason for wanting them?

The troubling thing is most of the answers people give to the “Why?” are terrible. They want children, youth, and families, because they actually want something else that they think having younger people will get them. Or they want them as a status marker.

So few people are thinking about children, youth, and families because they want to serve those people with the love and grace of God found in Jesus Christ. So few are thinking about how the kingdom belongs to “such as these,” and so we have much to learn from them. And so forth.

Bishop Eaton’s point after saying this was (to paraphrase): If you want to serve young people, then the question is not “How can we get them in?” but rather “How can we serve them?” This will require creative ways of doing ministry focused on young people.

Anywho, Eaton is a wonderful person—very humble, very down to earth.