Voices Of Young Adults :: Listening To Twenty-Somethings Talk About The Church

Voices of Young Adults: Listening to twenty-somethings talk about the Church User Guide

Introduction This DVD was developed in a collaboration of churchwide staff in congregational development and ministries with young people to help congregations and ministries listen to the voices of today’s young adults. The first in a series of video resources, this group of eighteen young adults was drawn from across the USA; some of the participants no longer attend church regularly, others are currently active (and a few are church employees). All of them share a wellspring of affection for the Episcopal Church and were willing to give three days of their lives to share their thoughts and insights with us in the hope that they might inspire creative change. Future resources will focus on non- churchgoing young adults and those in their teenage years.

Ways to use this DVD We have devised several formats that you can adapt to the reality of your ministry setting:  Plan A: a regularly-scheduled congregational forum (30 minutes extendable to 60 minutes)  Plan B: an adult education hour (60 minutes)  Plan C: a vestry/bishop’s committee or other leadership meeting (2 hours)  Plan D: a personal viewing online linked from your ministry website to: www.episcopalchurch.org/youngadults (http://www.episcopalchurch.org/49662_78132_ENG_HTM.htm ) or your DVD on loan. You are welcome to duplicate the DVD without further permission. These plans are not mutually exclusive—we suggest using several of them to reach various audiences.

Supplementary materials We have some materials that can offer additional texture to what you will see on the DVD. They include some “do’s and don’ts” that these young adults want church leaders and members to know, personal and group statements, and excerpts of interview transcripts. These can be displayed on tables around your meeting area. Some of the longer learning formats will make specific use of these resources.

How to prepare for sharing this DVD

 Begin in prayer focusing on those young adults already within your spheres of work, neighborhood, and relationships:

Almighty God, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to reconcile the world to yourself: We praise and bless you for those whom you have sent in the power of the Spirit to preach the Gospel to all nations. We thank you that in all parts of the earth a community of love has been gathered together by their prayers and labors, and that in every place your servants call upon your Name; for the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours for ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer 1979, p. 838)

1  View the video in its entirety, pausing to respond to the questions at the end of each session—you’ll also want to be familiar with how your DVD functions for pauses between segments

 Read all of the supplementary materials and review the questions (you may be composing some of your own)

 Engage other key leaders to preview this material before a general viewing

What you’ll need (same for all group viewing plans)  DVD player and television or projector (larger is always better)  Copies of “do’s and don’ts” for each participant; single printout of other materials for display and sharing (Optional: copies of Young Adults: A Spiritual Typology http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/GW_SpiritualTypology.pdf)  Flipchart, markers, and masking tape  Paper and pens for each participant

What if there are young adults attending the session? It’s important that young adult participants in your session don’t feel that they’re put on the spot to represent all young adult voices in the church and world, but on the other hand, their voices should not be dismissed. We suggest treating young adult participants in the same way as other participants in the session.

What can we do after viewing the DVD? We hope that viewing this DVD will generate creative energy in your congregation to follow up in reaching young adults and bring to the surface some volunteers who may not yet have presented themselves. There is an extensive young adult ministry network across the church with over 80 dioceses active in advocacy, relationship-building, and resourcing for young adult ministry. Visit www.episcopalchurch.org/youngadults for more resources, events, and connections to grow your ministry. There you can read about what the network is doing, contact members of the Young Adult Network Coordinating Committee, and sign up for a churchwide e-mail list serving young adults and those who minister with them. Contact Luke Fodor at [email protected] for contact information for your diocese. Most importantly, consider this DVD an entryway into discovering opportunities to interact with young adults, not only when they come through the doorway of the congregation, but in our daily environments.

Feedback We encourage comments on your experience (especially indicating ways that you will follow up) and suggestions to others on how to use this DVD. Please send your feedback to [email protected]. We will post comments on our website.

2 Plan A (30 minutes) This is probably the least ideal format in that the video should be viewed in its entirety, but conforms to the educational pattern in many congregational settings. This involves viewing only the first chapter of the DVD (9 minutes) with a brief discussion and invitation to continue watching either past the 30 minutes or online.  Write the questions on the flipchart in large print—these are displayed on the screen before and after the segment as well. 1. How are you hearing the church being described by these young adults? 2. What are the positive and negative experiences of “church” in the lives of these young adults?  Welcome the participants and distribute papers and pens to each  Open the gathering with a prayer (the one from the prayer book above, or one of your own choosing)  Introduce the video with two options: o If you are able to stay on past the 30 minutes for our congregational forum, we will continue and show the other two video segments o If you don’t have time to stay on, you can view the video online at www.episcopalchurch.org/youngadults o Share some personal witness based on your previewing the DVD without quoting anything specifically o Ask the participants to jot down any thoughts related to the questions as they listen to and watch the DVD  At the end of the segment, pause the DVD with the questions displayed, and give a few minutes for participants to answer the two questions in writing silently (this allows introverted persons to gather their thoughts)  Solicit responses from participants and record  Some further questions for large group conversation (you may wish to devise your own here): o Who are some young adults who cross your path in your daily environment? o How do you relate with them? o In what ways could you (as an individual) demonstrate that God is interested in their lives? o How does our congregation currently welcome young adults? o In what practical ways could we could we be more present to young adults?  Distribute the “do’s and don’ts” list (explain that the numerical list indicates some ties in the participants’ ranking). o What in the list most surprised you? o What in the list most affirmed your experience of church?  Solicit ideas for next steps o How does viewing this DVD encourage us to do something to reach young adults? o Who is willing to step forward to help us to follow up? o Record for reporting to the rest of the congregation  Encourage any who are able to view the remaining segments

3  Encourage those who must leave to view the remaining segments online. If you don’t have time to stay on, you can view the video online at www.episcopalchurch.org/youngadults  Optional: Continue process as indicated in Plan B  Optional: Distribute Young Adults: A Spiritual Typology (from Groundwork) as a take-home resource: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/GW_SpiritualTypology.pdf This includes a list of questions to ask young adults especially when older adults wonder what to say  Optional: Encourage participants to scan the display of individual statements and transcripts to dig deeper into personal stories of faith and hope

Plan B (60 minutes) This is similar to Plan A but assumes that participants are planning to stay for a full hour, suitable for a regularly-scheduled education hour, or a special-event forum.  Beforehand: Write the questions for each segment on the flipchart in large print —these are displayed on the screen before and after the segment as well. 1. How are you hearing the church being described by these young adults? 2. What are the positive and negative experiences of “church” in the lives of these young adults? 1. What would be the best questions to ask to achieve a fuller/deeper engagement with young adults? 2. Of the comments expressed, which most surprised you? Which were the most difficult to hear? 1. What hopes and dreams did you hear from the participants? 2. What most resonated with you personally?  Welcome the participants and distribute papers and pens to each  Open the gathering with a prayer (the one from the prayer book above, or one of your own choosing)  Introduce the video: o Share some personal witness based on your previewing the DVD without quoting anything specifically o Ask the participants to jot down any thoughts related to the questions as they listen to and watch the DVD  Solicit ideas for next steps o How does viewing this DVD encourage us to do something to reach young adults? o Who is willing to step forward to help us to follow up? o Record for reporting to the rest of the congregation  At the end of the first segment, pause the DVD with the questions displayed, and give a few minutes for participants to answer the two questions in writing silently (this allows introverted persons to gather their thoughts)  Solicit responses from participants and record  Flip the chart to the second set of questions  Play the second segment

4  At the end of the second segment, pause the DVD with the questions displayed, and give a few minutes for participants to answer the two questions in writing silently  Solicit responses from participants and record  Distribute the “do’s and don’ts” list (explain that the numerical list indicates some ties in the participants’ ranking). o What in the list most surprised you? o What in the list most affirmed your experience of church?  Flip the chart to the third set of questions  Play the third segment  At the end of the third segment, give a few minutes for participants to answer the two questions in writing silently  Solicit responses from participants and record  Some further questions for large group conversation (you may wish to devise your own here): o Who are some young adults who cross your path in your daily environment? o How do you relate with them? o In what ways could you (as an individual) demonstrate that God is interested in their lives? o How does our congregation currently welcome young adults? o In what practical ways could we could we be more present to young adults?  Solicit ideas for next steps o How does viewing this DVD encourage us to do something to reach young adults? o Who is willing to step forward to help us to follow up? o Record for reporting to the rest of the congregation  Optional: Distribute Young Adults: A Spiritual Typology (from Groundwork) as a take-home resource: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/GW_SpiritualTypology.pdf This includes a list of questions to ask young adults especially when older adults wonder what to say  Optional: Encourage participants to scan the display of individual statements and transcripts to dig deeper into personal stories of faith and hope

5 Plan C (2 hours) This plan is suitable for a vestry/bishop’s committee or other leadership meeting with sufficient time for leadership to dig deeper and make concrete plans to follow up.

 Beforehand: Write the questions for each segment on the flipchart in large print —these are displayed on the screen before and after the segment as well. 1. How are you hearing the church being described by these young adults? 2. What are the positive and negative experiences of “church” in the lives of these young adults? 1. What would be the best questions to ask to achieve a fuller/deeper engagement with young adults? 2. Of the comments expressed, which most surprised you? Which were the most difficult to hear? 1. What hopes and dreams did you hear from the participants? 2. What most resonated with you personally?  Welcome the participants and distribute papers and pens to each  Open the gathering with a prayer (the one from the prayer book above, or one of your own choosing)  Introduce the video: o Share some personal witness based on your previewing the DVD without quoting anything specifically o Ask the participants to jot down any thoughts related to the questions as they listen to and watch the DVD  Solicit ideas for next steps o How does viewing this DVD encourage us to do something to reach young adults? o Who is willing to step forward to help us to follow up? o Record for reporting to the rest of the congregation  At the end of the first segment, pause the DVD with the questions displayed, and give a few minutes for participants to answer the two questions in writing silently (this allows introverted persons to gather their thoughts)  Solicit responses from participants and record  Flip the chart to the second set of questions  Play the second segment  At the end of the second segment, pause the DVD with the questions displayed, and give a few minutes for participants to answer the two questions in writing silently  Solicit responses from participants and record  Distribute the “do’s and don’ts” list (explain that the numerical list indicates some ties in the participants’ ranking). o What in the list most surprised you? o What in the list most affirmed your experience of church?  Flip the chart to the third set of questions  Play the third segment  At the end of the third segment, give a few minutes for participants to answer the two questions in writing silently  Solicit responses from participants and record 6  Invite participants to scan the individual and group statements silently, choose a person or group they want to know more about, and study the text for a few minutes for sharing  Ask participants to highlight a most-inspiring quote to share with the group and record o How do these quotes further illuminate our conversation? o How do these quotes reflect or conflict with our perception of young adults whom we encounter on a regular basis?  Some further questions for large group conversation (you may wish to devise your own here): o Who are some young adults who cross your path in your daily environment? o How do you relate with them? o In what ways could you (as an individual) demonstrate that God is interested in their lives? o How does our congregation currently welcome young adults? o In what practical ways could we could we be more present to young adults?  Distribute Young Adults: A Spiritual Typology (from Groundwork) http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/GW_SpiritualTypology.pdf This includes a list of questions to ask young adults especially when older adults wonder what to say o Review the four spiritual types together and draw a theoretical pie chart on flipchart paper indicating the four spiritual types—ask the group to “map” their collective environment beyond the congregation. This is intended to be a descriptive, not prescriptive exercise. o On another flipchart sheet, draw a theoretical pie chart indicating the four spiritual types within the congregation. This is intended only as a basis for conversation and exploration.  Solicit ideas for next steps o How does viewing this DVD encourage us to do something to reach young adults? o Who is willing to step forward to help us to follow up? o Who should we recruit to help us? o How will we share this with the rest of the congregation?

Plan D If you have participants who are unable to attend your session or have to leave early, they can view the video online at www.episcopalchurch.org/youngadults or view the DVD individually. You are welcome to duplicate the DVD without further permission.