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one of my favorite nights with the parish youngish adult group i facilitated in 2017-18 was when, after our normal meal and extended check-in, i opened the floor to questions - about church, the bible, christianity, the prayer book and liturgy, theology, whatever. /
no question was too basic or too weird. i had prepped the group to come with questions, and i had a pen and paper to write them all down for future use. i had hoped to get a list of topics for future sessions - we could spend each night on one or two questions for a while. /
what i didn't expect was how much of a formative group experience sharing and unloading these questions was. there was so much shame and fear locked into these issues. just making the space to ask the questions was hugely pastoral, and the group energy thrived from it. /
the fact that everyone in the room had things they were uncertain about, that shook their faith, that they were scared to admit they believed or questioned - was hugely affirming. and most of the questions, it turned out, were shared by others in the room. community! /
and the questions were great!! i'll list some after this tweet, but i wanted to share this story because it's one of those ministry moments where the holy spirit really showed her stuff and made something big and holy out of an idea i first thought too low-effort to work. /end
ok some questions from the list:
How do we cultivate hope in an otherwise despair-inducing world?
What are we doing when we pray? What do we expect from prayer?
Genesis - did God set us up for failure?
(follow-up to Genesis question) Why are we still failing if we have Jesus?
How do we cultivate hope in an otherwise despair-inducing world?
What are we doing when we pray? What do we expect from prayer?
Genesis - did God set us up for failure?
(follow-up to Genesis question) Why are we still failing if we have Jesus?
Does God want us to suffer?
Why doesn't salvation save us from ourselves?
Where did our images of God come from?
What is the good news? What does spreading the good news mean?
What do we do with the bible?
What do we do with the bad parts of the bible?
Why doesn't salvation save us from ourselves?
Where did our images of God come from?
What is the good news? What does spreading the good news mean?
What do we do with the bible?
What do we do with the bad parts of the bible?
If Christianity is so great, why are so many Christians not? And what should we do about it? What is our responsibility?
What's up with the trinity? How is it conceptualized? When did it become a thing? Is it still a thing?
What's preaching good for?
What's up with Job????
What's up with the trinity? How is it conceptualized? When did it become a thing? Is it still a thing?
What's preaching good for?
What's up with Job????
What's up with Abraham and Isaac????
Cults - when did Christianity stop being a cult? What makes something a cult or religion?
Curious about mystical aspects of faith - they seem unneccessarily complicated?
The apocrypha? What is it?
Cults - when did Christianity stop being a cult? What makes something a cult or religion?
Curious about mystical aspects of faith - they seem unneccessarily complicated?
The apocrypha? What is it?
Secularism and faith? how do we navigate that? How do I not sound like person in a tin hat when I talk about faith?
Saints? Stories of early saints - why are they so horrible?
Difference between artistic license and what really happened? Where is the allegory/truth?
Saints? Stories of early saints - why are they so horrible?
Difference between artistic license and what really happened? Where is the allegory/truth?
What do I read? Do I read it at all? What do I read alongside?
What are sacraments + their meaning in the Episcopal Church?
Modern monastic religious orders? Intentional community? Intentional religious communities? What do they look like in the modern world. Do they work? How?
What are sacraments + their meaning in the Episcopal Church?
Modern monastic religious orders? Intentional community? Intentional religious communities? What do they look like in the modern world. Do they work? How?
What is actually in the Lord's prayer? What does it actually mean?
Modern Christian ideas of the bible vs historical reality: how are our images of the story different from their realities? What did it really look like? (ex. Christmas)
What does it mean to live as a witness?
Modern Christian ideas of the bible vs historical reality: how are our images of the story different from their realities? What did it really look like? (ex. Christmas)
What does it mean to live as a witness?
anyway, i'm sharing these because i hope they resonate with some of y'all, and also because sometimes the discourse on here gets so abstracted from the actual questions and hopes and fears i've encountered in parish young adult ministry that i figure they're worth sharing <3
