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United Methodist young people greet delegates to the 2008 United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, following the first-ever Young People's Address to the conference. From left are: Matt Lockett, Becca Farnum, Andrew Craig, Kira Volkova, Jason Rathod and the Rev. Annie Arnoldy.
Image by:Mike DuBose
Source: GBGM Press Releases
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Fort Worth, TX, April 24, 2008 -- Youth urged the church to risk being a community that hears and responds to God, each other, and the needs of a hurting world in the first Young People's Address to General Conference of The United Methodist Church this morning in Fort Worth, Texas. "Many Voices, One Call" was the theme of the young people's multimedia, multilingual presentation. Singing and drumming were interspersed with life stories and youth concerns from speakers Rebecca "Becca" Farnum, 17, of Michigan; Matt Lockett, 20, of Washington; Jason Rathod, 23, of Nebraska; Kira Volkova, 24, a pastor in Russia; and Andrew Craig, 15, and the Rev. Anne Rigo Arnoldy, 29, both of Colorado.
In a style at times choral, the young people shared personal experiences of transcending divisions that gave General Conference a glimpse into their lives and their efforts to live as Christians in their world. While Ms.Volkova told of Russian teens' struggles to live the faith in a society still acculturated to atheism, where the Orthodox Church is the primary purveyor of Christianity; Ms. Arnoldy told of her warm welcome to an aging downtown church-an experience she was sure other young people could share if invited to similar congregations. Mr. Craig proclaimed young people's concern for the hungry in their local communities and around the globe, and called the church to respond, while Mr. Rathod shared an encounter with his own intolerance toward fundamentalists and their views while on a liberal college campus in the United States.
"I grew up in a small town in the United States, where everyone was assumed to be white, Christian, middle class, heterosexual, and Republican," Mr. Rathod said. "From an early age, I rebelled...I embraced everything liberal from the Social Gospel to soy milk, and quarreled with any conservatives who crossed my path.
"After high school, I fled the conservatism of my home state...to seek refuge in one of the most liberal corners of the United States-Grinnell College. The culture war for some liberals was waged between the religious and the secular, and it often felt like there was no middle ground. As a Christian, I wasn't with them, so I was against them. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that many liberals promoted a fundamentalism and intolerance of their own. Looking introspectively, I recognized that back in Nebraska, I, too, was sometimes self-righteous and condescending, just like those whom I so passionately opposed.
"My personal struggle is part of a larger struggle in our society and our church."
The young people urged the church to transcend differences to serve "a world that needs Jesus."
Ms. Farnum offered General Conference the lesson in Holy Conferencing that youth learned at the United Methodist Global Young People's Convocation and Legislative Assembly, in Johannesburg, South Africa, last year.
"From the start, it was like any other annual conference: agendas, personal platforms, and politics-and then God spoke, and we began listening to each other," Ms. Farnum said.
Rather than focusing on personal agendas, the assembly of young people began discerning God's direction for the Church, the world-and adopted some guidelines for this kind of Holy Conferencing.
"We wanted each individual to have a voice, each perspective to be represented and respected, each understanding of God to be understood," Ms. Farnum said. "We disagreed, but slowly learned to talk
with each other, not over each other. We set an example for the Church: Holy Conferencing is possible and can help to make disciples of Jesus Christ. It worked for the young people in Johannesburg. It can work for those of us gathered here in Fort Worth. Listen to God. Listen to each other. Let God work."
For many young people today, the group said, faith is less about internal beliefs or even mere actions, but interaction.
"I believe that connection with one another is where faith begins," Mr. Lockett said, concluding the address. "So yes, we want to be the future of the church. We want to make a difference in this world. But we aren't willing to wait. We're ready. We're willing. What about you?"
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Yvette Moore is executive secretary for communications for the Women's Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.
Date posted:
Apr 24, 2008
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