i see the generation gap in resistance to change most clearly seen in my congregation, and i'm sure in others, in the following ways:
(in no particular order)
-with the children.
cries of "we love the children, we want the children to come, we need the children to come!" are quickly replaced with, "why do they run around? why don't they sit still? did you see that mom just let her kid have a tantrum? did you see that dad let his kid run back and forth from the front to the back? why aren't they quiet, don't they know that they're supposed to be quiet in church?"
-with worship style.
i get that worship traditionally has a flow and a certain order. i get that. i totally do. i understand tradition and honoring the past and the way things were always done. but, i also want to try new things, try to find god in new ways, get up and get moving, appeal to everyones senses, appeal to all ages. i get that we are sometimes asking you to move out of your comfort zone...but just go with it. give it a try. humour us. smile anyways. "why do they have to move everything around every week?!?" is frequently heard grumbled.
-with volunteering for new things/having ownership over a particular area.
we have so much potential and so many good ideas for new and wonderful and faith filled 'things'...but so few people to do it all. & there are so many people that do nothing or do the same old things they've always done. there is also the people who are not open to sharing jobs. it's theirs and they've always done it. (wow, that sounds all complainy)
-with being hesitant to just jump in
so many people wait to be asked. so many people wait to be begged. so many people are scared. so many people are stuck looking at only their nose. so many people are used to others taking care of things or looking after everythiung and assume that everything is still being taken care of. so many people just assume it's being taken care of or their help isn't needed.
with all this resistance and negativity and complaining going on the question still remains, "how do churches give people that feeling of belonging right away?" quite frankly i don't think we do...yet.
i can't even imagine how a new family would feel if they came to my church and the following happened:
--their son was crying or he crawled under the pews.
--and they prayed with their hands held high or they clapped during a hymn
--and they saw someone struggling to carry the coffee pots and cups to the coffee station and offered to help and got told no it wasn't their job
--and they came up for communion before it was 'time' or asked for a prayer to be said during announcements.
i can imagine the looks and the whispers that would ensue. i don't think i'd come back.
and so we are back to the question, "how do churches give people that feeling of belonging right away?" i still don't know.
