Not Your Folks' Faith
The rebound from secularity to spirituality continues in America as young adults seek out Christian orthodoxy and integrated lives of faith in contrast to their more secularly-minded Boomer parents.
What are the watchwords of this quest? Authenticity, integrity, art, culture, and especially community.
"Josh Butler, 27, had a similar experience. He grew up in Salem-Keizer, Ore., with a mom who took him to a church now and then and a dad who wasn't much interested in religion.
As a boy, Josh nurtured a fascination for the stories of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Bible. He saw God as vague and distant but still devoted to the outcast.
He tried an evangelical church in high school, but by college he thought the faith 'closed him off' to others who didn't share it and to the culture at large.
These days, he's a graduate student in theology and a pastor of worship and the arts at Imago Dei Community, a 4-year-old Christian group that's grown from a core of 15 to almost 750 believers.
He says he's found a worshipping community that values art, beauty and even uncertainty. They don't agree on every political point but they are committed to living in community, even in tension. His challenge, he says, is to 'live the essence of the Gospel,' realizing that his understanding of it may change over time."
Star-Telegram | 12/11/2004 | Not your folks' faith:
What are the watchwords of this quest? Authenticity, integrity, art, culture, and especially community.
"Josh Butler, 27, had a similar experience. He grew up in Salem-Keizer, Ore., with a mom who took him to a church now and then and a dad who wasn't much interested in religion.
As a boy, Josh nurtured a fascination for the stories of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Bible. He saw God as vague and distant but still devoted to the outcast.
He tried an evangelical church in high school, but by college he thought the faith 'closed him off' to others who didn't share it and to the culture at large.
These days, he's a graduate student in theology and a pastor of worship and the arts at Imago Dei Community, a 4-year-old Christian group that's grown from a core of 15 to almost 750 believers.
He says he's found a worshipping community that values art, beauty and even uncertainty. They don't agree on every political point but they are committed to living in community, even in tension. His challenge, he says, is to 'live the essence of the Gospel,' realizing that his understanding of it may change over time."
Star-Telegram | 12/11/2004 | Not your folks' faith:
posted by saument @ 3:58 PM
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