By Beth Carroll, Assistant Pastor of Discipleship
Over the past months, I have been discerning whether God is calling me to the Associate Pastor position at Hope Church. My discernment has taken shape in three threads: 1) What is the big-picture work to which God is calling me? 2) Does that calling intersect with the Associate Pastor position at Hope Church? 3) How does my calling shape priorities in this position in the next 5 to 10 years?
1) What is the big-picture work to which God is calling me?
God has given me passion and empathy for justice and for those who feel like outsiders in the church. Even as a little girl, I noticed those around me who were not being treated fairly, and I was not shy in confronting bullies or sticking up for kids I thought were treated unfairly by their peers, teachers, or others in authority. While I hope that over time my assertiveness has been tempered by a maturity in understanding that bullies are usually bullying victims, too, my passion for advocating and mentoring outsiders has not waned.
This calling has intersected with my current work as Assistant Pastor. I desire strongly to knit our youth more intentionally into our greater church life. Current generations of youth and young adults have become increasingly more isolated from broader church life, and have not valued, therefore, the communal church experience. We need to create opportunities for them to see that faith is not just a relationship between the self and God. Faith is a living organism that enmeshes one’s talents, passions, and identities with God’s work in the church, as well as in community. This sustains and nourishes the faith of older generations and younger alike. We are created to need each other.
This philosophy has informed my work to connect youth to older adults at Hope Church. I educate and remind ministry teams and committees to consider including youth in their planning and activities. I educate youth about how their passions for justice connect to the way of Jesus, and that Hope Church is a place that especially values this connection. I model community engagement for them, supporting their priorities by attending their events and activist groups, and we spend intentional time discovering how the priorities and narratives in God’s word guide our passions.
I also care deeply for the individual youths at our church. I desire our times together to be places where not only do all youth feel welcome, but that we also practice to be welcoming of others. The desire to feel welcomed is a natural part of being human and learning to be welcoming needs to be cultivated in us all.
The other way my calling connects to my current work is with young adults, particularly those who are college aged. The young people with whom I typically work are those who have been hurt by the church, be it because they are LGBTQIA, have had questions about faith that were not nurtured in their childhood church experiences, have mental health obstacles, or have not experienced church as being a place that prioritizes social justice work. It is an absolute privilege as a pastor to be part of their healing. I try to teach and be an expression of God’s unwavering love for them.
2) Does that calling intersect with the Associate Pastor position at Hope Church?
Yes. It has taken me the past three years to find clarity, especially since the young adult aspect of my role had been only loosely defined in terms of specific daily tasks. The more connection I have had to this church community, especially to the youth and their families, the more I have seen how naturally my gifts and calling fit this context. As our church continues to respond to the evolving religious landscape of our culture, I feel enlivened. The challenge of prioritizing both the current and future needs of youth and young adults, while discerning what makes our church uniquely relevant in meeting those needs, is an exciting opportunity for Hope Church. I would love to be a part of this discovery process.
3) How does my calling shape priorities for the Associate Pastor position in the next 5 to 10 years?
In observing the direction the Western church is moving and the particular expression of that direction here in Holland, Ihave set some goals for youth and young adult ministries at Hope Church. I want youth to have more leadership and participation in our Sunday morning worship. Youth need to see themselves as respected and empowered leaders in our church, so that Hope Church will feel like their church, not just because that’s where they attend on Sundays, but because they feel the church needs them. The pastors, Christian Education, and Consistory have agreed to empower youth who have made profession of faith to be intinction communion servers, in concordance with the polity of the RCA. I have begun speaking to the youth about this and look forward to having individuals serve with me several Sundays a year. The pastors are training youth how to write prayers, sentences, and other liturgical elements and give them permission to think creatively as to how they might become more involved in services.
Another goal is to nurture relationships between older adults and youth. One way to see this happen is by broadening our team of adult youth sponsors. I want more people in our church to feel they know our youth and for our youth to feel they are known by more than the pastors and Children in Worship leaders. I would also like to find ways to bring youth and young adults into ministries and task forces, not just with seats but with voices at the table. Consistory, Discerning our Future, Fellowship, and Worship Ministry are just a few examples of influential places in our church that could benefit from the leadership and creativity of our youth. I would like to see some of our work and hiking trips evolve into partnerships between youth and older adults. Youth work trips, adult mission trips, and the Appalachian Trail trip are fantastic opportunities for youth and adults to share in spiritual formation and the work of Christ together, not just in a youth/chaperone relationship.
A goal of my ministry with young adults is to enfold them into the body of Hope Church in more specific ways. A third church service might assist with this goal. I imagine this service as something liturgical that prioritizes the needs of this demographic and includes those in our existing body as well. Perhaps this service would be at another day or time to facilitate the needs of those who don’t generally function in the 9-to-5, 5-day-work-week world. I imagine this to be intimate and perhaps in our chapel.
I would like this service to be liturgical. However, the expressions of liturgy might better serve this community if they have a say in how it is expressed. We can increase hospitality by explaining liturgy more and teaching its theology. This personalizes the experience of liturgy, revealing just how relevant it is to our daily experiences and our connectedness to community. For the first time, many if not most of the young adults who have grown up in the Protestant church have not been exposed to liturgy or traditional worship, but have known only praise-and-worship style services. Young adults are intrigued by our worship, but intimidated; they may feel they’re “the only one” not understanding what’s happening. They would benefit immensely in having liturgy explained to them, both in subtle but clear ways in the service and in class settings.
There is much more I imagine in the life of our church that builds up our younger and older members alike. I am excited for the future of the American church and Hope Church in particular. Many young people who have left the church have not done so because they have no care for spirituality. Rather, they are hungry for means to connect their passions to spirituality, and for authentic expressions of community. I believe Hope Church is poised to be part of what satiates that hunger. I would be honored to be called to be a part of this exciting season.