The place of Mennonite youth and young adults in the Mennonite church

I have heard it said time and time again that Mennonite young people are leaving the Mennonite church for other activities. I have also heard many solutions to this problem, everything from offering similar programs within the church to keeping our church camps open. However, most of these “solutions” are only treating the symptoms; they are not offering real solutions because the “movers and shakers” in the church are not looking at what the problem is. The problem as I, a 22-year-old who is committed to his church, see it is the patronizing attitude of the church toward all its young people.

There is no place for us in the church. Sure we are more than welcome to attend Sunday worship and Sunday school, but that is about as far as our involvement goes for people my age. I think we young people have much more to bring to the table and give the church than is currently the case. I want to call the older generations to give us a seat at the table, and I want youth and young adults to have the courage to take the seat at that table.

We young people of Mennonite Church USA are trapped in certain roles from which we are not given room to deviate. In junior high and high school it feels like we are a separate congregation. Sure, we are not sent off to a separate room like the toddlers and small children during the worship service, but in terms of participation in the service and in the governance of the congregation there is little room for us. Other than doing music or a drama once in a while and filling a seat or two on a few committees, we do not have a voice of our own in the church. We do our own mission trips and fund-raisers, and at the national level we have our own convention and do not have a clue about what the adults are doing, about the decisions being made that affect our church.

During college it is difficult for us to be too involved because of temporary status everywhere we go, never really living anywhere for more than four months. Yet we become more aware of the comings and goings of those in positions of authority in the church. This is especially true for those of us who went or are going to Mennonite institutions of higher education, where countless conferences, meetings and annual assemblies take place. There is a wealth of untapped talent in our young adults, both those who went to college and those who did not.

This talent is untapped because of the high value placed on experience in Mennonite Church USA. The church seems to be run in a businesslike manner in which the one with the most experience gets the job. While there is much to be said for experience, it has its own problems. People with a lot of experience can become set in their ways or cynical. Young people can bring a fresh perspective, youthful energy and optimism that many of the more experienced cannot. We can offer questions and answers that the more experienced may not be able to. Even if the issues we raise or the questions we ask do not get implemented, as John Howard Yoder once noted, it is sometimes enough to question assumed truths.

The young people of Mennonite Church USA cannot sit around waiting for something to happen. We must also be willing to step out and assert ourselves in constructive ways. We must not be too overawed by those with experience, which is easier said than done. Being a Christian is not about doing the easy thing. We must be willing to stand up and say we will not be ignored, that we have much to bring to the table.

Is there any biblical foundation for such a call? There is biblical evidence of the power of young people. In 1 Samuel 2:18 we see young Samuel “ministering before the Lord.” In 1 Samuel 3, the Lord God calls this young boy. Yet it is his mentor Eli who helps him recognize the voice of God and how to respond appropriately. It takes both a youth and an old man to spread the word of God (see 1 Samuel 3:1-4.1a). Later in 1 Samuel we see another youth being chosen by God, David. In 1 Samuel 16, Samuel is sent to Jesse the Bethlemite, for the Lord had “provided … a king among [Jesse’s] sons” (1 Samuel 16:1).

In Jeremiah 1:4-5 the Lord God calls Jeremiah to be a “prophet to the nations,” but Jeremiah protests, saying, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy” (Jeremiah 1:6). However, he is rebuked by the Lord, who tells him not to say that, for Jeremiah will go to whom he is sent by God and will speak whatever he is commanded, for God had “put [God’s] words into [Jeremiah’s] mouth” (Jeremiah 1:7-9). The prophet Joel notes that God “will pour out [God’s] Spirit on all flesh; [Israel’s] sons and … daughters shall prophesy, [Israel’s] old men shall dream dreams, and [Israel’s] young men shall see visions” (Joel 2:28). Peter uses this passage following Pentecost in Acts 2:17.

All these passages have in common that God will move as God wills and through whom God wills. We must all be open to the moving of the Spirit. Older generations must be willing to hear the prophetic and revelatory voice of God in the youth and young adults of the church and must be willing to give us a seat at the table where we can give voice to the word of God. And we young people must move as God so wills and not be afraid, for if we are doing the will of the Lord our God, God will be with us.

What does this look like? To be honest, I am not entirely sure. A good place to start is for the youth and young adults to willingly and constructively engage the older generations, and the older generations need to take seriously what the youth and young adults have to say and the gifts we have to offer.

I’m merely calling us to begin a conversation to find a way to give young adults a reason to remain active in the church. Some say young people are not interested in the church, but this is not true. Many people may be surprised at how many young people want to be more involved in the church, from the Mennonite Historical Committee to MEDA to working with hymns.

My prayer is that we young people are given an opportunity to be more involved in the church and that we young people who are called to be involved have the courage to serve faithfully the church and God.

Justin James King is a member of Zion Mennonite Church, Archbold, Ohio, and a first-year student at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Ind.

Photo by Peter Ringenberg