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How identity is shaped by religion
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According, to James Smith we are shaped by liturgies. These Habits include family, youth ministry, education, vocation, and work. Smith describes participating in these liturgies may become cultural rather than spiritual. Often individuals participate in activities to obtain a certain appearance. This attitude carries onto work were people put god on the back burner. Attitudes towheads work and vacation become more imperative than salvation. In addition, education along with youth ministry fails to reach full purpose. These to liturgies often appeal to the youth entertainment. Youth ministry originally fulfills worship then when established becomes hang out spots for kids. Additionally, kids are learning biblical truth mixed with American culture
Religious institutions have always been a fundamental piece of American culture, and their influence is evident in many aspects of American life. Especially during the 20th century, the spread of Christianity became more competitive as churches vied against one another to draw in new members. This was particularly evident in the development and growth of conservative Protestant groups. Protestant leaders responded to this competition for followers by developing radically new methods for the worship experience. They used their charisma and entrepreneurial spirit to send their messages to the masses. Protestant leader’s manipulation of these methods of outreach was able to attract many new members to the conservative protestant cause, and encouraged Americans to join these large groups of worship.
...s is a concept which should resonate with the teenage mind. The title of the book is the same title of a movie a few years old, yet he applies it to a plan which was set forth within the early church. To quote Steir, the outbreak, “spreads like an epidemic. It infected the general populace so quickly that no one was safe.” With a few emendations of word choices and phraseology, this is indeed a unique way of viewing and considering how to do youth ministry.
Secondly, the Church can insist on its identity as an inter-generational community. It can do this structurally, by refusing to segment congregations by age, and temperamentally, by recovering a biblical respect for maturity and rejecting popular culture’s infantilism, thereby offering to children a goal of growing up. Popular culture exalts perpetual adolescence.
Spiritual direction is defined as “help that is given to another to enable him to become himself in his faith” (Davis, 266). It is an adolescent religious education model that encourages an ongoing relationship between the mentor and adolescent; involving one-on-one meetings where discussion centers on issues which are affecting the adolescent’s life in hopes to see how God may be present and working in them. Spiritual direction addresses the major concerns in each individual adolescent's life. Through this educational model, adolescents wrestle with relevant spiritual questions which may lead him or her to discern presence of God in his or her life (Davis, 268). Because adolescence is a time in which one desires to find a deeper meaning to one’s life, spiritual direction from the Church and parents is both beneficial and necessary. Adolescents develop the capability to reason and question, thus understanding the Truth in a new spiritual way. It is important for spiritual leaders to walk alongside adolescents to direct them towards the Truth. This development stage opens individuals to new capabilities for addressing a spiritual hunger, making it the prime time for conversion (Davis, 270). With spiritual direction from parents and mentors in the Church, adolescents can discover and create individual identities before God.
In an age when culture continues to lower standards of intellect, Marva Dawn makes compelling observations and suggestions for the Church to rethink its strategy on impacting society. How do we evangelize without weakening the message of what we are communicating? The majority of her text focuses on the worship environment generally, but later she focuses on music, preaching, and liturgy specifically. According to Dawn, a gathering of believers should emphasize God as the subject and object of worship, challenge each individual to grow in godly character, and accentuate the community of believers (not only in the room, but throughout history as well). Through this grid, she encourages leaders and participants to evaluate each worship element.
“The call is something that is an indescribable joy and an indefinable burden at the same time.” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 32). There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a congregation of the redeemed moving forward in their faith. However exciting this may be, it is usually not the thrill that propels the pastor in his service. It is the burden placed on the pastor by God that compels him in his work. The pastor understands that he is largely responsible for the work of God being accomplished by his faithfulness to his calling. “All through the Word of God and down through the annals of history, when God has moved it has almost always been attended by the preaching of the Word.” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 31)
“Evangelicalism as a Social Movement” (Donald Scott, 2000, National humanities center/Queens college) explains the transformation of American Evangelicalism not only as a religious movement but also as a social movement. The sole cause the transformation occurred was because of a deep need in American families for structure and direction in their lives. Which explains the need for changes that accommodated to their ever changing styles of living.
An example of this movement is at the First Baptist Fellowship Church in Pine Bluff, where aggressive steps have been taken to introduce the youth to the teachings of Christianity. Youth pastor Chris Meyer says that in the past seven years the inrolment of the youth has grown from around Fifty to over two hundred as of February 1999. Meyer says “ The membership in our youth program began to explode in such a short time that the church didn’t have a place big enough to hold them.” Of the two hundred or so young people (ages 14-24) 25% of them come from Pine Bluff’s low income black population. Most of the black children came to the church by way of the Light House, a old bakery in the middle of the black majority neighborhoods that the Church set up to counsel people in the poor part of town. Meyer says “ kids began to hang around the ce...
The after effects of Evangelicalism have moved in other directions. Because the Evangelicals were, from the outset, intent on expanding church membership, they managed to define the daily religious life of the United States in a way that no other movement had done before, or has done since. Ever since the Second Great Awakening, the power of Evangelicalism has derived from its practical character -- its ability to distribute its message, to help guide the religious lives of its adherents, to organize its members into cohesive groups. Modern Evangelical preachers follow in their predecessors footsteps by continuing to spread the word of God -- although now they have moved beyond rural camp meetings to take advantage of the power of television.
Usita, L. (2007). Engaging the soul of youth culture: Bridging teen worldview and Christian truth. Journal Of Youth Ministry, 5(2),
The religious fanfare in America is overwhelmingly Christian. There appears to be a major increase of interest in spirituality. However, there is a vast difference in the devoutness of churchgoers in frequency of church attendance. The manner in which these individuals attend church is influenced by their ages and also whether or not they have endured difficult life situations. After attending a few church services, one becomes very aware of the various types of attendees. There are three types of churchgoer categories: the Never- Miss-a-Service Churchgoers, the Show-Up for Sunday Morning Service Churchgoers, and lastly, but certainly not the least, Holiday Churchgoers.
“Families and other social groups tremendously affect how people think, feel, and act, but individuals vary in their susceptibility to a “group think” and groups vary in the amount of pressure they exert for conformity”( thebowencenter.org, p.1). The differentiation of self-concept is based on the views of others. Individuals are thoughts and actions are based on their group’s pressure. In Christianity, groups are used as a way to connect to God and grow closer to the community. Certain churches encourages groups to gather, to communicate and help each other through difficulties. In Christianity, “group think” is integrated as well. Christianity is based on what people express at church, we listen to the pastor and feel similar feelings of
With this in mind, the following will focus on the spiritual formation process within the Christian community. The concept of Christian community stems from the Bible with the perspective of the body of Christ. The body of Christ is compared to the humane body, a whole comprised of numerous parts; each individual part is required and created by God to form a cohesive whole, no matter believer or non-believer or social status (1 Corinthians 12). Similarly, the spiritual community is also comprised of bountiful parts and can be customized to the individual as the formation. Ashbrook appraises the significance of individuals and community, “Our spiritual formation is designed by God to happen in the context of Christian community, the chu...
Of these skills, it is common for youth workers to focus their efforts on the relational tasks—befriending teenagers, building trust. Beyond the fellowship and trust building, there has to be teaching and proclamation of the message of Christ. Effective youth ministers find themselves in teaching situations constantly; in small groups and large, one-to-one with youths, with parent groups and volunteer leader groups, speaking to the entire congregation, and standing before other youth ministers. The skills of effectively communicating to others, leading the learning process, and designing learning experiences are essentials in effective youth
Ultimately, how is youth ministry viewed? What is youth ministry’s societal perception, specifically, as an occupation or a service? A service is defined as “the action of helping or doing work for someone. An occupation is defined as “a job or profession.” However, youth ministry is a service focusing solely on the marrow of loving passionate teenagers, many trying to figure out who they are. Through my interview with First United Methodist Broken Arrow’s Youth Pastor, Paige Gaither, I observed her ministry as a service rather than an occupation because the nucleus of her ministry is people, and working with teenagers is physically draining, yet spiritually and emotionally renewing. Unlike those who obsess over monetary benefits and selfishly sell themselves, Paige selflessly