Young Adults and the UCC

Lately I've been hearing a lot of rumblings through the church about how studies show the values of young adults align with the "values" of the United Church of Christ, and how this will help us turn the tide on the decline of the denomination.

I have served in a variety of leadership roles in every setting of the UCC. I have been a member/employee of congregations that were Congregational, Evangelical Synod, post-merger, and ecumenical. They variously have been conservative, moderate, liberal, and progressive. One of these congregations is one of the largest churches in the denomination, another is one of the smallest, another has left the UCC altogether. It is from this perspective as a young adult leader that I write.

There are inherent problems with using the argument that the United Church of Christ's values matching with those of young adults will save the denomination.

The first is that, to paraphrase another young church leader, young adults are not the savior of the United Church of Christ, Jesus Christ is. He is the sole head of the church and the sole savior of the church.

Another problem is who declares what the values of the United Church of Christ. What is the source of these values--scripture, tradition, history, the Statement of Faith, the Constitution, General Synod, the Collegium, progressive Christianity, the Democratic Party? The fact is, we have no declared set of values--and what is valued in each setting is different.

But the core problem with this argument is that by and large, even when young adults somehow learn that their values are a match with the United Church of Christ generally, there is no place for them in most congregations. Most of our established congregations don't know what to do with people between the ages of 18 and 40. And too often the solution is to send those young people to assist in the nursery or Sunday School--after all, if a church has small children the kids are closer in age to the young adults than most others. While I greatly appreciate what tends to be equated as traditional worship, it has ceased to speak to the lives of many young people. Few congregations provide support for campus ministries, but young adults who do not attend college are completely forgotten. The support that young adult clergy and seminarians receive from the denomination is paltry at best, not to mention their treatment by older colleagues. But lay young adults receive little to no support for their own leadership development.

How to address all these things? I think it's key for leaders of our parents and grandparents' generation to think about why their children have left the church. If they had valid reasons, why do they expect other people's children to take their place? Also key is to ask why even those who were vital youth and young adult leaders have left the church. I know too many people who have served and serve on national boards and committees, but have ceased attending any church. This is no judgment on those people--but for the churches which have rejected their leadership and not even attempted to be relevant.

It's time to stop hemming and hawing about why the UCC is in decline--mainline families don't have as many children, we've lost people because of our brave justice stands. Yes, that's true--but it's a small piece. At the center is that somehow people of all ages, but particularly young adults have not felt their spiritual needs met in our congregations.

It's time to face facts--if things don't radically change in the next ten years there will be a major leadership crisis in the denomination. There are simply not enough young clergy and laity to serve our 5,000+ congregations, many of which are on the verge of closure. For too long we have relied on second-career clergy (not to disparage their service), which has helped delay the coming crisis--but their retirement will come and in many places there will be too few people to carry on their mantle. The denomination must become serious about recruiting young adults into the ministry and life of our church.

This all comes from someone who deeply loves the United Church of Christ. Yes, we are flawed. But I also find great hope in our tradition, and do believe if we have the courage to transform into an anti-ageist church our future will be a glorious one.

Geoffrey Black said in a recent interview he was hopeful about the UCC's future because of young adult leadership, and the we will be fine if we 'play our cards right.' So how can the United Church of Christ play its cards right?