I gave a presentation today at my church on the differences in the generations and the way they view church and spirituality. I'm pleased enough with my part, but I found that people weren't really receptive to talking about it. That's too bad. I find it heartbreaking that the older generation isn't very willing to talk about the issues that are important to mine. They are really set in a mindset of "Well, this is how we always did it, so it should be good enough for you too". And that just isn't working. People aren't going to put up with that.
However, after my talk, one older man talked to me about what he thought was "revolutionary", and I've been screaming about for years. :) He thinks we should amalgamate two of the area churches, not in a congregational sense, but in a shared use sense. He says that we should have our services at their church, and convert our church into an outreach centre for the homeless that both of our congregations could run together. BRILLIANT. And of course, I say that because it's something I've been going on about since I started there. There's a giant hall that is standing heated and empty 90% of the time. There is simply no legitimate excuse for saying this can't be used by the area's homeless. Of course, we'd have to organize security and all that, but so what? We're supposedly Christians, aren't we? Are we not specifically called by God to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless? I also think a women's shelter might be an option, as there are none in the area. One has to go downtown for that kind of help. But that would entail even more security, I think. And as I said, we are a congregation of aging people, by and large. But the man I was talking to thinks it would mobilize the younger people in the area, and I suspect that he's right.
