I remember that twenty years ago I was told that I was the future of the church.  What am I now?

Gary from EPF told us at our first YAP meeting that “if you have “Official Representation” at General Convention you know you are a marginalized group,” citing Integrity, the Union of Black Episcopalians, and EPF’s Young Adult Presence alongside the Young Adult Festival occurring simultaneously with GC.

The printed Guide to General Convention states that 2.7% of deputies are under the age of 30, “about the same as the 2006 convention.  Look for the youngest deputies at the tables of Western Michigan, Chicago, and Wyoming.”  Why, so we can pat them on the head and talk about how cute they are?

I scribbled this note to Cat, who was sitting next to me at yesterday’s community Eucharist:

The bishop presiding over the Eucharist had just announced that in all his years of ministry he has never celebrated Holy Communion without a “young person” at his side by the altar.  If he visits a congregation without said “young person” in their midst, their weekly Jesus will be witheld.  The bishop boasted about the young man that he had chosen from the crowd and said something about young people in the church (I wasn’t really paying attention because my heckles had been raised and I was scribbling the above note).  Following the service I pondered aloud: “What would have been the response if it were a person of color (or someone with a disability, or someone who identified as queer) that was chosen to stand by awkwardly beside a Bishop as permission to celebrate Eucharist??”

I remember my first official struggle as a young person at the age of 17.  I was sitting in a mildly swank restaurant with a group of peers, watching for a good ten or so minutes as the waiter went from table to table inquiring about satisfaction without so much as bringing us water.  I stood up and went to the kitchen to ask if we could get service.  Following the meal I asked for the manager, and cited that we too were paying customers and there was no reason that we should get inferior service because we were “just a bunch of high school students.”

In the church, we too are “paying customers.”  I may not have a steady retirement account and a lifetime of savings that allow me to contribute a hefty tithe, but my gifts and talents can serve a real purpose (and if I hear “Youthful Vibrance and Energy” one more time I’m going to get sick – that’s not all we are; I’m a “grown up,” pay my own bills, and contribute to the workforce and my community).

This is my third attempt at discernment for Ordained Ministry.  My first attempt was foiled several years ago on account of my lack of “boy parts.”  I went to another mission parish and served on the vestry (and being young, was of course the designated Youth Group leader!) and found that my voice carried little weight, although despite my being the only young person I had been chosen as the “face of the church” at various functions.  I now make a weekly hour commute to a parish that treats me as a real person and not a token symbol of the “vibrant youthfulness” present in the church.  I use my bilingual skills to play a major role in the creation of a Spanish service at my church.  I am not called up to stand next to the altar as a “picture;” I am given REAL roles in the service as crucifer, chalice bearer, and subdeacon.  My opinion and gifts are recognized and valued.  Please see us for who we ARE as gifted individuals in the church.

One thing that we were discussing among ourselves is the general assumption that “young adults like…” – a phrase that usually ends with things like worship that includes powerpoint and contemporary music.  A few weeks ago I spoke at an Episcopal workshop and was later cornered by a woman who was excitedly telling me about her church wanting to start an alternative powerpoint service “to bring in young adults.”  Just a warning: I HATE that stuff, a position that is shared by many of my peers (not all, but many).  I am very interested and excited by the idea of emergent church but not as a blanket of technological theology.  I would never assume what the Baby Boomer generation wants from a church; please do not do the same with us.  Also – we are not looking for “radical change” in the church.  I’m an INFJ.  My mom will tell you that I’m not someone who gets excited about change.  We love authenticity.  Talk to a young person in the Episcopal Church and many of us will tell you that we adore the beautiful liturgy, and that it may even be what brought us (or keeps us) in the Episcopal Church.

So please – if you want to know what we want, ASK us, LISTEN to us, and CELEBRATE our individual gifts.  Don’t make us youth group leaders and web masters  just because we’re “young and understand that sort of thing.”  We might be more interested in assisting with worship, serving on the vestry, leading book studies, or working in the community.  And as Cat already mentioned – children and young people are not “The Future of the Church” – we ARE the church, here and now.