A group of young adults who are convinced the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is about more than political controversy and small churches getting smaller — all the bad news of the imminent death of mainline denominations — have started a new Web site called “The Church is ALIVE!” (https:// thechurchisalive.com/)
The idea: exciting things are happening and Presbyterians need to record them on short videos and share them so others can see what’s going on. Participants can post them on YouTube and the Church is ALIVE Web site, and connect, through Facebook and other social-networking techniques, people who are interested in sharing stories of vibrancy in the church.
On the Web site, the organizers say that “we have heard the worries and anxieties that say that our church is ‘dying’ or ‘already dead,’ but instead we believe that the church is alive, vibrant, and a powerful force for good in the world. We believe that the Holy Spirit is breathing new life into all corners of our denomination, and that our body of believers is rich with stories of giving back, exploring fresh approaches to community, and discovering new ways to worship God.”
At the recent Montreat College Conference (see the Feb. 9 issue of the Outlook), which brought about 1,000 Presbyterian college students to North Carolina during the winter school break, some participants made their own video – including in it a message from Bruce Reyes-Chow, moderator of the 218th General Assembly.
“I believe the church is alive,” Reyes-Chow said in that video. “We have heard about it, we have been sharing stories. And now I have an invitation for you, to tell each other how you think the church is alive. There are lots of stories I know that exist about how we are living out our faith and understanding of Christ in the world, to bring healing and hope and compassion to those who are yearning for God’s love in their lives. We want to know what those look like, what they sound like. So I want you to send those in, and we’re going to try to figure out what this all means. There is something happening in the church, and we are all part of it.” Those with material can upload it to YouTube, and send the link to [email protected].
Mike Watson, 23, and a student at Union Theological Seminary-PSCE in Richmond, is one of the organizers, along with some old friends and some new ones from the Montreat College Conference.
“We picked up on a lot of negativity in the church about declining numbers and about how all the young adults have been turned off by the church,” Watson said in an interview.
But “we’re surrounded by young adults who are doing awesome things,” in campus ministry and as volunteers, “and a lot of churches don’t realize it. Basically they need to hear about these things.”
In some cases, those young adults may not be part of a traditional Presbyterian congregation, Watson said. But “just because they don’t see them on Sunday mornings, doesn’t mean they’re gone. … Many of them are still doing exciting things,” in living out their faith.
Among the early videos submitted: messages from two seminary presidents, Brian Blount at Union and Laura Mendenhall at Columbia Theological Seminary, about the excitement and energy they sense among students; one Adam Copeland in Atlanta, talking about the vitality of congregational song — some old hymns, “tried-and-true,” and some just composed, in many languages.
Another video is entitled, “The Church is Alive in East Tennessee.” In it, young people describe their own experiences of faith. “Being connected to God is like being connected to the Internet,” one young man said. “You’ve got everything you need, right at your fingertips.”
