Day One at School of Congregational Development

Bishop James Swanson opened the plenary with a message "Young People got Talent!".
Using the text of Daniel 1:3-7, Bishop Swanson spoke about the dilemma the Israelites found themselves in when the Babylonians carried the leadership away into exile. Specifically, King Nebuchadnezzar's plan to subjugate the captives was through demoralizing them by making them lose faith in Yahweh. His two pronged strategy was 1) to strip the temple of Yahweh and place the riches in temples for the Babylonian gods; and, 2) to change their names to eliminate that most basic reminder of their faith tradition and cultural identity. But, Swanson claims, the King made a grave error in thinking that the young would more susceptible to indoctrination and compromise than the older Israelites. It was the older folks wailing "How can we worship God when we can't go to the temple?!" But, the younger ones (Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) who understood that their faith in Yahweh transcended cultural norms and traditional temple practices about music and trappings. they understood that faith was about walking with God wherever they found themselves walking.
Many today are afraid of changes that need to be made in how we "do church" if we are to bring new people into relationship with Jesus. The old traditional practices may bring comfort to the old, but they do not reflect the only way to walk with God. And, the world is changing. Leaders of mainline churches need to rethink what church looks like for this new day and the new generations, and not be afraid to let our young people lead us 'cause they got talent!