Worship Leader - September, 2007

ence on my expression of spirituality has been profound.

When you are dealing with big life issues, where do you turn?

Whenever I am faced with a challenge, I turn to my mentor and friend, Natalie. I have been fortunate enough to learn from her example as a spiritual leader. She always turns to the Lord before deciding on an issue herself, and I aspire to approach challenges the way that she has. She asks me where my heart is and how I think God could use that. The honesty, especially regarding the spiritual challenges each of us has faced in the past few years, is what I value most about that relationship.

What would an ideal church service look like to you?

An ideal church service would not be a service; it would be service. Whether my Bible study goes out and prays over the local high schools or a group of us heads up to Los Angeles for the weekend to work in the projects, I feel that service is most rewarding. If that could be contained in a two-hour church service, I would describe it as having a time for communion and fellowship, where we could bless one another in prayer. We would also discuss and pray about world issues and how we could work to change t hose situations.

K evin Huguley of Rush of Fools

What pushes young people away from church?

It seems that young people are not interested in the “you can do it” attitude that filtered out of youth programs and drenched the 90’s church life. Nowadays teens and youth just want things real; they want the truth. The controversial MTV

station, which used to play music videos back in my day is now programmed with a laundry list of teen reality shows. Unfortunately, we, the Church, are not always up to par with the culture around us. The “feel good about yourself” messages are too watered down for this intellectual generation.

What draws them into church?

Their friends. Period. Again, the 90s youth group model was to hang out only with other Christians so that you’re “safe,” but when we take a look at Jesus’ life, we see a different model to live like. Making friends with non-Christians is essential to the growth of the Church.

What is the reason they go to church?

This may sound silly, but they go when their friends ask them to go. It’s not so much about the bowling trips, lock-ins or other activities. Now those are fun and many times very helpful, but this generation is different. They don’t need tactics; they need the truth.

In what way do they express their spirituality differently from the way their parents do? In what way is it the same?

Honestly, it appears that this generation is about living out their faith, not wearing it. The bumper stickers, the t-shirts, even the tattoos that the preceding generation wore to show people that faith was important to them is kind of vanishing. It’s not about “looking” like a Christian anymore; it’s about being one. Where it looks the same is in the gatherings. Churches, for the most part, still have the similar large group worship times and small group bible studies that they’ve had for a few decades.

When they are dealing with big life issues, where do they turn?

Wow. It’s different individually. I know of seventeen year olds that go straight to their parents with those things, voluntarily. And that’s incredible. But I’m sure many are still turning to their close friends for the answers.