Where are you putting your focus?

                I had a remarkable experience this weekend while I was attending a Youth of Unity (Y.O.U.) Leadership Rally in Dallas, TX and I firmly believe that it has straightened me out on my ministry path.  One might believe that it was the energy of the 30+ teenagers that lifted my spirits or the beauty of how easily and graciously they accept one another that humbled me.  But the truth is, I was touched at my core by a group of adults that helped me right the ship and see the course with a clear vision.

                The Youth of Unity is the high school age group at our Unity churches and it is a group that I was heavily involved in as a teenager and have given much of my time to in service since then.  When asked to help with this event, I immediately jumped at the chance to be of service to the group that had helped me define who I am over a decade ago.  I didn’t expect, however, that most of my time would be spent away from the teenagers, themselves.  I was blessed with the task of leading a group of adults most of whom had never been a part of a Y.O.U. rally and some hadn’t been a part of their own youth program for very long. 

                During our group discussion, a few questions came up about how to attract people to unity, how to retain people and how to build a sustainable church.  *Disclaimer:  As the leader of the group I have to admit that I had my school and more importantly, this blog in mind when I brought up the question.  I was not surprised to hear that the resounding answer among this group was that a church has to be built on and around its children’s church and that there should be an out pouring of love and support from the ministry to its children, and presumably, its future.  This is where the metaphysical theologian in me came out to play.  I mentioned a few things like the inconsistencies and contradictions in unity churches and we talked a lot about the beliefs and the intentions of the founders. 

                Ultimately, what gave me a sense of faith and hope for our movement and our children is to shift the focus ever so slightly from the children’s education to that of the adults who are teaching our children.  You see, I was raised in the children’s church and when I entered the “real world” I thought I knew it all about Unity and my beliefs and in an effort to save time and space, let’s just say that I quickly discovered that what was being taught to me for my entire childhood, while not a “bad” unity message, was incredibly watered down. 

I came to realize that in most of the churches I had been a part of over the years thought it was enough to have people volunteer to work with the kids and didn't pay much attention to the messages they were giving to the kids.  “They are a member and they have a background check so they will be fine” seemed to be the general school of thought.   We can probably all agree that our kids were being taught good moral values and to make conscious choices and I would not even argue that these are important things to go over in Sunday school, but when it came to a foundational understanding of Unity and Metaphysics, there was a major disconnect. 

So in meeting this amazing group of people I was able to realize that it is not enough to just desire a youth department with willing, committed volunteers.  I would like to shift the perspective and affirm that we are educating our teachers and giving them the proper tools to share with the children that will one day grow up and take this movement onward and upward. 

Thank you to the Emerson Ripple Effect group for showing me the passion and love you all have for your youth departments and thank you for helping in the unfolding of my dreams.