Your opening paragraph is a beautiful description of the Methodist Youth Fellowship in Niagara Falls, NY, that I attended in my teens. My parents became the youth leaders, along with the Associate Pastor. I was delighted to be sharing my parents enlightened version of Christianity with friends, many of whom were schoolmates. Some of those people became lifelong friends of my parents and I am still in touch with a few of them. For me, the crisis came later in Toronto when my dad again was leading a prayer group that was much more about discussion than prayer. For weeks people sat in a circle talking about their problems until one evening I burst into tears (shocking even to me for I was 26 with a BA) and sobbed that everyone was talking about problems, such as illnesses and deep theological questions, but they had no answers. The woman next to me, who I did not know, said there was someone I needed to talk to. She sent me to Fr. Ron Armstrong, one of the shepherds of the emerging charismatic movement in Canada, and he became my introduction to the kinds of miracles we read about in the Bible, including healings physical and psychological. Not every question was answered in that context, either. But it set me on a path to answer some deep ones. Eventually, my parents came into that renewal, too.
Thank you Laurna. I really appreciate you sharing such a personal part of your journey. What strikes me is that, although our stories are quite different, they both reflect the same truth: there comes a point when inherited faith has to become our own. The questions don't disappear, but they become invitations rather than threats. I also like your observation that even in a community where remarkable things were happening, not every question found an answer. That feels very true to me. Faith isn't the absence of mystery; it's learning to keep walking with God through it.
Yes, about walking with God. However, that movement of the Holy Spirit taught me how far from total commitment to Jesus many church-goers are. And how much pride resides in lay as well as in clerical leadership. The massive closing of churches has affected every denomination and not only because followers have fallen away but because terrible policies and the leaders who do not work to change them also lack that level of commitment to Jesus. At first, I blamed the particular church I was in, Roman Catholic at that time. The abuses in a Catholic orphanage in eastern Canada rocked the Christian world. As did most people. Not long after, reports on sexual abuse of children from clergy surfaced in ALL of the other major denominations. No one in Canadian Christendom could wag the finger at another church. But getting to the base of any problem takes courage, involves risk, upsets practically everyone, and does not guarantee change. But it is the work that Jesus did with infinite grace, so His source of power is available to us, too.
Thank you, Laurna. I share your sadness over the ways the Church has failed people, and you're right that no denomination can claim immunity. For me, that's one reason I keep coming back to Jesus himself. He confronted pride, hypocrisy and abuse of power with remarkable courage, but always with the hope of restoration rather than condemnation. I think that's still the pattern we're called to follow today.
Your opening paragraph is a beautiful description of the Methodist Youth Fellowship in Niagara Falls, NY, that I attended in my teens. My parents became the youth leaders, along with the Associate Pastor. I was delighted to be sharing my parents enlightened version of Christianity with friends, many of whom were schoolmates. Some of those people became lifelong friends of my parents and I am still in touch with a few of them. For me, the crisis came later in Toronto when my dad again was leading a prayer group that was much more about discussion than prayer. For weeks people sat in a circle talking about their problems until one evening I burst into tears (shocking even to me for I was 26 with a BA) and sobbed that everyone was talking about problems, such as illnesses and deep theological questions, but they had no answers. The woman next to me, who I did not know, said there was someone I needed to talk to. She sent me to Fr. Ron Armstrong, one of the shepherds of the emerging charismatic movement in Canada, and he became my introduction to the kinds of miracles we read about in the Bible, including healings physical and psychological. Not every question was answered in that context, either. But it set me on a path to answer some deep ones. Eventually, my parents came into that renewal, too.
Thank you Laurna. I really appreciate you sharing such a personal part of your journey. What strikes me is that, although our stories are quite different, they both reflect the same truth: there comes a point when inherited faith has to become our own. The questions don't disappear, but they become invitations rather than threats. I also like your observation that even in a community where remarkable things were happening, not every question found an answer. That feels very true to me. Faith isn't the absence of mystery; it's learning to keep walking with God through it.
Yes, about walking with God. However, that movement of the Holy Spirit taught me how far from total commitment to Jesus many church-goers are. And how much pride resides in lay as well as in clerical leadership. The massive closing of churches has affected every denomination and not only because followers have fallen away but because terrible policies and the leaders who do not work to change them also lack that level of commitment to Jesus. At first, I blamed the particular church I was in, Roman Catholic at that time. The abuses in a Catholic orphanage in eastern Canada rocked the Christian world. As did most people. Not long after, reports on sexual abuse of children from clergy surfaced in ALL of the other major denominations. No one in Canadian Christendom could wag the finger at another church. But getting to the base of any problem takes courage, involves risk, upsets practically everyone, and does not guarantee change. But it is the work that Jesus did with infinite grace, so His source of power is available to us, too.
Thank you, Laurna. I share your sadness over the ways the Church has failed people, and you're right that no denomination can claim immunity. For me, that's one reason I keep coming back to Jesus himself. He confronted pride, hypocrisy and abuse of power with remarkable courage, but always with the hope of restoration rather than condemnation. I think that's still the pattern we're called to follow today.