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LISA HELFERT


Luther Place Memorial, Washington, D.C. (downtown)


• Average worship attendance: 170 • Best young adult draw: “Sin Boldly” (theologically based conversations at a local bar). • Words that describe your congregation: Engaging, social justice oriented, deep- ening spirituality. • Words that describe your church’s young adults: Capitol Hill workers, nonprofit justice seekers, community hungry, questioners of “What does it mean to be Christian and how do I claim that identity in this political climate?”and twenty- and thirtysomethings seeking meaning in life. • Most new members learn about the congregation through: Social media and friends. • When young adults enter your con- gregation, where do they get involved? Worship, places of conversation and service. • Gifts young adults bring to your congre- gation: Joy, hearts for justice, hunger for God and questions.


Karen Brau, pastor


a more radical politics that runs deep (and is often hidden) in Christian tradition: can it be seen in patterns of broadly shared leadership, decision making and attention to the diversity of spiritual gifts in worship? That is a very local form of politics. Then, does our way into the church in baptism not only make us members of the church but also clearly join our lives to those whom we might call the crucified of our world: the economically or socially isolated; those living or dying alone in nursing homes; victims of domes- tic violence up the block from us; those without health care; villages in the Niger Delta poisoned by oil bound for the U.S.?


Are our gatherings for communion clearly part of God’s desire to feed the whole world with the bread of life at a common table of justice? And can we recover a sense of sal- vation that runs deeper than what we


24 The Lutheran • www.thelutheran.org


Karen Brau (front, right), pastor of Luther Place Memorial, Washington, D.C., and Julian Forth lead “Sin Boldly,” which meets once a month at a bar. It provides a relaxed atmosphere for young adults to meet and talk about theological issues.


get (all to the good) from our thera- pists: something more glorious and cosmically significant than simply finding ourselves “OK”? Can wor- ship help us know the truth that we are creatures made of dust, earth, who for a while are filled with the breath of God and can sing, move, read great literature, post a video on the Web, maybe dance ballet before we return again to the dust of the earth? After his famous mystical experi- ence surrounded by the crowds on the corner of Fourth and Walnut in Louisville, Ky., American Roman Catholic writer and mystic Thomas Merton wrote: “There is no way of telling people that they are all walk- ing around shining like the sun.” Perhaps it doesn’t work just to “tell” people, but Christian ritual and liturgy have been known to reveal this insight to us. Can our worship recover enough mystical depth to encounter such mysteries in it?


A strong compass


And a final point of interest: a strong compass—not the type that points north when you’re lost in the woods, but the one used in drafting class or geometry. This compass has two points: one points down and holds the center; the other pivots out to draw a wider circle around that point. Hold


on to that image.


Sociologists tell us that young adults today who do affiliate with a religious community tend to highly value that religious tradition—more so than previous generations did when they were young. The millenni- als seek a compass point that anchors them deeply in their tradition. But these aren’t simple traditional-


ists. We also see a greater openness among today’s young adults to inter- pret their tradition in a wider diversity of ways.


When first-year students (most of them millennials) in the introduc- tory worship course at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago are asked about their favorite liturgical event, festival or season, between one-third to one-half typically name the Easter Vigil. This is an ancient two- or three-hour service on the night leading up to Easter morning. The students talk both about their appreciation for its ancient and symbol-rich character, as well as the ways their congregation makes it its own by accompanying some of the readings with dance or projected images, holding parts of the liturgy in different areas of the building or outside, incorporating locally created art and song. Both the tradition and the local—the current incarnation of


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