In my last column, I began to share my “top 10 list” of what I have learned about worship as a campus minister. One of the biggest surprises was that many of these items are not unique to worship with young adults. Take a look at the top five:
#5 Coffee and community are as important as liturgy.
This shouldn't have been a surprise. I was a parish priest for almost a decade; I know the importance of coffee hour. But conversation over the coffee and muffins that follow chapel worship generally lasts longer than the liturgy. Students turn up because they have heard about the quality of the conversation that takes place. The experience of community then draws people in. There's good reason for this. As any good Anglican knows—Jesus favoured food as a way of sharing the gospel.
#4 Trust God to be at work.
It's the typical clerical temptation: if I can just preach the right sermon and find the right words, then I can make people see God. But I don't preach much at St. Bede's. We're a small group. An interactive discussion on the readings makes more sense or group lectio divina—reading a passage, sitting in silence, then sharing God's word to us as individuals and in community. These young people have amazed and inspired me through their insights and struggles. I have finally realized what I should have learned long ago: God speaks to each person. It's not all about me.
#3 Students aren’t concerned with brand loyalty.
On any given week, most of the students in chapel are from a variety of Christian backgrounds. Christian Brethren, Baptist, Pentecostal and Mennonite students sit next to students raised atheist. The Anglican students are as likely to be at church elsewhere that morning. This is a generation who identify as Christian, and isn't too worried about denominational affiliation. As one student said to me, “I am Presbyterian at home; Anglican here.” That means the congregation may not share many of my assumptions about liturgy, and I have to ensure teaching opportunities are built in. But it also means I have discovered that Anglican liturgy holds an appeal to non-Anglicans.
#2 Lex Orendi, lex credendi is attractive.
In the current climate, the Anglican Communion spends a lot of time on doctrine, on articulating “proper” faith. As someone who loves systematic theology, that has an appeal for me. However, while many students want to dialogue about God and faith, they are particularly attracted to the traditional approach of Anglicanism: lex orendi, lex credendi (the law of prayer is the law of belief, often stated as, “what we pray is what we believe.”) This statement appeals to students because it presents an inherent mystery: that each person has a unique experience of God, but yet we hold these experiences in common. I often tell students, “If you can say with integrity the prayers we use, then you can be part of this community.” This statement has brought more students out to experience worship than almost anything else I have done.
#1 Students are very interested in church.
I've mentioned this before, but there is very little hostility to church from folks on campus. In fact, quite the opposite is true. I often get students who seek me out because they want to know more about church, Anglicanism, God, and Jesus. I have more conversations about faith in a week than I had over a year in the parish. That doesn't mean that crowds come out to worship, but it does mean that there are many students who try out worship or ask advice on local congregations. It also means that I am learning to assume a certain level of interest in worship, which I can then build on rather than starting from nothing.
These top 10 lessons about worship on campus have shown me that there’s great hope for the church. I don't expect a massive increase in numbers or a return to being at the centre of the power structures in our society. But I think the gospel will continue to be preached and the faith lived in ways that are inspirational. Worship with students means I can see the Holy Spirit at work, and I am curious and excited to see what this next evolution of church will look like.
