When I was an undergrad student in the early ’80s, going to church involved much planning and stealth. You certainly didn’t want other students to discover what you were up to, and admitting that you were Christian implied you really weren’t very bright after all.
When I became a university chaplain in 2006, I expected this attitude to still exist. In fact, given the gloom in church circles about the lack of youth involvement, I thought this apprehension of worship and organized religion would have increased. But the opposite seems to be true. There are now sizeable numbers of students who get themselves up on Sunday morning and head off to local congregations or to the college chapel. Such students remain far from being the majority, but they are a tangible group.
And here’s the exciting—and surprising—part: many of those students are from mainline denominations (including Anglican), and most of them are from small churches. This change in attitude isn’t the result of specialized youth ministry. If there was a youth group in their home parish, it was very small, and even then it was often a joint venture with other local churches. The primary faith formation that these young people received was simply being a valued part of a community, sometimes as the only teenager. And it’s that community experience that they are looking for when they head off to attend worship.
At the beginning of the year, students sometimes apologize to me:
“I hope you don’t mind that I don’t come to chapel. I like going to a real church, where there are old people and children—not just students!”
“I know you never see me on Sundays. It’s ’cause I have to go to a church, not just a chapel.”
For these students, their faith is simply part of who they are. Their faith and the experience of community are intimately connected.
Even more impressive, these young people know their faith. They compare notes on how their churches celebrate the feasts. “Oh, I love Easter vigil,” a young woman sighed. “Don’t you think that Advent is the best time of year?” a residence don asked me. Even in the college chapel, students will arrive with a marked preference for the Hebrew scriptures (“Those books have the best stories!”) or the epistles (“Hard to understand but so thought-provoking.”) There are still many students with no prior experience of church. But others, who grew up in a parish, drop casual comments that make it clear they have learned about liturgy and belief. Such knowledge is now a core part of their identity.
Students from small churches have had the experience of being a valued part of their faith community, and they expect that will be true again. Indeed, they seek it out. They aren’t looking to be passive consumers of religion. They want to be actively involved, even though they have busy schedules. I know students who teach Sunday school in local churches, or offer to help at the Christmas bazaar. They are used to reading or leading intercessions. At Renison’s college chapel, when I am away, I have no shortage of students willing and able to lead morning prayer, many of whom have had prior experience leading worship in their home churches.
So hats off to small churches. Turns out you are doing a great job at forming the next generation of disciples. You may not have many children and teenagers in your midst, but you have loved and taught those that were there, and done it so well they expect to be an ongoing part of the church. In the midst of our collective angst about the survival of the institution, here’s a good news story. It’s a very different world on campus from when I was young, and small churches have helped transform that reality. So from a university chaplain—thank you!
