Pastor Ron's Sabbatical - Entry #7: Calvin College Course on Ministering to Millennials

The last part of my sabbatical found me doing some travelling. 

I drove to Calvin College for a course on Ministering to Millennials.  
I stayed at the Prince Conference Centre, as did most of the 25 attendees.  

More like a hotel.  

Very nice. 

Breakfast nook. 

Lounge area.  

I arrived a day early, as the course started at 8 am. 
So, I checked out Applebee's for dinner. 

Amazing meals.  

: ) 

Our class for the week. 
We met every day - Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm.  Then lunch and then we were pretty much on our own for the rest of the day. 
Sid was part of the conference as well. 

Some nice artwork in the classroom area.  

We had to walk over the Beltline to get to our classes. 

A nice walkway over the road. 

More nice artwork. 

And beautiful lounging areas in the Prince Conference Centre.  

Another meal at AppleBee's.  : ) 

During some of my free time I took a trip to Kuyper College (known as Reformed Bible College when I went). 

The place was deserted.  

Only a couple of people living in the apartments, but other than that, no one.  

This is where I stayed for a couple of years. 
The memories just flooded back as I drove around the place.  

Yet another meal at Applebee's. 

Nicely lit up : )  

One meal at Red Lobster as well. 

With Dessert from Krispy Kreme. 
Freshly made.  And yes, I only ordered 3 of them.  But all 3 melted in your mouth.  : ) 

There's a nature reserve just behind where we were staying, so I took a walk one afternoon.

Very peaceful. 

On Thursday evening the whole class went out for dinner.
On our way we stopped at Hope College to see their fairly new chapel.  

It's amazing to say the least. 

And there are 4 stain glass windows that are remarkable. 

We looked like tourists.  : ) 

Here's where dinner was. 

All ready for us. 

The group gathered and waiting for the food. 

Fancy plating.  

I was one of the "special" diets for the week, so couldn't really have the wonderful Italian food that was being served, so instead it was salad...

and Filet Mignon.  Whoot.  : ) 

Yes, I cheated on the dessert.  

A group shot on our last day. 

Now, just so you know that I didn't just eat and eat and eat on this course, I'll also share with you some of my learnings. 

The course focused on Millennials.  That's the age range of 19 - 30 ish. 
We received lots of information about this group.  
Some things that stood out for me were: 

• Millennials are interconnected. 
• They are a global entity.  They have all the latest tech available to them. 
• Yet, they seek authentic community
• They want to explore faith
• They live in an information overloaded life. 
• They have an action oriented faith life.
• They want to be mentored.
• There should be a 5:1 ratio of significant others in their lives for faith to stick and for them to continue in a faith community.  
• For Millennials faith is not passed down, it's passed around. 
• Intergenerational ministry is important to them. 
• Preaching matters to them.  
• Young people have basically three deep and basic questions when it comes to life:

1. Their deepest questions about faith can be answered by God’s GRACE

2.  Their need to BELONG is ultimately met through the unconditional LOVE of community. 

3. Their hunger for purpose is satisfied by being involved in God’s MISSION in the world. 

I'm wondering	My ultimate question is about my…	The focus is on …	My question is best answered by God's…
Who am I ?	Identity	Me	Grace
Where do I fit?	Belonging	Us	Love
What difference do I make?	Purpose	Our World	Mission

and a fourth
4. What if my experience of God does not match what I have been taught about God?

The finish line of young people’s passage to into adulthood is now later, but their journey towards identity, belonging and purpose starts earlier now….so 25 feels like the new 15, and 15 often feels like the new 25.  

Their search for identity is made erratic by pervasive stress and peripheral faith.  Their quest for belonging is thwarted by omnipresent technology, sexual experimentation and adult abandonment.  Their hunger for purpose remains unsatisfied because of their jaded realism and cultural pluralism.   (Taken from the book "Growing Young") 

At the end of the class each of us had to give a short report about what we would do differently now that we had taken this course.  As I pondered all the information, I discovered that what millennials need and what we all need are still pretty much the same.  Authentic christian community where we all get the chance to interact with one another and learn about the real, authentic Christ, and help each other serve Him better.  

In that light, for me there were 4 things:
a. I will continue to enhance the mentoring ministry we have at Calvin, expanding it to our YA and seniors if I can. 
b. I will see if the YA group wants to study the spiritual disciplines. 
c. We had a section on preaching to millennials (excellent class) and the challenge was to try to preach without notes. Well the next time I preach (who knows when) that's going to be the goal.  Oh boy : ) 
d. Finally, I did a lot of afternoon snoozing during this week, and some reading, and I decided that since I'm not such a big reader why not place a recliner in my office to force me to read and relax a bit.  
So, just recently I did just that. : )
Here's proof.  : ) 

 Simple yet functional

Comfy for reading. 

And relaxing. 
Hey Pastor Craig, that's my chair.   : ) 
He's too tall for it anyway.  : ) 

Before we knew it, it was time to head home. 
Wonderful Sarnia border traffic.  : ) 

I stopped in to see Lisa and Tara from my Sarnia days. 
Hadn't seen them in years. 
Sorry for the dark picture. 

We had pizza, and used these cute little pizza plates (so Lisa : ) ).  
I hope you found the missing plate Lisa, and no, I didn't take it home.  : ) 

A better shot.  

After that visit, it was off to Strathroy to see how Leo and Cathy were settling in after their move from Ottawa. 
They have a nice home. 

Open concept. 

Nice guest room. 

And of course the food and fellowship are always good. 
Was nice to catch up with them again.  Thanks for your hospitality.  

They live in a sort of retirement community. 
This row of houses is all "mature" folk, I'm pretty sure. 

A final selfie. 
So all in all it was a good week. 
Learned lots and relaxed a bit too.