Hearing Aids and Ear Plugs: Doing Church Together

Driving along the freeway I’ve noticed a series of billboard ads. They have young children standing in a ruined landscape of one sort or another: a fragment of snow left that was once a glacier; an endless vista of barren, cracked earth; a flooded suburb. Their somber faces look out at you as you drive past. The captions all say the same thing, “And to my children I leave…” This Legacy campaign is sponsored by California’s Flex Your Power commission. Their motto, if you go to the website, is “Choose Your Legacy Now”. No matter what your thoughts on global warming might be, none of us wants to leave an apocalyptic landscape to our children as their inheritance. We can all agree that preserving our environment and the natural beauty that has been entrusted to our care is one of the legacies we want to leave behind us. What are the other legacies you are choosing now?

The Elder Board went away at the end of last month for our annual retreat, to pray and dream and think about the church that we love and whose care has been entrusted to us for a season. One of the topics that emerged during this weekend was the fact that we are getting older – both as a leadership board and as a church. We have a desire to be a multi-generational church that has room for us as we age but that also has a place for younger people to worship, raise their children, and make Oak Hills their own. We looked at the results of our informal survey that was taken in June and saw that the group we hope to hand off this church to, those in the college to thirtysomething age group, are underrepresented (or else don’t take surveys).

It is a challenge to become a multi-anything in a suburban church. Most people tend to be drawn to churches where the majority is just like them, whether by ethnic makeup, doctrinal belief, worship style, or time of life. If we want to be diverse (in any of these areas) it will take hard work on all of our parts. For one thing, we will have to be hospitable to those who are different from us. Those of us with graying heads may have to tolerate loud drums, ushers who dress more casually than we do, and greeters with piercings in places that make us cringe. Those with youth on their side may have to endure what looks like the Sun City Singers up on the stage some weekends, a congestion of shuffling old-timers on the sidewalks where your kids want to run, ministries that seem out of step with modern times. But I think it’s worth the effort to find a way to not only live together, but to embrace each other. We want the same things essentially: to worship God, to find community, to make a difference in the lives of the people we live near and work with.

Hopefully, in addition to caring for the environment, we can all agree that we want Oak Hills to be a legacy for the future, knowing that it will look and feel a little different, perhaps, but still alive as a church that is intent on following where God will lead. When I first came to Oak Hills, I was twenty-five years old. There was plenty of room for anyone with an ounce of leadership to step up and take charge. If you wanted a Bible Study, a new ministry, or an organized social event you had to start it yourself and find people who would join with you. The whole church was run by young adults, and it was so obvious that our help was needed for the church to succeed. Today, it may look like things are running along without the desperate need for your help, but it still remains true that all areas of the church need the people who call Oak Hills home to step up - especially those of you in the “young adult” category. We really need you to help lead the way into the future. It will be harder for you than it was for me, because we “older adults” – ouch that hurts – have our hands on things and we may need some help at prying them off, but we really want to join together with you to picture the future.

Many of you know that we are starting up several Mid-Size Gatherings to help connect people at the church. One of these is specifically targeted at young adults. Under the leadership of David & Carolyn Holcomb and Travis & Stephenie Carr, we hope that young singles and families will connect together and find the sense of place and family and service that Ben and I found when we first came to Oak Hills. Kent and Diane Carlson are also a part of this group, not just because they have an eight year old and are trying to blend in, but because we in leadership want to send a message that this group is worth investing in, to capture their view of the church both now and in the future, and to communicate our deep need of them right now. So, if you find yourself in this category I hope you’ll consider becoming a part of this group that meets on Sunday nights. You’re never too young to begin leaving a legacy and hopefully you’ll figure out what it looks like to hand off Oak Hills to your own sons and daughters, the future-future of this Bride of Christ here in Folsom.