Last month I had the privilege of meeting a recent high school grad named Natalie Stadnick at YOUTH 2007, the United Methodist youth convention in Greensboro, NC. She attended my workshop on The God-Hungry Imagination--even though it was technically for "adults only"--and afterwards shared her enthusiasm for what I had to say. Specifically, she confirmed my suspicion that many spiritually-minded youth are just as alarmed as we are by "pervasive teen inarticulacy" regarding matters of faith (Soul Searching, 131), and wish their churches would do more to intentionally teach them. Students like Natalie (assuming there are more like her) are fed up with typical church youth programming and are hungry for the "narratable world" of scripture through meaningful study and worship.
For an inside look at Natalie's thoughts on this and other issues, check out her blog "Take My Hand" at http://firecracker8489.blogs.com/. Her post "Why I've Given up on Youth Group" (under "Popular Posts," top left), caught the attention of the youth ministry world back in August 2006. She heads off to college this week, and I can't wait to see where her story leads next!
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