9/18/2005

College students and the local church

I've been in a state of unrest on my stance of the said title. For the past 3 years and some odd months, I've been attending a local church that has since become my "home church away from home". When I started attending this church, I was one of about seven college students, and about fifty people that consisted of families and elderly couples. Now, however, the ratio has shifted. The church is forward minded, in the sense that it has contemporary music, and a "small town" atmosphere about it. Because of this, more and more college students have sought out this church: to the point that the college-aged population of the church far exceeds that of families and elders. While it's nice having so many familiar faces from school, I'm sad to say that it leaves very little true interaction between non-college students and myself. The rest of the congregation feels overwhelmed and, at times, I feel as if they don't see the point in interaction because of the ever-changing faces. For me, I see the local church as an opportunity to learn from the body of believers who are not in the same stage of life as I. I see knowledge and wisdom in my elders that I often don't see in my peers. And yet I can't get to that knowledge and wisdom in a church dominated by college students. And so I find myself in a spiritual quandary. Do I stay and perservere amid the "masses" of college students, or do I uproot from what I've come to know and love, only to shop for another church that would only be my home for another year and half?

No comments: