“The church (or Christianity) would be better if….?”
In honor of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the youth were given this writing prompt as an opportunity to explore their own ideas for change in the church now, just as Martin Luther bravely published his ideas many years ago.
What follows is the official WCUC Youth “9.5 Theses” of 2017:
- Worship were held later in the morning.
- We were better at honoring different viewpoints within Christianity.
- There were more leadership roles for people of color and other marginalized groups.
- We were more honest with ourselves in addressing the issue of Christianity’s role in colonialism especially in places like Latin America and Africa.
- More denominations would support LGBTQ people and allow gay marriage.
- There were more interactive activities during worship
- We made more room for people who don’t believe in God but see church as a good place to learn a moral philosophy.
- We had more lively and easy to sing songs, kind of like the ones they have in Sunday Fellowship. “Hymns are ok, but sometimes feel a little archaic.”
- More attention was given to social action – in direct services, increased giving, and more general awareness of the various local and global organizations that help the most vulnerable in our society.
9.5 What would you add? …..