18twentysix

18Twentysix | Start A Movement.
Armando Heredia

A working model.
The basic premise for a group like 18twentysix is to create an avenue for young men and women who have graduated out of the typical youth ministry concept to be able to continue to connect in a spiritually positive environment for the sake of dialogue, fellowship and learning.

To many young people in this age bracket the traditional church model has failed. In many instances the church has successfully created an exit strategy for youth as opposed to creating a viable ministry that helps keep them connected to Christ. In fact, 65% of Christian young people leave their faith during their college age years. Our hope is to be able to create a social/spiritual group that focuses on the elements that drive this demographic (for a lack of a better term). Those being, in no certain order:

1. Relationships
2. Dialogue {Ideas and Counter-Ideas}
3. Spirituality

We’ll explore these elements briefly.

1. Relationships
   This age bracket has experienced a fundamental change in their relationship with the world around them by coming into the “Adult” age. They have left the smaller group of their high school and some (though not all) have entered into the larger world of college/university campuses. Others are on a career path that engages them everyday in a smaller more focused group. We can not overlook those who are actively engaged in neither a career nor college, those who stay at home, get married, or spend their time as a volunteer in community organizations or ministry.

   The relationship element is important for these people to be able to develop trust and friendship with others in their same age group as well as with an older mentor group that can help them grow spiritually. The lack of meaningful relationships that span outside of their own peer group can create a vacuum in their life when they are “pushed out the nest” and they are no longer connected to the other people who also “aged out” of the youth ministry and are left to fend for themselves.

2. Dialogue {Ideas and Counter-Ideas}
   The worst method for disseminating information is lecture. Unfortunately most churches exclusively employ the lecture method and the pastor/teacher delivers a monologue that doesn’t involve the congregants beyond listening and/or affirming with responses like “Amen” or a hand clap. If, however, there was a dissenting opinion or a hand raised in question to what was being taught the offender would be considered out of line at best. In actuality, the best method for teaching is dialogue, the exchange of ideas and information, the ability to ask questions, disagree with the speaker/teacher (with a valid counter).

   I was raised in a Spanish speaking home by my grandparents. They spoke Spanish to each other, they played Spanish music, watched Spanish television and even spoke Spanish to me. I grew up not being able to speak Spanish. The reason was because although Spanish was all around me, my grandparents never required me to respond in Spanish. I never articulated the ideas that were in my head into Spanish words. All of the ingredients were there, but my lack of participation in their monologue left me without the ability to respond in their language. I bring this up because I believe this is indicative of our young men and women’s lack of participation in Christianity as they become adults. They hear the monologue but are never required or allowed to articulate their thoughts and questions about the Christian ideologies they are being presented.

   Each 18twentysix session should be geared toward the concept of dialogue. A rule that we established early on is, “It’s not rude to interrupt.” If one of our participants has a question or comment specific to the topic they are encouraged to engage at that moment. It is not unusual for a teacher to allow questions or comments at the end of the session so that they can get through all of their material or presentation. Truthfully, though, the session is not about presenting information as much as it is about developing people and relationships. Many times when we wait until the end of the session to ask the question it doesn’t seem as valid, so we don’t ask it or a comment will seem out of place at the end so it’s not made. The moment is missed and the opportunity for someone to articulate a comment or clarify an idea is missed and cannot be regained.

   Another rule that we follow is “You have the right to disagree.” We’re not just looking for affirmation for the speaker in these sessions. We are looking for clarity of understanding. In the post-modern information age the days of “If the pastor or leader says it, it must be true” are long gone. People are smart and they have incredible access to an array of information and ideas through technology like the internet, mobile apps. on their iphones, ipods and a host of other hand-held technology. They could be surfing the web on Wikipedia or a number of other information sites while you’re talking and have access to supporting or contradictory information to your presentation. So, we practice this rule of disagreement with this qualification: If you disagree it must be because you have a viable alternative to what is being said or taught. Then dialogue about the alternative idea ensues. This is not a time for argument and their may not be a resolution to the conflicting ideas. That’s when we agree to disagree and respect each other’s knowledge and move on. This can make for some incredibly engaging conversation and I have found that I learn more, as the presenter of the topic or facilitator of the discussion, than if I would have been giving a monologue from my perspective only. The participants in the session also have commented that they learn more in these sessions than they do in other forms of teaching. Articulation, the engagement of more than one sense and the process required forming counter arguments or supportive commentary, is the key to developing a group of young men and women who know what they believe and have an understanding of how to teach others.

3. Spirituality
   We live in a very spiritual culture. The culture, however, does not exclusively equate spirituality with Christianity. In fact, if you were to ask most people if they thought they were spiritual they would say yes even though they would also say they weren’t Christians.

   Our goal is to help our young men and women understand the difference between Christian religiosity and Christian spirituality. There is a difference. You can attend church services and not be spiritual if you don’t engage in spiritual activity on a regular basis. What this translates to is that if Christianity is just about going to church, than it’s not about much. Gathering with other believers to worship and hear preaching and teaching is important, but it is not the primary function of Christians. The primary function of Christians is to engage in a daily meaningful spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ so that we, as believers, can engage in meaningful physical relationships with the world around us that express our Christian spirituality and lead others to Him so they can engage in a daily meaningful spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ and repeat the model to infinity.

   The way 18twentysix can be a catalyst for this is by creating avenues that spirituality can be explored, encountered and expressed. Find outlets for this type of spirituality in community helps groups, prayer and ministry opportunities that your group can engage in.

Book Club
We have found that the best way to engage a group of people within the 18 to 26 age bracket is by reading a book together. Our group is essentially a book club with an incredible amount of discussion. The group’s directors find a book that has solid content and will encourage dialogue and then read a chapter per week, sometimes less if the chapters are long or there is a lot of discussion. We started with Donald Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz” and while we don’t subscribe to all of his theological ideas, there was enough substance in each chapter to spark some very interesting discussion. It was a great time of learning and we saw growth in the participants of the sessions. We followed that book with a book I wrote called “Smudges, As Much As I Can See So Far” and had great results. Each local group is autonomous in their choice of reading but I encourage you to follow this course because it gives your group a track to follow and the group director won’t be scrambling every week for materials or feel like they have to “teach” the others. The read and interrupt method is very effective and a lot of fun.

After about six months we started an 18twentysix session on Sunday morning as part of our church’s education ministry. This was offered to our 18twentysix group but we didn’t stress it or push it on them. After about five months several of our Monday night group began attending the class on Sunday morning because we follow the same method in the Sunday class and they were comfortable with it.

We began by studying the book of Acts, verse by verse, using the read and interrupt method and we have had some very deep discussions and answered a lot of questions that our attendees had for years but had never had the opportunity to ask in a teaching setting. We don’t shy away from doctrinal issues that arise but have no agenda or motive to try to “prove” anything.

When we meet

18twentysix | Off Campus
Our Monday night sessions are held in the home of our 18twentysix leaders. This works well, however, we met very successfully for several months at Starbuck’s.

We begin at 7:00 pm in a very casual atmosphere. Our host usually provides a variety of snacks and drinks. We talk and laugh about life in general and meet any guests and make them welcome. We then gather in a very non-formal fashion on chairs, couches and even sitting on the floor and read through a chapter of our current book. We remind the participants that we don’t consider it rude to interrupt and encourage dialogue and the magic happens every week.

18twentysix | In Church

Sunday
Our Sunday session is more structured as we are allotted only one hour. We do provide a food item (typically a pastry or breakfast item since we meet in the morning). We encourage our participants to read along in a Bible as we read through the scripture verse by verse. We also have a laptop with internet access to be able to search for information about the topics raised or to access BlueLetterBible.org, an online Bible reference/dictionary/concordance and study aid. We have had some profound discussion and have seen incredible growth in this session. We start at 10:00 a.m. and try, although sometimes unsuccessfully, to stop by 10:45. There have been many times that we miss the 10:45 mark or don’t get through a whole chapter and have to stop the conversation and return the following week.

Wednesday
Our newest aspect of this ministry is a teaching/preaching session that is more lecture based that will focus on life issue topics that are specific to this age demographic. These sessions will be held on Wednesday nights at 7:00 pm beginning September 9, 2009. Flashpoint and 18twentysix will meet for a collective worship service in the downstairs youth facility which will be followed by split sessions.