‘Promise and possibility: The Movement of the Spirit Through Generation Z’ and worship resource come just in time for College and Young Adult Sunday on Aug. 6
by Beth Waltemath |Presbyterian News Service
The Rev. Ginni Norris-Lane
For the third year, UKirk Collegiate Ministries is providing a liturgy that can be used on College and Young Adult Sunday, Aug. 6.
The Rev. Gini Norris-Lane, executive director and campus ministry advocate for the national UKirk network, also worked with the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Office of Christian Formation to produce and distribute a new four-session study designed for congregations and campus ministries who minister to members of Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012. “Research suggests that they are more racially and ethnically diverse than any preceding generation,” said Norris-Lane, who also points out that according to a BBC article from February 2023, these digital natives are on a trajectory to become the most highly educated but “exhibit higher rates of anxiety and diagnosed mental health struggles than previous generations.”
For the four-session study, titled “Promise and Possibility: The Movement of the Spirit through Generation Z,” Norris-Lane gathered a team of editors and writers who were attuned to the effects of the Covid pandemic and its resulting isolation on young adults as well as the racial, political, social and economic unrest of the past several years.
Lorenzo A. Watson
Writing in session one about “Gen Z” in relationship to Matthew 22:36-40, contributor Lorenzo A. Watson, interim CEO and president of the Christian Community Development Association, states, “Jesus declares that these two commandments encompass the entirety of the Law and the Prophets. They serve as the foundation upon which all other commandments rest. Love becomes the lens through which we interpret and apply God’s commands, guiding our thoughts, attitudes, and actions … As followers of Christ, we are called to embody and reflect the transformative power of love in our daily lives, both within our faith community and in the world at-large. If any generation is positioned to do just that, it is the currently emerging generation of leaders, commonly referred to as Generation Z (or Gen Z).”
The Rev. Will Norman
Session three of the new four-session study focuses on the vows of the church to baptize, make disciples and to assure them of the eternal presence of God. Writer the Rev. Will Norman, executive campus minister, Presbyterian Student Center at the University of Georgia, describes how these verses are instructive for college ministry. “The baptismal promises the church makes at baptism do not just end once a young person moves away for school or work,” he writes. “Both individuals and communities of faith are called to continue to support their ‘homegrown’ young people as they go to college, while also investing in ministries that provide for the care, support, and spiritual formation of emerging adults from other congregations. The fulfillment of the promise does not end, yet it does change.”
The Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman
Another writer, the Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman, suggests that a majority of college students who approach campus ministries indicate a need to “heal from religious trauma.” Scott-Huffman advises that in ministry with young adults who experienced “church hurt,” there is great power in reclaiming sacred rituals, songs, and words.
“It is interesting that College and Young Adult Sunday is always the first Sunday of August. I think whoever decided this knew that that is often the last Sunday before students head to college and begin the fall semester,” said Norris-Lane, recognizing the value of ritualizing the church’s commitment to young adults, which include 15 million undergraduate and 2.5 million graduate students in the U.S. Norris-Lane also stressed the value of the “Promise and Possibility” four-session study in a church’s planning process to reach out and support students and future leaders.
“They will also be partners and parents, community leaders and volunteers,” Norris-Lane said of today’s young adults. “Their worldviews are often shaped in powerful ways while they are in college, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has an opportunity to be witnesses to God’s love, peace and justice found in Jesus Christ, and to help all college students experience and explore God’s love for them and what that means for their lives and the life of the world. We hope the four-session study can be used by faith communities to begin a conversation about how they are called to reach out, care for and support this generation.”
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