No matter their background, Dean says committed Christian teens share four traits: They have a personal story about God they can share, a deep connection to a faith community, a sense of purpose and a sense of hope about their future.
“There are countless studies that show that religious teenagers do better in school, have better relationships with their parents and engage in less high-risk behavior,” she says. “They do a lot of things that parents pray for.”
Dean, a United Methodist Church minister who says parents are the most important influence on their childrens faith, places the ultimate blame for teens religious apathy on adults.
Some adults dont expect much from youth pastors. They simply want them to keep their children off drugs and away from premarital sex.
Others practice a “gospel of niceness,” where faith is simply doing good and not ruffling feathers. The Christian call to take risks, witness and sacrifice for others is muted, she says.
“If teenagers lack an articulate faith, it may be because the faith we show them is too spineless to merit much in the way of conversation,” wrote Dean, a professor of youth and church culture at Princeton Theological Seminary.
A prose from The Grand Inquisitor by Fyodor Dostoyevsky which the enlightened atheist Ivan shares with his younger brother and monk Alyosha.
He came softly, unobserved, and yet, strange to say, everyone recognised Him. That might be one of the best passages in the poem. I mean, why they recognised Him. The people are irresistibly drawn to Him, they surround Him, they flock about Him, follow Him. He moves silently in their midst with a gentle smile of infinite compassion. More…
Árið eftir að ég hætti störfum sem framkvæmdastjóri ÆSKR (Æskulýðssambands kirkjunnar í Reykjavíkurprófastsdæmum), notaði ég mikið af tíma mínum í lestur og skrif um persónuleikabresti, velti upp spurningum hvað það merkti að kirkjan væri öllum opin og að allir væru velkomnir. Brennipunkturinn í vangaveltum mínum var mjög einstaklingsbundin og undir sterkum áhrifum einstaklingshyggju pietismans. More…
Fyrir það fyrsta þá eru skriftir mögulegar í lúthersku kirkjunni. Hins vegar fer slíkt oftast fram í formi syndajátningar í lúthersku kirkjunni. Þau sem hafa heimsótt kirkju rekur e.t.v. minni til orðanna: More…
It is useful here to make a distinction between confidentiality and secrecy. A commitment to secrecy is a commitment never, under any circumstance, to share the information in question. This commitment on the part of the priest is inherent in a sacramental confession. Confidentiality, on the other hand, means holding information in trust and sharing it only in the interest of the person involved — with their permission, or in order to seek consultation with another professional, or in order to protect others from being harmed. The ethic of confidentiality is intended to assist people in getting help for their problems; it is not intended to prevent people from being held accountable for their harmful actions or to keep them from getting the help they need. More…
Ein af forsendum samningsins frá 1997 um kirkjujarðir og ígildi launa presta er “Álitsgerð kirkjueignanefndar, 1.” Ef ég einhvern tímann velti þessu fyrir mér frekar þá er álitsgerðin til á ýmsum bókasöfnum. Nánari upplýsingar eru hér í Gegni – Eintök.
Frábært innlegg um aðskilnað ríkis og kirkju. Að öllu leiti mjög vel unnið og greinargott. Eina athugasemdin sem ég hef er að eitthvað segir mér að eignir lúthersku kirkjunnar í upphafi 20. aldar séu ekki endilega jafn tengdar við eignir katólsku kirkjunnar fyrir siðbreytingu eins og séra Hjörtur Magni heldur fram. En ég er reyndar ekki sérfræðingur um meintar eignir kirkjunnar í upphafi 20. aldar.
This site is created by Halldór E. Guðmundsson and is an attempt to gather all kinds of thoughts about everything. (Lesa áfram… / Read on…)
Fyrirvari/Disclaimer
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