At least not right now. Not like there usually is.

Churches are always looking for ways to “bridge the generation gap.” Katie McCown, quoted in the recent post entitled “Engaging Young Baptists,” offers very insightful reflections alongside some helpful suggestions on how to do just that. In her second point she encourages congregations not to “pretend that their aren’t generational differences,” but instead to acknowledge these differences and find ways to transcend them through “relationships.”

I could not agree more that relationships are fundamental towards creating any community, especially one that is intergenerational. But the problem has always been that people of different generations do not have much in common, or at least that has been the assumption. What on earth would a group of twenty-somethings and a group of fifty or sixty- somethings have to talk about?

Enter our current financial crisis. If the tragedies of 9/11 have taught us anything it is that times of crisis bring people together. A glimpse back into church history confirms it. Crisis result in single-mindedness, and right now everyone’s mind is on the economy. Sure, a twenty-five year old just a few years removed from college will have different concerns than a sixty-five year old on the verge of retirement, but they will share in the same feelings of uncertainty about the future, and perhaps even the same disillusionment with the current status quo. From a seminarian’s perspective, perhaps the one bright spot in all of this is that for once it is not the church that young people are becoming disillusioned with.

Many young people are becoming disillusioned because we have come into adulthood during a time of relative certainty, at least financially speaking. While I, and presumably the majority of my fellow seminarians, have not experienced  a six figure salary in my first 4 years out of college (and probably never will), I have friends who were making that much within 6 months. I have friends under 25 years old who own property and even boats (!), and they tell stories of colleagues doing “much better” than them. We have grown up in a culture where credit card debt is an accepted reality and student loans are a way of life. Saving is a thing of our parents’ generation. We want it now, and for the most part we have gotten in. This isn’t right, but until a few months ago, it was real. Or so we thought. 

“The most important thing I have learned over the past few months is that when it comes down to it, no one is looking out for you except yourself.” So said a friend of mine a while back when reflecting upon his current individual mini-crisis. He is in his late twenties but this sentiment could easily have been expressed by someone thirty years his senior. Young people weren’t the only ones benefitting from the economic boom of the past decade, and they certainly are not the only ones struggling as a result of the collapse. My guess is that they aren’t the only ones realizing the intrinsic cruelty of the business world. 

But where does/can/should the church fit into all of this? Here is one thought: If there is any place in this world where the individual should know that there is someone apart from themselves who is “looking out” or “caring” for them; where they are loved unconditionally, regardless of their bank account, investments, or lack-there-of; where they are told that they do have worth apart from their worth as a consumer; where they have an opportunity to serve their neighbor and spread something other than fear and uncertainty; it should be the church. Many people are looking for support, a friend, an answer–or perhaps as the Gospel of John puts it, an “Advocate” or a “Comforter.” 

The church must have a response to our nation’s, or world’s, current situation. No response is still a response. 

Want everyone’s attention? You got it. Now what will we do together?

So I will put the question out there: what are local congregations doing to address and respond to the current economic crisis? The blogosphere isn’t worth anything if it doesn’t help us share ideas. Maybe in our sharing we will encounter a response and an action we hadn’t considered. Maybe others will learn from ours.

My current congregation has addressed the general economic situation as well as individuals’ specific concerns each week in our prayers of the people during Sunday worship. We have also collected food for the local food bank as part of a church pancake supper at the start of Lent. Each Communion Sunday we collect a second offering that is used to address specific needs in our immediate community. We use it to buy grocery debit cards, bus fares, and other resources as necessary.

These are all small things, but small things add up to big things. And when it is all said and done, with the power of the Holy Spirit we might learn that our loaves and fishes account for much more than we originally thought. Perhaps even leftovers.

So for now, at least, I offer that that there is no such thing as “the concerns of young people” vs. the “concerns of older people.” At least not like there usually is. Right now we all share in the same concerns. Singleness of mind can lead to singleness of purpose. How will we as the church respond?