Lent Day 36: Christ and the Recovering Adolescent

On Palm Sunday I was a bit out of sorts during the service, a bit disoriented because of everyone (not just worship leaders) processing (or is that proceeding?) into the Sanctuary/church.

Prior to that I was teaching youth group, something that I feel like I've been doing forever, not because it's something that I got to do, but because it's something that I get to do.

Within two weeks of my baptism at age 23, I was co-teaching the youth group at my church.  The oldest students in that group were just six years younger than me, and all of them had a decade more experience in church life than me.  It's not the sort of thing anyone plans, from the youth board's perspective or the newly baptized.  It just happened, the sort of serendipity that the New Me has gotten used to, in a good way.

I don't really remember much about those early years of youth group, other than I was a ball of energy.  I was excited and anxious about being 'responsible' for a group of young adults who were really not that much younger than me.  The other thing I recall doing was mimicking what my favorite teachers did best:  ask questions... open-ended questions.  And because I was new to the church, I got to ask the teens what they thought and believed about almost anything, and in particular, why we say and do the things we do during worship service.  I always got interesting answers, and often the tables were turned.  I didn't always have the answers, but I always shared my thought process and then invited guest speakers to help provide answers to our persistent questions.

After about three years of that hectic pace I was feeling burnout.  I discovered later that the average tenure for a youth worker is 18 months before burnout sets in.  One Sunday I yelled across the church parking lot to Ed Schroeder about the Crossings classes I had heard about; soon after I enrolled in a class.  It changed my life, helping me to more fully appreciate the meaning of my Baptism, to live in a way where the energy wasn't draining from me, but my energy was being replenished and renewed -- a qualitatively different kind of energy as well, coming from the Cross and the Resurrection.  In short, there was a New Me.

I continued youth work for another decade until Noah came along.  I could do the youth ministry while Amy was young and an only child, but with two young kids it was too much.  I started again after Amy was confirmed -- the affirmation of her baptism -- and joined youth group.

I was a bit tentative the second time around because I felt that much of the 'success' in my first tour of duty was because I was unrelated to any of the youth.  With some distance, the teens could be a bit more free in the discussions.  But I found it didn't really matter.  There's some adjustment because of the father-daughter relationship, but it's surprisingly pleasant to be able to talk about faith matters and other things in an adult way with my own daughter, especially in a group setting.  It's definitely something I didn't expect and I savor every moment.

On Palm Sunday Amy wasn't at youth group because she was recovering from a weekend competition.  I sort of groaned about getting up early and going because I had to do it.  But the teens were marvelous, always full of energy even if much of it was grousing about waking up early on a weekend day (but hey, I felt the same way).  As was the theme of the day I did everything out of pattern and sat in a different seat.  I looked up and noticed a picture I rarely get to see:  Poseidon from a beach, with the waves depicted as white stallions.

I mentioned how the painting reminded me of Percy Jackson and New Olympians:  The Lightning Thief (because Percy is the son of -- spoiler alert -- Poseidon), and how I somewhat enjoyed the movie but after reading the book, hated the movie in solidarity with Noah's opinion.  I then instinctively asked -- because it was clear we weren't going to stay on topic that day -- apart from the book to movie adaptation problem, why is it that it's easier to write books or make movies about gods other than the God we profess and confess each Sunday?

I actually wasn't prepared for the onslaught of opinions, but it was beautiful.  I don't need to go into the details of the discussion, but it's safe to say we'll be revisiting this same theme later in the year.  This is a wonderful phase of life these teens are going through:  a time of questioning of the world, of themselves, of God, and reflecting on what these things mean to them and how to incorporate it into their daily lives.

It reminded me of when I led a Crossings weekend workshop and one of the participants, in introducing herself with name, congregation and job, described herself as a "'recovering adolescent' -- make that 'youth minister.'"  I don't remember her name, but I laughed my head off at that comment and have stolen it and used it shamelessly ever since.  I get to be with the youth of my church, be a recovering adolescent-in-Christ and I love every minute of it.



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