Listen To Different Generations And Races

My recent blogs have brought some great feed-back. What about this from Paul John Martin in Minnesota:

 We believe that in the Celtic Way, we have something priceless we are called by God to pass on to others. How...?  I have three main ideas.

  First, we can pray daily, faithfully. Ray reported on 24 people in UK who pledged to pray daily for a younger generation.I make the same pledge. I invite you to join me.

  Second, I don’t believe we should simply expect them to join us as we are. We must listen to what they have to teach us. Many have documented how the under-40s have left their’ parents’ churches in droves, even if they still follow Jesus.  Many millennials find the very word ‘Christian’ toxic, because of what they see as the moral bankruptcy of some well-publicized Christian leaders and churches. Many volunteer their time to serve others. Yet many are more spiritually aware than their parents. This is why many say they are ‘spiritual but not religious.’ They are hungry for authentic relationship with God, and authentic community.  They will respond to the light whatever its source...

 Lastly, we should provide for Young Explorers. This is something we set out to do two years ago. We found some good material. However, for various reasons we ‘dropped the ball.’  It’s time to pick it up again.  Friends, the generation gap has probably never been greater - but the call to “pass on what we have received to faithful people who will be able to teach others” is the same as ever.

 Then someone in Virginia sent a  report from Religious Dispatches.  It describes how many African Americans who want to be authentic and follow Jesus are fleeing from the colonial-style churches that mix white supremacy with Jesus' Gospel, sometimes without knowing it  http://religiondispatches.org/christians-of-color-are-rejecting-colonial-christianity-and-reclaiming-ancestral-spiritualities/ 

First Nation Amercans have already done this.They look for roots in their ancestral traditions. Saint Aidan stands for the Indigenous Way of Jesus in  races different to one's own.  Not everyone realises this. That is why I unpacked this in my book 'St. Aidan's Way of Mission' published by BRF. So I was thrilled to hear from Will Toms in Arizona that elders of a First Nation people have invited me to speak with them in Aprl. This is a great privilege.  I would like to think I speak and learn  as a fellow elder.  

Meanwhile The Aidan Way magazine has a new editor, a new designer, new contributors and new impact  I hope it can encompass news from different generations and races.