Eastern Orthodoxy and American Youth, Part 3: God is not the Enemy?
Today I will address why the theology of the Orthodox Church attracts young people.
Eastern Orthodoxy and American Youth, Part 2: What’s the Draw?
When my journey began, I had no idea that other young people were becoming Orthodox, but now I hear such stories regularly. In our church, many of the recent members and inquirers are between 20 and 40.
Eastern Orthodoxy and American Youth, Part One: I Find Community
“I’ve heard young people are joining the Orthodox Church. Why would they do that? It’s so old.”
-Anonymous
(the further continuation of) a letter from an exhausted/exasperated young person who has a love/hate relationship with the church
Part 3 of 3
This is it. The conclusion. The third installment of a trifecta of posts that started with an entry which, to be honest, I figured would be read by a dozen or so people and quickly dissolve into the ether.
(the continuation of) a letter from an exhausted/exasperated young person who has a complicated love/hate relationship with the church
PART 2 of 3
Given the unexpected response of the first part of my “letter,” Part 2 has invariably taken a new direction given many of the reactions and issues that were brought up after its posting…from comments on the original post, blog responses written throughout the web, and personal conversations I’ve had throughout this past week with people.
Unfortunately the same reactive defensiveness by which I have been buffeted in the past (and that I communicated was a strong source of my frustration) was present in many of the responses. (Not all, mind you. There were many people that stated my letter communicated their same frustrations. A very telling, albeit disheartening, fact). This is definitely a conversation that needs to occur and would greatly benefit from happening face-to-face…but more on that in Part 3. For Part 2, I would like to spend the majority of this post dealing with some of the aforementioned issues.
a letter from an exhausted/exasperated young person who has a complicated love/hate relationship with the church
PART 1 of 2
Can I be honest?
I find the church exhausting. At times infuriating.
