Younger Evangelicals in the PCA

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Scott

Puritan Board Graduate
Article on Byfaith:
http://www2.pcanews.com/editorial_o.../full_paper.taf?topic_ID=34&topic_paper_ID=50

Excerpt:
This article appeared in the January-February 2005 issue of Byfaith, the magazine of the Presbyterian Church in America. Join the discussion by responding to this article.


A Growing Hunger for Honesty and Authenticity: "Younger Evangelicals" in the PCA

You have feelings of fear and dread. Your PCA born-and-bred son has gone away to the "big university." Will it be a negative influence? Will he reject his covenant heritage? He returns home for his first break, and you begin to notice some strange and disturbing patterns. As you ask him about his faith, he's elusive. At church on Sunday he seems uncomfortable and irritable. You begin wondering if this is it— the moment every Christian parent dreads. Has your son abandoned the faith? At Sunday dinner, you muster the courage to ask. And his response floors you. "Dad and Mom, I've got something to share with you. I'm frustrated with church. It doesn't tackle the deep issues I wrestle with."

Here it comes. This is it. You grab each other's hand. And then he says it:

"Dad and Mom, what ever happened to the old hymns? My campus director plays guitar, and he's got all these old hymns that I never hear in church anymore, and they are so relevant to my struggles. And what ever happened to the Lord's Supper? Man, that's the good stuff…that's where I can lay it on the line with Jesus and bring Him my fears and dreams. And what ever happened to the Bible? When I was young, I loved hearing the stories and struggles of faith. They reached me. I wish our pastor told fewer jokes and focused on some of the real-life stories in the Bible and the church."

You don't know whether to cry or laugh.

PCA parents are telling more and more stories like this one. A strange convergence of ancient ways of faith and radically new forms of expression is happening. And it's happening in ways that might surprise you.
 
I read that last night. At this point I have no idea what I think about it. I was surprised that the author of the peice offered very little opinion either.
 
Scott,

The portion of the article that you quoted seems a little misleading. When I read it, I was thinking that it would be about the movement away from generic Calvary Chapel-style evangelicalism towards more traditional expressions of confessional Christianity (which I identify with in my personal move towards the Reformed faith). Instead, the article seems to be about the so-called "emergent church," which in my opinion, is just another step in the direction of Rick Warren's/Bill Hybels' seeker movement taken to the next level.

Brian
 
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