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A church to call home

General Conference veterans saw a new feature on the lineup of the first day of addresses: next to the clergy and laity sermons stood the newcomer “Young People’s Address.” Six teenagers and young adults took the stage to share their perspectives on United Methodism as they’ve experienced it. What they got was a standing ovation. What delegates got was a surprising look at the hopes and fears of speakers who were the age of the kids of most delegates.

Kira Volkova believes her opportunity to speak to the United Methodist General Conference is a result not of her own work but “what God wanted me to do.” The strong faith of Volkova, a church planter, has carried her through her first two years working in the distant city of Kirov. Her ministry there is marked by compassion for the people in this northeastern Russian city that borders Siberia.

She works at the hospital, particularly offering hospice care to families with children dying of cancer, and visits and prays with women who have young children and find it hard to come out for worship. She also holds weekly worship and Bible studies in a rented hotel room.

The barriers Volkova faces in Russia are daunting. “Sometimes I wonder why I should go on,” she acknowledged. The Russian image of a minister is that of an Orthodox priest—an older married man, she pointed out. As a 23-year-old single woman, she must overcome that prevailing image. “I know God is with me and wants me to succeed,” she said, adding that she draws strength from the prayers of people in both Russia and the United States during times of discouragement.

“Young people want church to be a place they can belong and be themselves, receiving strength to become better selves,” said Kira. “In Russian society, where many young adults try to find happiness by drinking or drugs or smoking, the United Methodist Church offers a safe place where you can grow strong and find support and understanding.” Young people must also be equipped with courage for ministry, Volkova told General Conference. “It takes courage to admit you are a Protestant Christian in the Orthodox society, where rituals and traditions can seem more important than personal relationships with God,” she said.

Jason Rathod, 24, shared his story of growing up in a small town in the U.S., “where everyone was assumed to be white, Christian, middle-class, heterosexual and Republican.” He said he rebelled and “embraced everything liberal from the social gospel to soy milk,” and went on to attend Grinnell College, which he described as “one of the most liberal corners of the U.S.”    On campus, he met prejudice for his Christian beliefs and “realized that many liberals promoted a fundamentalism and intolerance of their own.”

Jason also talked about his grandfather, who grew up in a rural village in India. When his grandfather was a young boy, an American missionary enlisted the support of a United Methodist Sunday school in Arkansas that paid for him to attend a boarding school. “I stand before you today as a living testament of what the United Methodist Church can be when it’s at its best—when it acts on its inner impulse to live out its core values without fear,” he said.

Mr. Rathod added, “Although led to believe that I had to choose between competing values of left and right, I opted for a third way—the way of Wesley.” The Wesleyan quadrilateral convinced him “that liberals and conservatives are both right, but that only when putting their values together can we attain a higher truth.”

The Rev. Annie Arnoldy, 29, shared her impressions about young people by emphasizing that they find their identities in communal spaces. Young adults are looking for a place to belong. Arnoldy recalled her arrival at her church: “I was horrified by the physical space of the church,” she said. “But after I attended worship every week for a year, I felt won over by the people of the church. These are people who can tell you all the remodeling that has ever occurred, and who has gotten married there for the last 65 years. If this was a place I could belong, I knew it was a place other young people could belong,” she said. “This is the hope of our churches—to be places to belong. What I know about the church is that it yearns for young people,” said Arnoldy. “What I know about young adults is that they yearn for a place to belong. This seems like a pretty fruitful situation.”

Adapted from United Methodist News Service stories written by Kathy Gilbert, Mary Jacobs, and Michelle Scott.



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