Archive: Reaching Generation X for Christ

By James H. Steele

In what has become almost a wintertime ritual, United Methodist teens and counselors descend each January on Gatlinburg, a tourist town nestled in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains. The omnipresent 15-passenger vans with the familiar cross and flame bear the names of churches in Knoxville and Chattanooga, Kingsport and Johnson City, Tennessee; Oak Ridge and Big Stone Gap, Virginia.

The event is “Resurrection,” and since it’s beginning in 1986 this enormous group youth retreat has become so popular it has to be held on two consecutive weekends at the Convention Center here. This year marked the 10th anniversary of the gathering. On two weekends, January 13-15 and January 20-22, more than 7,350 people representing some 400 churches attended. Never has the event failed to increase in attendance and “Resurrection X” was no exception, topping last year’s turnout by nearly 600. The theme: “Christ, Our Friend.”

Described by the denominational magazine Youth! as “one of the best kept secrets” in the church, the weekends of prayer, song, celebration, and fellowship have grown to become what is believed to the largest youth event now taking place within United Methodism.

According to the Rev. Steve Blakemore, chaplain of UM-related Hiwassee College in Madisonville, Tennessee, “Resurrection” operates on four firm convictions: “That young people need the grace of God in Jesus Christ; that human responsiveness to that grace is critical; that we, as planners never shy away from insisting that retreat speakers call young people to respond; and that we package it in such a format that it appeals to youth.”

The much-anticipated annual confab is an effort of the Council on Youth Ministries of the Holston Conference of the UM Church. With 12 districts, the region includes eastern Tennessee, along with a portion of western Virginia and a small part of northeast Georgia.

Young people taking part include middle schoolers, junior and senior high students, and a smattering of college age. And while they come in all shapes and sizes, one finds the usual similarities of teen attire—jeans, hiking boots, and sweatshirts bearing various insignia. Topping off the ensemble is the ever-present baseball cap (usually worn with brim backwards) which may espouse any one of a number of products or team loyalties.

Churches are required to have at least one adult counselor for every seven youth.

In one sense it’s a big family reunion. Instead of going separate ways, local church youth groups come together in one place for their winter retreat.

Inside the convention center contemporary Christian musician James Ward rocks the youth with his particular sound—described as soulful, spiritual, and energetic. The Rev. Rodney Smothers, senior pastor of Atlanta’s Central United Methodist Church, inspired the group this year with a down-to-earth message about God and Christian living.

Quality is stressed throughout according to the planners, not only in the people on stage, but in the technical aspects such as audio and the indescribable lights. State-of-the-art video equipment provides close-ups of stage participants via images projected on large screens suspended at various points from the auditorium ceiling, not unlike a rock concert.

Other parts of the program include a touring conference youth choir, a drama event, and evening group devotions providing intimate settings for youth to make new faith commitments. A Sunday morning service of praise, worship, and Holy Communion concludes the weekend. In earlier years the retreat included workshops, but now the program focuses on the main sessions. Workshops are done at other district and conference events.

There are also generous amounts of free time, including all of Saturday afternoon. Youngsters roam streets of downtown Gatlinburg, taking in the various eateries, tourist attractions, shops, and video games at the Space Needle arcade.

But once the stage is dismantled and the youth pile into cars and church vans to make the trek home, what then? Has “Resurrection” made a real difference in the faith journey of participants or has it been simply a time to converge in a kind of religious pep rally?

While no one denies the retreat’s fun aspect, team members are quick to emphasize the deeper aspects of “Resurrection.”

“This is more than just a feel-good thing,” commented the Rev. Hugh Kilgore, pastor of Mount Vale (Virginia) UM Church. “It’s a focused event calling for commitment and renewal. And we see results in our local church where youth are beginning to worship in their own language. That’s the primary purpose of ‘Resurrection.’ It brings the Gospel in language that youth speak. They then take this renewal experience back to their local church.” Kilgore is one of the original team members who conceived the event back in the mid-80s.

“In my opinion, the reason for the event’s success is because of the very reason it was started,” explained Blakemore, also an original team member. “We perceived there were many wonderful things happening in the conference, but there was no event designed and designated as an evangelistic retreat for youth. We wanted an event with a clear-cut, definitive call to discipleship in Jesus Christ, especially for youth who might be involved in a church, but who had not experienced the gift of faith for themselves.”

The third remaining member of the original design team is the Rev. Don Thomas, pastor of the Lafollette (Tennessee) UM Church. Previously, he notes, conference youth directors were “going in all different directions” trying to find some kind of winter event. “So, we decided to combine our efforts and invite others to be a part of a quality, evangelistic initiative. And over the years, we’ve learned what works—especially the blending of technology (the lights, and sound, and overhead television) with spirituality. Plus we’ve had speakers capable of communicating the gospel to a large group of people.”

“It has made such a difference in the lives of youth I have brought,” explains Patty Robbins, youth director of Trinity UM Church in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. “Ours is a rural area, and we’re especially thrilled to be here to sing and hear an outstanding speaker.” Robbins said that a favorite time is when youth and adults join in their rooms at night for devotions. “I can’t say enough of what this has meant. We have bonded closer to God and closer to each other. The youth talk about it all the time.”

Youth aren’t the only ones. Robbins said more and more adults want to come from her community, even the local high school principal.

One of Robbin’s fellow church members is Amy Sadler, now a college freshman and former youth council president in the Big Stone (Virginia) District. This was her fourth year to attend. “It brings our youth group much closer to each other and to God,” Sadler remarked. “The music is wonderful and the speakers are always amazing; it’s a really great experience. Many of my friends have had the same experience.”

Sadler says attendance at the annual events has made it easier for her to talk to others about Christianity. “I’m more comfortable and open with it.” She is pursuing a career in education and hopes to be a local church youth director.

Also sharing her experience is a high school sophomore from Signal Crest, Tennessee. “I had lost four family members in as many months and I blamed God for it,” she said. “I found it hard to cry, but when I went forward for prayer with my counselor I did cry, and it was then I felt the hug of Christ. I’m back this year and ready to dedicate my life to him.”

Scott Gillenwaters is director of youth ministries at First United Methodist Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He is one of the newer design team members. “One of the key things for ‘Resurrection’ is representing the Gospel in a context youth can understand,” he said. “You’ll never find youth at home spontaneously interrupting their minister to applaud. It’s neat that they gain strength from each other.

Angie Woody of Johnson City, Tennessee, headed the design team this year. She is an associate council director at the Holston Conference headquarters. “Part of what’s important, and meaningful, and  life-changing is what happens after they leave this place,” she notes. “They don’t come here as individuals; they come with their youth group, so there’s opportunity to love and nurture one another and follow up on the experiences they’ve had. … They learn to care for one another in a wholly different way.”

Accounting for the steady increase in attendance (600 the first year to more than 7,000 now), Chaplain Blakemore says success has bred success. “This is not simply a ministry to youth, but a ministry to youth groups,” he said. “On Saturday night when a young person walks down the center aisle, that person’s counselor is going to see him or her and make the walk with the person. And when they get back to their rooms at night, their youth group is going to help them process that experience.”

Asked what’s different about “Resurrection,” Blakemore looks back to his experience as a baby-boomer who came of age in the late ’60s and early ’70s. “We had plenty of youth ministry gatherings in which we’d ‘celebrate,’ but I’m not sure the Gospel was ever clearly presented,” he commented.

“I truly believe the success of this event is because the power of the Gospel comes to bear in young people’s lives when Christ is presented clearly as Lord, with an invitation to participate in God’s kingdom rather than an expectation that they ought simply to do the right thing. That’s the crucial difference between now and my experience growing up as a teenager.”

Blakemore feels “Resurrection” is even more important because youth culture today is not very optimistic. “None of the young people I work with at the college see their lives being better financially than their parents. None of them think we can cure the ills of society,” he said. “There’s a great deal of despair that’s settled in on this Generation X culture. And for us, I think that’s the big difference between youth ministry in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and even into the ’80s. Back in the ’60s, we were rebellious, but we were optimistic there was something worth rebelling against.

“But I think the Gospel as presented at ‘Resurrection’ addresses these issues for youth—hope in the face of despair, possibility in the face of impossibility, and life in the face of death,” Blakemore concluded.

James H. Steele is publisher of Hospital News of Alabama and formerly edited United Methodist regional newspapers in Missouri, Indiana and Alabama. Adapted from United Methodist News Service.

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