Having a goal...and shooting for it!

A couple weeks ago my son Ben and I reached a goal that is out of the grasp of most people: we

completed a half marathon.  For the past several months I’ve been in ‘training mode.’  While I enjoy running year round, this is the time when I increase the number of miles I’m putting in.  I start with 5 mile runs and weekly increase to 6, then 7, up to 9 miles.  I figure that if I can run 9 miles by myself I can definitely run 13 miles in a crowd.  The training paid off.  On a beautiful day in downtown St. Paul I ran my third half marathon, finishing 8 minutes faster than last year.  I wanted to beat 2 hours, and I finished in 1:53.  Goal completed!

Some of the 500 people running that day ran with a very different goal in mind.   “The Securian half-Marathon is an official Wave 1 qualifier for the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon.”  That means some the top runners ran this race with a larger goal in mind.  They sought to qualify to start with the elite crowd in a marathon.  I suspect that their training took a more vigorous course, as the top runner finished over 40 minutes before I did.  For every mile that I ran, he gained 3 minutes on me.  Pretty impressive! 

For me, the Securian half-marathon served as goal to shoot for.  For the top runners, this half-marathon served as a means towards a more significant goal.  For them the half-marathon was not enough: they had their eyes on a greater prize.  We ran the same race…we had different ideas of what the race meant to us. 

Different goals…different training…different outcomes

I think the same can be said for faith formation in many congregations.  People come to it with vastly different goals, seeking different outcomes.   Is it any wonder that we have a hard time agreeing on the best way to ‘train’?

• For some, faith formation means Sunday School attendance.  Having many kids roaming the halls of the church building brings satisfaction and hope.  If kids show up, the goal is complete.
• Others want their children to gain a sense of right and wrong.
• Others want their kids to know something about the Bible. 
• Others come with a goal of keeping youth engaged in faith and the church throughout their lives. 

Is it any wonder that when you bring people together with such different goals and ask the question, “What should our church do with our kids,” you get vastly different responses? 

•  Those for whom Sunday School attendance is the measuring stick will go all out to preserve the status quo while seeking to find a ‘draw’ to get kids to show up.  Perfect attendance pins used to be a draw, but they don’t seem as effective as they used to be.  If only they can find a fun curriculum then kids will flock to Sunday School once again! 
• If the goal is to grow kids with a strong sense of morality, some education needs to be coupled with opportunities for to serve in the world.  Once the kids have the proper background (i.e. when Confirmation is complete), then the necessary groundwork had been laid.    
• If Bible teaching is crucial, then the proper teachers need to be brought in to pass on that information.  You’d never expect a parent to teach calculus to their child, so why would you expect a parent to teach the Bible to their kids?  Trained leaders are good…pastors have the most training and are the best!  These Biblical stories can be taught all the way through Confirmation, but that’s enough.  Sure there are deeper levels of learning, but a basic understanding is sufficient.
• If the goal is to develop young people with a vibrant faith, the research overwhelmingly shows that the most effective way to 'produce young adults who are active and engaged in their lives of faith' is through mentoring from parents and other adults.  These parents seek opportunities for inter-generational learning so their children can be impacted by the faith of their elders.  They seek to be empowered in their own faith journey so they can share those experiences with their kids.  “If Sunday School and Luther League don’t develop kids into a life-long relationship with a living God, then scrap them!” they say.

Ben and I trained for a half-marathon.  It was enough for us!  Others approached the event with much loftier goals in their sights (and they accomplished what they set out to do).  It would have been difficult to train together given these vastly different desired outcomes.

Congregations struggle to agree on ways to raise kids in the faith because they come at it with vastly different goals in mind.  Some parents (and grandparents) are perfectly happy with the ‘old models’ because they accomplish exactly what they want them to accomplish.  Others seek much more.   It is difficult to ‘train’ together given these vastly different desired outcomes.

What ‘goals’ does your congregation have for faith formation?  Is it accomplishing what you want it to accomplish?