Adolescent Views on Church

Yesterday and today I have been in the Bible/Religion classes for first and second year students at Vejlefjordskolen, a Christian high school run by the Adventist Church in Denmark. My friend Niels teaches these classes, and he invited me to tell about Aarhus Café Church. They have been studying church planting, and to add perspective I was to share real-life experiences about starting a new church.

This has been an interesting task – not especially difficult, because it’s been a big part of my life for the past 7 years, and telling the story is just recounting what has happened. But reflecting a bit more on possible mistakes and ideas for the future has also been a fun challenge.

I hope the students had a good experience, of course. But it has also been an interesting one for me. Especially today with the second years I had a good time listening to their questions and trying to provide insightful answers. What struck me especially was a possible insight into the minds of young people of this age.

Adolescence is a time of starting to make up your own mind and considering alternative world views. It is a time of trial and error, of idealism, sometimes of naïveté, and of asking questions but also believing you have a lot of answers made out. It is a time where you slowly discover that perhaps your parents weren’t right about everything; at first you may protest them by doing the exact opposite of what they believe, but over time most of us end up respecting their beliefs and forming our own not all that far from theirs, but still distinctly our own.

Asking questions is healthy. And when it comes to church I hope that all generations will ask questions and have ideals. But equally, we ought to mature into not letting everything be a matter of our elders’ views or the exact opposite. They were right about a lot of things – and wrong about quite a few, too. As we all are. Nothing is either black or white.

St John

Today and tomorrow I will be in the choir, singing Bach’s Passion of St John with Aarhus Symphony Orchestra. The music is wonderful and rehearsals have gone well – with the very inspiring Paul Goodwin conducting – so I believe we are in for something special. Tonight’s concert is in the new Symphonic Hall of the recently expanded Concert Hall Aarhus. Tomorrow is in the gorgeous 12^th century Aarhus Cathedral.

I love these experiences. During my time in the Jutland Academic Choir I have had the privilege of singing with the symphony on numerous occasions, including the Passion of St Matthew (Bach) Christmas Oratorio (Bach), Dream of Gerontius (Elgar), Requiem (Hindemith) and The Creation (Haydn). It is extraordinary to be a part of music performances on this level, and I look forward to adding another memory to the list tonight.

Don’t Look Back

One of the queerer Bible stories is that of the destruction of Sodom and flight of Lot and his family. They were told to leave behind that city of evil and venture forth in faith. Only, Lot’s wife lingered back – the text reads: “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” (Genesis 19:26) This text is often used in sermon-making for convincing people to move forward, trusting God. As such, it was influential in my decision to be baptised almost 10 years ago. It’s still a good point: don’t look back.

I will not look back on the things I now leave behind, questioning whether my old life was better. I will cherish the memories, sure, but not linger with pointless nostalgia. I will think fondly of my time in Aarhus (not in the least comparable to Sodom), the people I have met here, the many many good experiences, and the church I have helped build during my 9 years in Denmark’s 2^nd largest city. But I will look forward, not back.

I will look forward to leaving my home country, travelling to Sydney in the middle of May. I will look forward to calling Australia home for at least the remainder of 2008. I will look forward to meeting old and new friends in Sydney and elsewhere, introducing them to Katrine, experiencing everyday life down under, and to living with my parents again for the first time since 1997. I will look forward to eventually living in Copenhagen when we return to Denmark sometime in 2009. I will look forward to not knowing exactly what the future brings but hoping for grand experiences and new challenges in the months and years to come.