Part I: By Example
I’ve been thinking about formation in Christian settings a lot lately. Have been working with the thesis that what sets or could set progressive faith formation apart from other traditions is a focus on accompaniment, specifically accompaniment of, what in biblical terms is referred to as “the poor” or “the least.”
What is problematic for much of Christian formation in the West, in particular with things like Sunday school, is that formation became a thing for its own sake. You go to Sunday school to go to Sunday school. You get confirmed to get confirmed. Whole curricula and publishing industries have been predicated on this.
But, to give just one example, I didn’t learn how to worship in a class on worship. I learned how to worship by worshipping. So in one sense I’d encourage parents to always trust that just bringing the kids along and having them do what you do IS the primary formation.
But then also over the course of my life as a Christian I’ve had to unlearn a lot of things I learned in Christian formation settings.
Examples: I learned queer virtues and advocacy through accompany queer friends.
I learned the problems with the middle class captivity of the church by accompanying those in prison, living in poverty, refugees and orphans and more.
There was no specific structured curriculum for that kind of formation. Instead I was formed by where I went, who I was with, how I used my time.
A lot of progressive Christians value their churches commitments to advocacy, social Justice organizing, nonprofit institution building, etc. but then they are uncertain how to connect youth in particular to these.
I think the answer is to bring them along. If your church has a mutual ministry with queer orgs, take the kids to events; if your org is going to the Capitol or DC for advocacy have the children along; if you are struggling to cross cultural boundaries or class boundaries to meet others in chellenging ways, give the gift of having your children travel with you into those relationships.
A lot of traditional church established youth formation as something separate or apart from the neighbor loving work of the church, and then to a certain degree redefined the work of the church as being that type of formation.
But the real formation is visiting the sick, the dying, the imprisoned, the least of these. It will be in doing these works of mercy that formation in the way of Christ will happen.
The real challenge In this kind of Christian formation is that you won’t be able to drop your child off somewhere for it like traditional morning Sunday school.
It will mean you also will by necessity continue the formation in your own life you want for your kids.
The idea is that we learn the way of Christ by living the way of Christ. Life together as church is along this way, not preparation for it nor separate from it.
The way is the way.1
A friend recommended this resource which, though new to me, looks intriguing: https://www.pathways2promise.org/about-companionship-movement?fbclid=IwAR3Y8_Cg9vOjSo6Jlpf5702Ed2vJRwsUTRzKgz_zH9xp90lH-pnZhQ-evkc_aem_AYc1xJ86nV0BYHPGicrirJvFLJlRg3X39netb2f6Hxmzo5d3Dlmc_9KEo4MR3DKNlCI&mibextid=Zxz2cZ