So, if anyone were to ask me what the problem is with the church today attracting and keeping young adults in college, I can give them some very good, clean-cut answers! Systems thinking aside, I'm mired in this age-old battle of "you didn't kiss our asses enough so we are going to question your ministry until you just quit and go away with this nonsense" struggle.

See, I serve a Small, Presbyterian-related, liberal-arts college whose past presidents have shared with me that they did nothing intentional to foster a relationship with the large Presbyterian church a mile and a half down the road.

I serve a S, P-R, LAC whose past chaplains did nothing to really help the relationship along, and whose past chaplain actually succeeded in getting the one freakin' Sunday when our students led worship taken off the calendar!

So, how dare I come in to said college and suggest that maybe, just maybe, a few students and I go to Taize in May? I expected 6, we have 16 that are signed up to go.

How dare I suggest that maybe we hold a luncheon at that Presbyterian church down the way to raise money to go on the trip? By the way, 8 of the students are Presbyterian and 7 of them have gone regularly to the Presbyterian church down the street.

How dare I even imagine that the community at large would support this ecumenical effort where our Catholic students (3 going) and our Protestant students will, for the first time sanctioned by the Roman Catholic church, be able to take communion together?

What I'm hearing, if not in actuality but in whispers, is, "You needed to be here for 4 years before you even thought about doing this. Why don't the students go down to the conference center for that nice college retreat? Why do they need to go to France? Aren't you setting a precedent? You know, they've (at your school) never done something like this before. Maybe we could support you if we knew your students (one is actually a child of the church and is going on SESSION next month!). Oh! and my personal favorite, 'Well, you've been great to work with, but there are other members that are related to the SLAC who have given me grief in my job here as pastor, so I'm hesitant to support what you are doing."

Give me a break! To that last one, I actually said that I understood his frustration as pastor with those particular individuals, but the only person that counted in his relationship with the school was me. I was the one in charge of Campus Ministry, they are only related to the college by marriage. I was the one who had invited said pastor over here numerous times to meet students and such.
(and now I'm just bitching) I'm the one who has had a number of cups of coffee with this pastor as he's tried to navigate the waters with a non-functioning senior pastor who has left and left him in charge.

And just to juxtapose, there are two churches in the city down the road who are not only allowing us to come and have a fundraiser (and they have NO students here) but are cooking the food for us. Go figure.

Now, do I know that it was probably not the best idea to raise money the first year I'm here? You bet. Do I know that having 16 instead of 6 makes it harder to raise the money? Yep. Do I believe that this will take a program that has done better than expected this year and take it to the next level? Absolutely. Have I realized except for 1 student that all of these students will return to the college renewed and with new leadership skills most of them will be able to share for at least 2 if not 3 years? 100% realized that.

Is it a big gamble that we try to do this? Of course, but one that I think will provide a contemplative and strong ecumenical leadership for years to come.

Oh, and how much money are we talking? (If you, dear reader, would like to donate....) Well, it's around $2000 a person, and we are asking our students to pay $500. The university will help raise half and so we are in charge of roughly raising $14,000. We have about $3000 now. The church has been known to raise between $2000 and $3000 per luncheon.

I have a meeting in an hour to talk to the VP who is helping us raise money, and I'm going to have to ask the question, "Do we need to pull the plug?"

I guess what saddens me the most is that there seems to be this scarcity thinking of, "If we support the college students, then there will be no support for our fledgling youth program." If we support you, then we cannot support something else. And, of course, there is this, "What will this give us?" mentality. I want to say back, "You have 12 Presbyterian students who attend church almost every week, who sit there and hope to God someone speaks to them and asks them how they are doing. You have students who have moved their membership to your church and have received no call or card thanking them for joining. You have students who are willing and able to help out in a variety of ways, then you bitch that they've never offered. Good God, people, you have these resources YOU have ignored and now you tell me that you need time to "get to know them?" They've been in front of you for a year or more!!!"

Please pray I get off my high horse in time for these meetings over the next couple of hours and days. Every time I try to confess to God all of my culpability in this, I get angrier!

And, if I may be so bold, please pray that this trip happens because I have 16 amazing students who are craving something deeper and an experience of the Holy (and a trip to France if we're being honest) and the thought of letting them down has been keeping me up at night.