Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church

Dear Church Family,

I’m writing to invite you to join in a conversation group with me and our youth director Stephanie Hare this Fall.

At their baptism, we parents made a commitment to our children that we would help them grow in the life of faith. Our work is to help them join in the larger story of God’s love in Jesus Christ and the Spirit’s work in the world. At their best, our Sunday school and confirmation classes live out that commitment, but many voices and other stories seek to be of greater importance in our children’s and youth’s lives.

To understand how important our role as parents is in living our baptismal covenant, I would like for us to read together, Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church. Don’t let the title fool you. This isn’t a book simply for parents of teenagers. This is a study and conversation about the kind of church we have built and will continue to build where children and youth can be passionate about their faith as the core to their lives.

I envision an eight-week gathering, weekly or every two weeks, where we would gather for 90 minutes to discuss a chapter and support one another in parenting our children and youth on their journey of faith.

At this point, I hope you will reply and share with me your interest in the group. Some possible meeting times could be: Sunday morning at 9:30, Sunday afternoon/evening during youth group or another time that works well for the group. If other times would work, please reply and share them. I’m hoping to start in late September or early October.

Thanks for your commitment to connecting our children and youth to God, one another and the world God loves as we live our baptismal commitment together.

~Chip