Saturday, August 27, 2005

Where are the young leaders?

I've been thinking, with all that the Southern Baptist Convention has been doing to promote young leaders within the Convention, where is the evidence of their impact? I know it takes time for things to grow, but if you look at other groups out there right now, most of them have no problem at all tapping the strength and ingenuity of their younger members. Take for instance the "Emergent" movement. There is a plethora of emergent leaders, seemingly a new one every day, and maybe they don't last long, maybe they do, but they are getting out there. Yet when you look at the typical Southern Baptist event, most of those involved are not under 35. Our churches are full (or partially-full truthfully) of older people, and we say we don't know how to reach those of my generation, but when we have opportunities to really give those under 35 a voice, do we? Hopefully this trend of involving younger leaders will continue until there is actual, long-term results and the hero's of the denomination won't just be the senior citizens but everyone who is able, including the younger generation.

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