This week we share blogs post of two of our recent graduates, Emily Rowell Brown, MDiv’13 and Monica Weber, MDiv’13.
4 SUREFIRE WAYS TO ATTRACT YOUNG ADULTS TO CHURCH by Emily Rowell Brown
Posted November 12, 2014
Spoiler alert: the post title is actually a misnomer. I will not tell you the secret to tripling your young adult membership overnight or provide the magic bullet for getting young adults into Episcopal church pews.
But I can tell you about what I notice as a millennial who works in the church, where I think faith communities fall short, and why it’s worth changing some of our institutional practice to accommodate millennials–instead of attempting to change millennials to fit our institutions.
I know that millennials get a lot of grief: we’re entitled and flaky and addicted to technology. We’re too forthcoming with sex and we don’t really know how to work and we rely too much on our parents. This all may be true, but we bring some of our own gifts to the table, too. (Read the complete post here)
Silent Speech by Monica Weber
All my life, I’ve been quite the chat artist. Frequent corner-standing due to non-stop kindergarten eloquence led to report card notes (“Good student, talks too much”), followed by trips to the principal’s office after using the high school newspaper to broadcast my blunt opinions. I’m no stranger to conflict as a result of my penchant to speak out. In fairness to myself, at the age of 5, I became the proud owner of a Chatty Cathy doll, and so my fantasies have always run more to emulating Chatty Cathy’s verbal talents than Barbie’s 20″ waist.
I’m the subject of frequent eye-rolls as the first to offer my take on any discussion topic or share a relevant experience. I can’t help myself…or maybe it’s that I don’t want to. In any case, my mom’s wise words from childhood still ring true: “Your mouth will get you into trouble.” (Read the complete post here)
If you are alumni/ae of the Divinity School and want us to share your blog, email michelle.bukowski@vanderbilt.edu.