This is not to say that we as a generation do not see the need for ritual but it must be meaningful. It must be meaningful to us. I suspect that our generation is less into having someone between us and God. Yes I think that there can be a leader of ritual, one who is there to give spiritual guidance and say many of the words of ritual. But perhaps they need not be a class apart, a job unto itself. Perhaps we will find that "church" happens spontaneously when needed rather than same bat time, same bat channel every week. Perhaps there will be a regular schedule so that those who have busy lives know they can come at particular time to get their spiritual community cup filled. May be that "church" happens with the work. I"m not sure how to bring GenX to church. Honestly, what I do know is that what is currently available is driving people away in droves. Not sure that we need an "opposite" to create an opposite effect. Interestingly a thought that occurs to me is that many people when asked say, "I don't have a problem with The Christ and His Teachings, I have a problem with Churches and how they do things."
So what is the issue? Perhaps an examination of that will give answers to how to Church GenX
I spent some time studying ritual a few years back and two things really struck me. One - that in general, ritual is old-fashioned. It is not seen as relevant in modern society, and his applies to all forms of ritual, religious or otherwise. Modern ideas revolve around spontaneity, freedom of choice, independence, and individualism. Whereas once upon a time it would have been unthinkable to be so informal, we now place great value on informality. But, on the other hand, when we decide we do want ritual, we do it a HUGE way these days. So, somewhere inside we still see value in it. In my personal experience I avoid it like the plague, until I can't, and then find myself benefitting from it immensely. I think what it will take, as with all these things, is for the masses to find the need first, and seek it out themselves. I don't think any nagging or goading will help, it will only push people away further.
ReplyDeleteOh I'm there with you. The easiest way to drive people away is to try to force it through any kind of coercive measure. problem is that the institutions that people want for weddings, and funerals need support more often than Easter and Xmas otherwise they wind up like we Pagans. Our rituals are in parks or in someone's yard or house. no buildings to support ritual items are personally owned and not communal etc. This is fine for many but one thing that comes up time and again is that the boomer generation is loath to give up power over what is done and how and it's driving the 40 somethings away in droves. What I'm seeing in the Pagan community is that we've got a bazillion "solitary practitioners" and not much community left. What we are looking for here is "how do we meet the needs of the disenfranchised generations so that we can offer them our services as spiritual practitioners?"
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