The person who believes in what he or she is doing is nearly unstoppable. That was definitely the case for Martin Luther and his other reforming compatriots in Wittenberg following 1517. They had the vim and vigor of the Spirit driving them to share the Good News in new ways and with new audiences every day. After Luther blew open the issues of his day by posting and publishing his 95 Theses, there was no turning back and no slowing down. They got to work spreading the Gospel that once was lost but had again been found.
               
I have to be honest. When we, as pastors, were deputized by our Lutheran leadership to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation over a year ago, I was not very enthused about the whole thing. For one, I saw that there are many challenges that our church is facing in the present. Much of the talk about the 500th anniversary seemed backwards looking to a reforming movement that was, at the neglect of the reforms we need to bring to the church in our own time. I try hard to make sure that we do not treat our church like a museum, but the things I was hearing about this celebration of our history seemed exactly the work of museums. Our congregation is a living, thriving community of faith and we need to constantly live into that identity, even as we honor our past.
               
The other big issue that I had with celebrating Luther’s posting of his 95 Theses is that the real work of reforming the church happened in the years following 1517 – not in that year alone. It was not as though Luther nailed this document to the church door, walked away, and said, “Alright. Everybody good now?” On the contrary, that single act started him down a journey and career that would demand great energy, effort, insight, collaboration, and faith that God was calling him to serve the church by disrupting it. The Reformation was not a one and done sort of thing, it demanded seemingly endless effort by the guy our denomination is named after and all who supported him. It was no easy task to change centuries of church malpractice and lead people to stand on a Gospel that they were barely familiar with. Lutheran Reformers surely rose to the challenges of their day. Over the next decade, they would out publish their Roman Catholic opponents 10 to 1, and, to this day, Luther remains one of the most prolific writers in human history. His work in the years following 1517 proved that the movement was only just getting started.
               
Obviously, we did have a grand celebration on Reformation Sunday, but I want to let you know that I will not stop drawing on the legacy of the Lutheran reformers. They have left us a great example for our own time. Like the church in the 21st century, they had no clear way forward and had to fight the tide of their time to bring renewal to the church. The way forward for the church of the 16th century was almost entirely unknown. There was reason to doubt and despair over the massive upheavals that were threatening the social fabric of Europe and, seemingly, even threatened the very salvation of Christian souls. But, the Lutheran reformers were convicted by scripture and their faith in a loving God, so they pressed on anyway as I believe we must.
               
Martin Luther could not be stopped because he believed in the mission that God had set upon his soul, and his conviction was contagious. The Gospel mission that inspired the reforms he brought to the church was one worth fighting for, and the fact that he did not shy away from putting his life on the line for what he believed in is an example that is worth following into the unknown challenges of our own time. Press on in the faith my friends, and know that while our faith draws on the past, it will only propel us forward to the unknown paths that lie before us.
 
                                                                               In Christ,
                                                                             Pastor Seth

This month, 500 years ago, an Augustinian monk turned professor got on his high horse and called the church to account for its spiritually fraudulent practices. The author Alister McGrath, in his book Christianity’s Dangerous Idea, called Martin Luther an “accidental reformer”. I believe that this is an apt observation. When Luther posted his 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg, there was no reason to think that this little town with an unknown university would ever have a role in speaking truth to church power. There was no predicting how big this reformation thing would eventually become and there was no reason to think that Luther would ever have been anyone special.
               
But, we believe that Luther and his theology played an important role in freeing the Gospel from church falsehoods that had grown worse over time. The gospel of Mark tells us that, at Jesus’ death, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Mark 15:38). The ancient Israelites believed that God dwelt with them in the ark of the covenant which was housed in the holiest of holies, the innermost room of the temple which was covered by a huge curtain. When Jesus died and the curtain was ripped open, we believe that God’s presence was unleashed on the world. Yet, in the centuries leading up to the Reformation, the church used its authority to try to hide the presence and grace of God from ordinary people once again. They taught that priests, bishops, cardinals and popes were closer to God than everyone else, and that they were the only ones who could interpret the will of God. In turn, these leaders used their authority to exploit the faith and fear of the masses. People were charged if they wanted to receive God’s forgiveness and grand cathedrals and elegant church mansions were built using the hard-earned wages of the faithful poor. The effect of these abuses was an attempt to hide God behind a proverbial temple curtain, making people believe that salvation was only for the rich and powerful – not the everyday believer.
               
In essence, when Luther taught people that the Roman Catholic Church was perverting the Good News of Jesus Christ, it was similar to the temple curtain being torn when Jesus died. Though the church tried to hide the fact that God is generous and freely forgives everyone who believes, Martin Luther made this simple truth known to the masses once again. In so doing, God’s gracious love was revealed to the people by tearing open the veil of church corruption and false teaching.
               
500 years later, this is a fact still worth celebrating because churches and pastors continue to put up curtains to hide the truth of God’s gracious forgiveness and love. I have friends who have been told that they are unworthy of God’s grace because they got pregnant before marriage. Others have been excluded from churches because they love the wrong type of person or because they have gotten divorced. Others have been told they are unworthy of God’s love because they haven’t attended worship for a couple of Sundays. And still others, just like Martin Luther, are told that they are not worthy of God’s grace because they question and doubt things that some churches and pastors teach. For all of these who have been hurt and kept from encountering God’s grace in the 21st century, we celebrate that for 500 years we have been faithfully living into the truth that God loves us no matter what. Even if some of our churches try to keep us from the grace of God, there is no hiding the truth that God cares for each and everyone of us, no matter what.
               
​The power of the Gospel is Good News whose re-release 500 years has been worth celebrating for centuries. I can’t wait to see the Gospel moving in people’s lives for the next 500 years!
 
In Christ,
Pastor Seth

                Greetings family of Faith! The temperatures outside don’t make it feel like fall is around the corner, but the calendar tells me it is. Hopefully, September will bring an end to this crazy fire season and our skies will finally clear up for a while!
                I shared this already in our Sunday announcements, but I am excited to say once again that we have received our first distribution from the Mission of Faith Endowment Fund! All the hard work, and generosity that our congregation put into raising money during 2016 is paying off and benefitting our ministry going forward. From the the initial $34,000 we raised as our principal amount in the endowment fund account, we received our first distribution of $367.56! Distributions are money that is generated from the interest, dividends, capital gains, etc., which come from the money that we deposited into our account with the broader ELCA Endowment Fund. We will receive a distribution from the Mission of Faith Endowment Fund every quarter, totaling four per year.
                The Endowment Fund Committee, consisting of Rick Tameler, Janette Rosman, Dustin Hess, and myself, met and started deliberating how we should spend the money that our Fund is bringing in. Since we hope to grow the Mission of Faith Endowment Fund over time, the committee decided that it was important to use some of the funds we receive towards this purpose. We decided that we would like to devote a ten percent tithe out of each distribution to put back into the fund for future growth. We intend to be faithful stewards of the money that has been entrusted to us, and we believe that giving money to the future of Faith Lutheran Church’s ministry is a crucial aspect of that stewardship.
                The committee also decided, and our church council approved, that we would like to spend the rest of our first distribution in support of Elias Nawawieh from Polson when he travels to support Christian refugees in Jordan in October. Christians have been in Iraq for nearly 2,000 years, since the time of the apostles and the early church, but ISIS has forced them to renounce their Christian faith, flee, or die. These deeply committed Christians believed that it was better to give up everything than abandon their faith, and many are now in refugee camps in Jordan having left all that they own behind. Elias Nawawieh has traveled and worked with refugees in Jordan for several years. Elias is originally from Bethlehem in Palestine, and regularly leads trips to the Holy Land from the United States and elsewhere. He is uniquely suited to provide aid to Iraqi refugees because his first language is Arabic and he has many contacts in the Middle East. By supporting Elias, we will not only be helping Christian refugees in need, but also pushing back against the evil that ISIS commits against its own people in Iraq and Syria.
                Since distributions from the Mission of Faith Endowment Fund are not all that big yet, we determined that it is best to devote them to specific causes each quarter, instead of splitting them up into smaller amounts. We expect that future distributions will be used to support things like youth service learning trips, scholarships for camp, or similar causes. We also intend to support international and other local causes with the money that we receive from the Fund, and we are grateful for this opportunity which enables us to do both at the same time!

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

                Kids are going back to school already? Summer is nearly over? I mean, it has been hot for a long time, but don’t we still have a couple months left? I guess not! Not sure about you, but this summer definitely seems to have slipped away from me. With the business of trips, family visiting, vacation Bible school, camp, and every other activity over these last couple of months I am left with one thought – “where has the time gone?” I suppose time does really fly by when you are busy.
                As we think about gearing up for the fall once again, there are a few things that I hope you will think about in the life of our community of Faith. First off, you probably have noticed if you are on the email list or Facebook that I have started blogging. If you are not, this message is for you. I have started an author website, www.revsethnelson.com, and I have started a blog that I hope to update on a weekly basis. My blog entries will give spiritual reflections on the church, life, faith and other topics that I hope you will find interesting. Check it out and share it with friends and family that you think might be interested in reading it!
                When the school year starts, there are many things that start back up at church, too. From Sunday school to confirmation, quilting to potluck dinners, you will have many opportunities to get involved when the fall rolls around. As you consider your church involvement this year, I want to challenge you to think about new things you might want to see us do as a faith community this year. Do you think you would like to have more Bible studies in our congregation? Great! Think and pray about what you would want them to look like and tell me about it. Want different activities for kids in our community? Great! Think and pray about it and let me know. Want to see changes to our church property? Great! Think and pray about it and let me know.
                While we are on the subject, I want to throw out a couple of opportunities that I could use some help with. First off, I could use another person to help with the bookstore that we run in conjunction with Dobson Creek Coffee here in Ronan. The bookstore (a mini-bookstore within the coffee shop), has been going well for a little over a year. Through sales we have raised close to $1,000 for our youth! It has been a fun way for me to raise money on behalf of our youth, while at the same time bringing new books into our area. Not only are we raising money for our youth ministry, we are promoting literacy at the same time - a faithful endeavor for us people of the book! Though I have enjoyed monitoring the shelves every week, ordering more books as needed, I could use some help with these tasks. I am looking for one or two people to help me with the ordering process, as well as thinking about what books we want to keep stocked and what books people actually want to buy. If this is something that interests you, please let me know!
                Another task that I will likely need help with is replacing the front steps on the parsonage. The current, concrete ones do not have safe railings for children like Otto and Freja to walk on and we should think about prioritizing safety in our buildings. Additionally, the steps have put a strain on the foundation. As the soil has settled, the steps have pulled forward and are now threatening the integrity of the foundation wall. We are thinking about knocking out the current steps and replacing them with wooden ones that have proper railings and would be safe for the foundation. Let me know if you are interested in helping out with this project.
                Have a blessed August!
 
In Christ,
Pastor Seth

                Western Montana is not a bad place to be during the summer months. Our gray winters roll away to shed beautiful rays of sunshine on our Mission Mountains, eventually warming up the lake at the same time. The birds seem to sing a little brighter, water from the mountains seems to flow a little clearer, and the trees are a bit greener. It is good to have seasons in our lives when things get just a little bit easier and more relaxed. Summer time in Montana is one of those seasons.
                It can be hard to let things just be easy and good - there is always something to stress about if we want to. For instance, we know that western Montana is a great place to be in the summer because of the nice weather and sunshine, but also because of the hordes of tourists that make crossing highway 93 nearly impossible. We can relish in the sunshine, or grumble that it makes traffic around here nearly impassable. The choice is ours. We can cherish how the air is getting warm and sunny, or get paranoid about the forest fires that will very possibly be around the corner because of our sunny skies. With the good comes the bad and we can get stuck focusing on the bad instead of the good.
                Sometimes it is kind of odd how we get stuck dwelling on the bad. You may receive twenty compliments about a job well done, but the only one you really remember is the person who criticized the work you did. You might be respected by most all of your colleagues and friends, but the one person who antagonizes you is the only person you dwell on. You might have countless holiday celebrations as a family that are blessed and wonderful, but the only one anybody talks about is when everything broke down into a heated argument. While there are many good things to focus and dwell on, it is easy to get stuck paying attention only to the bad.
                Yet, for all that we might want to focus on things that can bring us down, God desires for us to dwell on what truly matters. One of my favorite Bible verses is Psalm 46:10 in which the Lord commands through the Psalmist, “Be still and know that I am God.” What a simple but profound command – be still and rest in the knowledge that God is God. Do not be anxious about the people who make you feel bad, the ways that you feel you do not add up, or the circumstances that make you feel miserable. Instead, be still.                      
Be still.
Be still.
 
 
                In the stillness, remember that God is God and has it all under control. And, in the stillness, focus on the things that really matter… (while enjoying the sunshine!).
 
In Christ,
Pastor Seth

                This month Julie Wenner and I will be representing Faith Lutheran Church at the Montana Synod Assembly. What is the Montana Synod and why do they assemble you might ask? Great question! The Montana Synod is the group of 128 Evangelical Lutheran Congregations all in Montana! (except for 5 oddballs in Wyoming :)  As a synod, our congregations and pastors collectively elect a bishop and support synod staff who work kind of like a superintendent’s office for our Lutheran churches. The term “synod” comes from Greek. The two Greek roots “syn” and “hodos” translate to mean “the way/road together”. Sounds kind of cool, right? I like the idea of our congregations forming a synod by being churches on the way together.
                The synodical understanding of our church is, in many ways unifying. We are a synod because we have shared beliefs and practices. For instance, if you attend services at Christ Lutheran Church in Libby, you likely will have a similar worship experience as if you were also to attend Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Broadus – even though the two congregations are over 700 miles apart. By contrast, in Ronan we have at least 12 different churches within just a few blocks, but the worship experience, belief systems, and preaching varies widely from the Mennonite Church, Sacred Heart Catholic, Ronan Adventist, to Lighthouse Christian Fellowship (the four congregations located nearest to us). Being a synod of congregations with shared theological doctrines and confessions helps us stay unified in our beliefs and practices across time and space. When churches have pastoral openings, we work to make sure our congregations have leaders. As congregations, we work together to support ministries to our youth like Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp, as well as to our aging members through ministries like Immanuel Lutheran Homes in Kalispell and St. John’s Ministries in Billings. There are many things that we can do better together than we can do separately, which bind us together and give us purpose as a synod of congregations.
                The synodical understanding of our churches is well established, but can be hard to think about because every community of faith is very unique. For instance, Faith Lutheran Church in Ronan and Good Shepherd Lutheran in Polson started out together and shared a pastor for many years, yet there are many aspects of our two communities that are very different. Every congregation, even ones that share similar beliefs and worship practices, are distinct from every other congregation. However, the dynamics between congregations and synods are analogous to the relationship of the state of Montana to the nation of the United States of America. We live in Montana and know how to do our own thing pretty well. We live, work, play and have our homes in Montana, and put forth our own efforts to educate our children, conduct business, have our own local and state governments, and support our own churches. Yet, we are also part of the United States and I would argue that Montana is better off for being part of the U.S.A. than if we tried to make it as our own country. The U.S.A. has a stronger military, better highway and rail systems, better research institutions, a more robust forestry system, etc., than Montana could afford or put together on its own. While Montana is distinct and different than a state like Florida, it is better for both Florida and Montana to be a united nation than a divided one. Similarly, though the Montana Synod is made up of a 128 individual, distinct congregations that minister in separate and distinct ways, our unity at the synod level is better for all of us.
 
 
In Christ,
Pastor Seth

Summer is almost upon us. Though it is still snowing on the mountains, it is also starting to melt. The sun is finally starting to break through the clouds for extended periods of time, freeing us from the grays of winter. Warm days seem to be headed our way… and probably some relatives, too!
         
Since the season is fast approaching, I assume that you have likely started to make some summer plans. While it does not take a whole lot of forethought to go through Glacier for a day, trips to the coast or across the country take a little bit more planning and saving. While summer brings many people back into our area to their homes and cabins on the lake, summer also gives those of us who live in the valley all-year a chance to get away for a bit. And this takes some planning on our part.
               
As you make your summer plans, I want to invite you to think about how you will live out your faith this summer. Here are some spiritual dimensions that I invite you to focus on in your vacation planning:

     Sabbath – You probably think of the concept of sabbath in terms of the third commandment which says “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” After the Lord worked to create the world and everything in it, scripture tells us that the Lord rested and God commands us to do the same. Rest is holy and favored by God. One thing I always hope for when I get out of town for a while is an opportunity to intentionally live into God’s command that we rest. In planning your summer vacations, I invite you to not only think about planning stuff to do, but ways that you can take sabbath by prayerfully resting from your work.

      Family – It is a gift to be able to vacation as a family. The opportunity to travel with and share experiences of seeing new places and meeting new people is something that adds to the health of who we are together as parents, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Stories we share about the places we have been together as a family are important for us in remembering who we are together. I believe that God uses experiences of travel to strengthen our connections to one another as family.

      Exploring God’s creation – God has formed a wonderful world around us, but sometimes we lose sight of its wonders. I wish that everyone, every day, would be amazed at what God has created all around us. However, it is easy to lose sight of the wonders that God has formed in our world. It is good and holy that in your summer travels you take time to be amazed at the wonders of God’s creation. As you step away from the distractions of your everyday, may you be amazed at the wonder of God’s eternal majesty.

     Go with God – I love the Spanish phrase, vaya con Dios, which translates to mean “Go with God!” Wherever you travel, may you remember that the Lord accompanies you on your journeys. You are not alone in this life, nor are you alone on the journeys that are before you. May you always remember that wherever you travel to God is leading you onward and joins you for the journey.

                                                                            In Christ,
                                                                          Pastor Seth
 
                

Lent is a journey to the cross. While Jesus wandered the wilderness for forty days to have it out with Satan at the end, and the Israelites wandered the desert for forty years because they were a bunch of whiners, we join in the wilderness journey because we need to remember what it is to dwell in the dirt. Remember we are dust, and to dust we shall return… just like Jesus did.

We journey to the cross during this season because we need to join in Jesus’ death. We need to enter into the suffering of our Lord because it is in his suffering that our salvation is found. It is in his death that our lives our redeemed; in his resurrection that we also rise.

Jesus was surely cursed for having hung on a tree – we are surely blessed because he was. His death and resurrection meant the redemption of the whole world. By his wounds we are healed, and by his death we live.

This is why we take time every year in the church to intentionally, depressingly journey to the cross. It is worth dying with Christ again, and again, and again, so that we might all rise with him to new life forever.
 
In Christ,
Pastor Seth

                              “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” – Matthew 25:35

                Lue Moa was born in a refugee camp in southeast Asia. The son of Hmong parents, his family became refugees after the United States pulled out of fighting in Vietnam. The Hmong people lived as ethnic and religious minorities in Laos, but, being on the margin of society in their own homeland, they fought the oppressive Laotian government on our behalf in the sixties and seventies. This allowed the United States to officially claim that we were only fighting in Vietnam while supporting our Hmong allies who fought North Vietnamese and Laotian forces for us. They believed that totalitarian victories of their Communist neighbors would be disastrous for them, so they aligned with us. When we lost, they lost.

                Many of the Hmong people were slaughtered in the genocide that the Communist governments in Vietnam and Laos ordered against them in the aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal from the region. In just a few years, hundreds of thousands of Hmong people became refugees. Many of the Hmong people, like Lue Moa’s parents, spent years in refugee camps in Thailand before being resettled in the United States. Little Lue and his family eventually made their way from the hot and humid climate of Thailand to the icy winters of St. Paul, Minnesota. There, Lue grew and was educated in one of the best public school systems the United States has to offer. Simultaneously, he was raised in the faith among the Lutherans who had helped to save his family from the murderous governments of his homeland. Lue went on to college, and, then, discerning a call to ministry, attended Luther Seminary in St. Paul to become a pastor in the Lutheran church. Last fall, Jen, Otto and I proudly celebrated Pastor Moa’s ordination and installation as the pastor of Valley of Christ Lutheran Church in Frenchtown.  
          
                I share Pastor Moa’s story, because he was a boy that we welcomed as a stranger – a boy who was Christ to us when he came as a refugee. Now, he is a messenger of the Gospel who weekly proclaims the love of Christ from his pulpit in Montana, just down the road from us. Stories like Lue’s are important to keep in mind as we consider how Christ calls us to welcome strangers in our midst. Jesus told us that by welcoming the stranger, we will welcome Christ himself. What’s more, he said that, when Christ comes again, those who turn away strangers will be told, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels…I was a stranger and you did not welcome me” (Matt. 25: 41-43). Not only did Jesus say that it is good to welcome a stranger, he said that we must welcome the stranger if we desire to be welcomed into heaven. These are words of Christ which stand heavy over our nation at this time. The prophets in the Old Testament warned of the same thing. The nation of Israel was conquered and hauled off to exile because they did not care for the poor, the widowed, the orphan or the foreign refugees who came to them (Jeremiah 7:5-7; Ezekiel 47:21-22; Zechariah 7:8-10; Malachi 3:5).

                Many people in our country and in Montana seem to be perfectly okay with turning away refugees. But, as your pastor concerned for the souls of people in our community, I must share that Jesus commanded us to welcome such folks within our midst. I hope that if we really are trying to live out Christian values as a nation, then we will follow the commands of Christ himself. We are not our government, and while the government officially represents us, it does not speak for the whole of who we are or what we believe. I am not sure how Jesus looks at America when our government and citizens reject his teachings and commandments, but I do know that as Christians we should listen to our Savior.
​
                When we welcome refugees, we welcome Christ into our midst – just as Jesus promised. As Christ has welcomed us, we should welcome others in His name. Who knows, a refugee coming to America this year just might turn out to be a Christian pastor one day…
 
In Christ,
Pastor Seth

"You wrote a book?” I have gotten this question more than once in the past few weeks. My book, The Church Unknown: Reflections of a Millennial Pastor, was just published and can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Church-Reflections-Millennial-Pastor/dp/1537657585/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475166393&sr=8-1&keywords=the+church+unknown. It is only natural that one’s first publication comes as a surprise. Up to now, I have not been an author, at least not a book author, so why would anyone expect me to write a book? But, I did. In fact, I have been working very hard on it for a long time now. I have spent many late nights and used many of my days off to put my thoughts together and revise them into a full book. I have felt compelled to write it and am glad that it has come together.

Why? Why go through all the effort of writing a book?
When I started as the pastor of Faith Lutheran in Ronan, many people asked me about why people my age are not going to church anymore. These concerns are not surprising. It has become more and more common that people my age are generally absent from the pews of churches around the country, and this was especially true at Faith Lutheran around the time that I started. While we have drawn some new families into the worship and service life of our congregation since that time, there are still many people my age around the Mission Valley and around the country who do not darken the church door on Sundays. All things considered, it was not much of a surprise that people had questions about my generation’s absence from the church at the moment.

What was surprising to me when I was asked these questions is that I really did not have a good answer. For the life of me, I could not say why I have been drawn deeper into the life of the church and others have drifted away. I just had not thought about it that much. I could not explain why my peers who went to all the same Sunday School classes, attended confirmation, were in the same Christmas programs as me, went to Vacation Bible School, and went with me to Bible camp, have fallen away from the church while I have committed my life and career to serving it. The fact that I, as a Millennial, did not really understand what has been going on showed me that there was need to think through the subject more.

On top of that, when it came to thinking about the subject of different generational perspectives of the world and of the church, I feel that much has been written about my generation, but not enough has been said from my generation. That is, other generations love to rip on Millennials for all of our failings, without really taking the time to understand where we are coming from. Some of these concerns are warranted, but often not all that helpful for intergenerational understanding. As a Millennial Christian, I find the treatment (or mistreatment) of Millennials by other generations especially toxic for Christianity which is facing a bleak future at the moment. Instead of just complaining about the lack of voices from my generation, I thought I would buck up and throw mine into the mix.

What do I want readers to take away from The Church Unknown?
I hope that readers of The Church Unknown will be able to look at the struggles that the church is facing today and see something different than its impending death. After reading the book, I hope that people can see a brighter future for the church in the years to come. I do my best to lead readers to understand what people my age see when they view the church and then attempt to move the reader to think about how young adults might be granted a place in the church’s future. All too often, when discussing the state of the church, I hear people say things like, “The church is not like it used to be”, or “Back when I was growing up, everybody went to church. But now!” All of these statements are true and supported by the history of the church.

However, the same history tells the story that now is not the only time when church attendance numbers have been low. In the years before World War II, the years before members of older generations of church goers were growing up, there were similar numbers of Americans going to church as there are now. What seems like decline in church attendance today may actually be a re-settling to normal levels after a church bubble in the  '50's and '60's. Judging young adults today by these standards is not really helpful as it usually leaves everybody feeling bad about the present and even worse about the future.

But, there is reason to hope and believe that the challenges we are facing in the present may mean that brighter days are around the corner. Where there is struggle there is also opportunity. Just as challenges in the history of the church have often made us stronger and more viable in days gone by, I believe that the challenges the church is facing in our present day and age will make it stronger and more viable in the days to come. I hope that readers will be able to share in this vision.

Who is my intended audience?
I hope that this book will appeal to Christians (and non-Christians, too!) in their twenties on up to those in retirement. I have not found a single church in the U.S. that is immune to generational shifts among Christians in the world these days. Many churches, especially established churches, are left scratching their heads about where all the young people and families have gone. Even worse, many of these same congregations are left pointing their fingers. Other churches, especially church plants and new ministry ventures, have benefited from generational shifts in the church by drawing crowds of younger Christians away from older congregations to join their burgeoning, hip ministry starts. Yet, in their process of forming age segregated communities, I believe that we all lose. The church can and should be a place where the people of God of all ages come together before the cross in worship, engage the world through service inspired by Christ’s love, and come to find meaning and purpose through our faith, believing that our lives have significance through the God who made us and works to save us.

For that reason, I believe that adults of any age will find my book helpful for discussing the future of the church. It is not up to just the young or the old to find a way to do things differently. The world of the church has changed and we are called to change with one another.

What do I think is important for older generations of Christians to hear?
The future of the church depends on all of us. I frequently hear people say that churches (in general) need to attract more young people because they are the future and a church without young people will not last. There is some truth to this, if for no other reason than younger generations will live for more years than older generations (at least probably). Yet, there are many churches filled with young adults that do well for a couple of years but are like a flash in the pan which burns out quickly. Though these churches have youth, they end up without having much of a future. Other congregations have many older members - and seemingly only older members - but are able to grow in their membership and their faith anyway. All this is to say that there may be more ways forward than might initially seem obvious.

Recognizing that the future of the church does not depend on one age group or another, I hope that we all can recognize that the strongest and healthiest congregations are ones in which Christians of all ages are able to come together and share in the Gospel of Christ. The church needs members of all ages not to be stronger for some distant tomorrow down the road, but to be healthier in the present.

In order to help welcome younger people into our churches, I would say to older members that you must listen to younger adults and give them a place in the church. I have spoken with many groups of older church goers who complain that young adults are not coming to church like they used to, don’t help teach Sunday school, don’t join the women’s group, etc. Yet, when I ask about what these long-time church goers have heard young people say they are looking for in their church experience, the answer has always been that they have never asked. They have not taken the time to listen to the reasons why young people in their communities are staying away from church. This should change. If you want younger generations in your church, you must be willing to listen and hear what their cares and concerns are. We all need to be heard and we all need to listen.

What do I think is important for younger Christians to hear?
Go to church and don’t give up on it. The church will never be perfect, the most exciting place, or give us everything we want, but the church will always be good in surprising ways, and supportive when we least expect it. The church is far deeper and more profound than we can see from the outside, so to really understand what the church has to offer one must attend and stick around for a while. I have to echo the advice that Eugene Peterson gave to parishioners when they would leave his congregation to move to a new place. When they asked him what they should look for in a new church he would tell them, “Go to the nearest, smallest church, and stay there for six months.” I think my generation of Christians would do well to heed this advice, at least as a starting place for thinking about how to live faithfully into the future.

To younger generations of Christians, I say that we must commit to churches and be patient and persistent when we do. Whether we want to admit it or not, the church is a very valuable, spiritual center where we can live beyond ourselves. The church is the place where we encounter God and God encounters us – there is no way around it. Sure, we do find God on the mountain, or can be moved by a great sermon podcast, but there is something priceless to the Christian life that only happens in church and we cannot give up on it. Many of us have concerns that the church is not all that it can and should be, and understand how congregations which are overly-focused on “the way things used to be” keeps the church from being what it should. I get that, and, at least to some extent, I agree. The church is not all that it can and should be. But, if we want the church to be more than it is all ready, we need to step up and let God use us as instruments of change. God does not sit idly by, and we shouldn’t either. We are called to be part of the fold, allowing the flock of God to reflect who we are and the Shepherd respond to what we need.

Final thoughts?
I hope that you enjoy the book and share it with friends and family. It is meant to be a conversation starter and draw us all into deeper connection over challenges that have divided some communities.
I would love to hear what you think about it! you can email your thoughts and questions about The Church Unknown to me at: sethnelso@gmail.com . I also encourage you review my book on Amazon to let other readers know what you think. God bless!

In Christ,
Rev. Seth Nelson