Beloit's Young Adult Mindset List

Here is this year's list from the faculty of Beloit college that provides insight into the worldview of 18 year olds encountering the big world on their own. You can have the list sent to you each August by signing up at www.beloit.edu

THE BELOIT COLLEGE MINDSET LIST FOR THE CLASS OF 2011

Most of the students entering College this fall, members of the Class of 2011, were born in 1989. For them, Alvin Ailey, Andrei Sakharov, Huey Newton, Emperor Hirohito, Ted Bundy, Abbie Hoffman, and Don the Beachcomber have always been dead.

1. What Berlin wall? .
2. Humvees, minus the artillery, have always been available to the public.
3. Rush Limbaugh and the “Dittoheads” have always been lambasting liberals.
4. They never “rolled down” a car window.
5. Michael Moore has always been angry and funny.
6. They may confuse the Keating Five with a rock group.
7. They have grown up with bottled water.
8. General Motors has always been working on an electric car.
9. Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa.
10. Pete Rose has never played baseball.
11. Rap music has always been mainstream.
12. Religious leaders have always been telling politicians what to do, or else!
13. “Off the hook” has never had anything to do with a telephone.
14. Music has always been “unplugged.”
15. Russia has always had a multi-party political system.
16. Women have always been police chiefs in major cities.
17. They were born the year Harvard Law Review Editor Barack Obama announced he might run for office some day.
18. The NBA season has always gone on and on and on and on.
19. Classmates could include Michelle Wie, Jordin Sparks, and Bart Simpson.
20. Half of them may have been members of the Baby-sitters Club.
21. Eastern Airlines has never “earned their wings” in their lifetime.
22. No one has ever been able to sit down comfortably to a meal of “liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”
23. Wal-Mart has always been a larger retailer than Sears and has always employed more workers than GM.
24. Being “lame” has to do with being dumb or inarticulate, not disabled.
25. Wolf Blitzer has always been serving up the news on CNN.
26. Katie Couric has always had screen cred.
27. Al Gore has always been running for president or thinking about it.
28. They never found a prize in a Coca-Cola “MagiCan.”
29. They were too young to understand Judas Priest’s subliminal messages.
30. When all else fails, the Prozac defense has always been a possibility.
31. Multigrain chips have always provided healthful junk food.
32. They grew up in Wayne’s World.
33. U2 has always been more than a spy plane.
34. They were introduced to Jack Nicholson as “The Joker.”
35. Stadiums, rock tours and sporting events have always had corporate names.
36. American rock groups have always appeared in Moscow.
37. Commercial product placements have been the norm in films and on TV.
38. On Parents’ Day on campus, their folks could be mixing it up with Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz with daughter Zöe, or Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford with son Cody.
39. Fox has always been a major network.
40. They drove their parents crazy with the Beavis and Butt-head laugh.
41. The “Blue Man Group” has always been everywhere.
42. Women’s studies majors have always been offered on campus.
43. Being a latchkey kid has never been a big deal.
44. Thanks to MySpace and Facebook, autobiography can happen in real time.
45. They learned about JFK from Oliver Stone and Malcolm X from Spike Lee.
46. Most phone calls have never been private.
47. High definition television has always been available.
48. Microbreweries have always been ubiquitous.
49. Virtual reality has always been available when the real thing failed.
50. Smoking has never been allowed in public spaces in France.
51. China has always been more interested in making money than in reeducation.
52. Time has always worked with Warner.
53. Tiananmen Square is a 2008 Olympics venue, not the scene of a massacre.
54. The purchase of ivory has always been banned.
55. MTV has never featured music videos.
56. The space program has never really caught their attention except in disasters.
57. Jerry Springer has always been lowering the level of discourse on TV.
58. They get much more information from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert than from the newspaper.
59. They’re always texting 1 n other.
60. They will encounter roughly equal numbers of female and male professors in the classroom.
61. They never saw Johnny Carson live on television.
62. They have no idea who Rusty Jones was or why he said “goodbye to rusty cars.”
63. Avatars have nothing to do with Hindu deities.
64. Chavez has nothing to do with iceberg lettuce and everything to do with oil.
65. Illinois has been trying to ban smoking since the year they were born.
66. The World Wide Web has been an online tool since they were born.
67. Chronic fatigue syndrome has always been debilitating and controversial.
68. Burma has always been Myanmar.
69 Dilbert has always been ridiculing cubicle culture.
70. Food packaging has always included nutritional labeling.

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Copyright 2007 by Beloit College, 700 College St., Beloit, Wisconsin 53511


0708-013
August 21, 2007

The Drunkest City

Forbes.com published a list this past year of our country's "drunkest cities." I found that as I perused the list, I was following the path of my life. My childhood and adolescent years were spent in the towns around Pittsburgh, PA which is number 8 on the list. Then when I went to college, I lived in Cleveland, OH (one notch up at # 7). After the party years, I graduated four steps higher when I moved to Columbus, OH at # 3. And now I live in Milwaukee -- to everyone's surprise -- the #1 drunkest city in the United States.

Say what you will about people in the Brew City, but we know how to enjoy life. Some ways people seek enjoyment leave us with a nasty hangover.

Like the way we enjoy doing church, for instance. Most congregations still operate under a model created for the Constantinian arrangement. That's a fancy term that simply means that when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, the followers of Jesus went from a social movement requiring total personal commitment in the face of societal powers, to being then the very societal power of a religious institution in which participation became a simple matter of citizenship. Even though society and the church are becoming ever more distinct, our way of organizing ourselves and being the church are still the same.

What will the church look like when we sober up from our hangover? I think we'll see part of that answer right here in the drunkest city of Milwaukee. I see Holy Spirit up to amazing stuff, especially with the people at Thirst. We don't know for sure what God has in mind, exactly. But we're discerning a call to break out of the mold for radically committed discipleship with passionate spirituality. And that's how we're experiencing the joy of God's presence, without the headaches. If you're thirsting for the enjoyment of such a church, come join us in our discernment.

Shalom!

Kevan

Wow!

Those of you at thirst tonight know that I'm finishing a term paper right now, but I'm so psyched after our gathering that I couldn't wait to post.  We talked about breaking out of the mold, wrestling with doubts, and moving beyond fear to follow Jesus into the lives of people who need him in our community.  Let's brainstorm what it would look like in concrete and specific terms for us to do that.  How is Holy Spirit calling and enlightening us?

 

Thirst on!

 

Kevan

April 26th

At our last thirst, we experimented a little. We took the same basic format as the previous post, i.e asked what's Jesus been doing in your life the past couple weeks, read scripture to see how our stories are in God's story, and then encouraged and supported one another in prayer. The experimental part, however, is that we didn't come with a biblical text in mind. Instead, we . . .

(drum roll please)

. . . trusted Holy Spirit to inspire us with God's word. [Gasp] And you know what? It was amazing! After listening to our stories, people suggested bibilical stories and passages that spoke to our situation today. Those are the texts we read after listening to each person's story. Just like life, our thirst in God's story is . ..

"Unscripted".

If you didn't get the chance to experience our community in the power of Holy Spirit last time, then join us at 9 p.m. on Thursday 26 April @ Miss Katie's Diner (19th and Clybourn). Invite friends. We'll see you there.

(image from sixthdaydance.org)

Seek God's Kingdom & God Provides

We just finished our gathering for 'thirst' tonight. The feedback was that Miss Katie's Diner is a great location, so we'll be here next time too on April 12th (9pm). Tonight, I thought I'd share with you all, who are keeping eyes on us, what a sample conversation at 'thirst' is like. In faith networking, we share where our journeys have taken us; we walk together in God's presence, then we go our various ways along our paths knowing we're held in prayer. Tonight's theme was God providing for our needs when we seek first God's kingdom in our world.

Merge:

"My journey the past few weeks has taken me through . . ."

"Lately I've felt the urge to break the mold of . . ."

"I saw Jesus (doing) . . ."

Journey Together:

READ: MATTHEW 6: 25-33

"I hear Holy Spirit guiding my journey by telling me . . ."

"(Name), when I listen to your story in light of scripture, I sense God is . . . "

"I'm surprised by . . ."

(Time permitting, READ: Genesis 22: 1-8 and journey together.)

Godspeed:

"(Name), what you shared about _________ spoke to me by . . ."
"(Name), until the next 'thirst' I'll be praying for you about . . ."

Don't forget to post your thoughts on this blog for what you're thirsting for, where your journey has taken you, and what suggestions you have for themes at the next 'thirst'.

Kevan D Penvose, M.Div, S.T.M.

Discipleship Coach for Family Ministries

St. Stephen the Martyr Lutheran Church

6101 S 51st Street Greendale, WI 53129

work: 414.421.3543 home: 414.258.0858

http://www.discipleshipcoach.blogspot.com/

http://www.ststephenthemartyr.com/

Reflections on Young Adult ministry

Recently a friend who is starting a young adult ministry in the Cleveland area asked me about my experience with 'thirst' here in Milwaukee.  I share with you some of my thoughts:

 

(1)  Don't give me your rehearsed answers and all too familiar traditions.  I want mystery -- a sense of awe in the presence of something bigger than all of us.  I want an authentic experience of the holy (like all of us do, I think, deep down below our routine traditionalism);

 

(2)  Along with authenticity comes discipline. That is, if it's not authentic then why should I commit to it?  But if I experience presence of holy mystery, then I yearn for deeper commitment through discipline (read: discipleship).  So in doing ministry with young adults, be intentional and up front about making disciples rather than offering entertainment or social networking, and trying to sneak discipleship in the side door;

 

(3) Young adulthood can be a lonely time for those living on their own for the first time, but many young adults aren't living on their own.  Many live with parents or friends/roomates.  Unlike older adults w/ spouses, w/ children, etc.,  young adults are more natural at finding opportunities for networking.  So social networking events aren't a strong attraction in and of themselves to many young adults.  BUT...social networking specifically with those who want a deeper and more authentic awareness of the presence of the divine mystery is appealling.  I'm thirsting for it; 

 

(4) Finally, the term "young adult" is itself in-house church-speak.  It puts us in the framework of how we typically do "youth ministry", as in "we need a program for young adults."  I don't necessarily think of myself as a "young adult", and I don't want to be part of a youth group for adults.   Again, for those active in the church -- we want to have peers who are committed to discipleship.  As a mark of discipleship, this generation is stoked about doing community service, hands on work to help people.  It's one of the main ways we experience the presence of the divine mystery.  Service is the natural connection with young adults not active in the church.  Without knowing about Jesus' mission or participating in God's kingdom, they experience something bigger than themselves in doing service, and this provides the setting for helping them put the story of Jesus as the framework for understanding their experience of the divine mystery. 

 

(5) What an authentic experience of the holy that inspires my commitment looks like for me is: hitting the streets with a parnter or two in hands-on apostleship ministry.  I'm dying to meet someone who is as eager as I am to hang out in bars, clubs, coffee shops, malls, and cafe's to talk with people about their thoughts on spirituality and their experience of the presence of holy mystery in their lives.  What a great opportunity we'd have then to invite them to a gathering of folks who are having similar conversations and thirsting for the same awareness! 

 

I don't want to try to convince people about Jesus with my words.  I want people to come experience Jesus in this community that thirsts for the experience of holy mystery.

Kevan D Penvose, M.Div, S.T.M.

Discipleship Coach for Family Ministries

St. Stephen the Martyr Lutheran Church

6101 S 51st Street Greendale, WI 53129

work: 414.421.3543  home: 414.258.0858

www.discipleshipcoach.blogspot.com

www.ststephenthemartyr.com

Too Much Water

Drinking too much water can cause dizziness, fatigue, and disorientation. Even if the water is filtered, purified, and sterilized. I had never heard about hyponatremia until I became a novice marathon runner. It seems to defy common sense. But many long-distance runners face serious health risks from drinking too much--causing electrolytes to get out of balance.

Ironically, many people confuse hyponatremia with dehydration. And they drink more water--making the condition worse--confusing the cure with the cause.

I wonder sometimes if the church suffers from hyponatremia. What is this heresy! Too much water in the font. No, that's not what I mean. But I do think that sometimes we confuse the cause of our struggles with the cure..

--more programs

--more certainties

--more structure

--"stronger" leaders

--more "members"

--more, more, more

We confuse quantity with quality. We replace meaning with marketing. We stray from the way of the cross in pursuit of the path of safety.

Hyponatremia occurs when we consume more water than we can use in the pursuit of our labor. Certainly, members of the mainline church are thirsty these days. As we see membership decline--and the median age of our denomination imcrease. Could God be calling us to empty ourselves--to make ourselves open to something new? We may want to cure our thirst by taking a drink of the familiar. But perhaps we our called to be thirsty. To explore the desires and the stirrings of the Spirit that can not be easily quenched. Perhaps the thirst will lead us to God. Perhaps the thirst is the cure--and not the problem.

Pastor Brad Brown

Blessed to be a Witness

Thanks so much for the opportunity to share warm drinks on a cold, wintry day.
Just wanted to share the link to my blog - Blessed to be a Witness...
http://www.blessed-to-be-a-witness.blogspot.com/

Taste and see!

Pastor Joy

New Orleans Mission Trip

Prayers for a safe homecoming! We give thanks to God for the 70 disciples in our synod who followed Jesus in New Orleans to begin the new year with passion. Your witness is an inspiration to us all. May our thirst to be the church in the world never by satisfied.

Click the New Orleans Mission Trip link

in the sidebar to read stories and see pics.