The kids are alright
FrankTalkTM 2026
Bishops are changed over time through visiting their churches over and over again. I heard this from Bishop Henry Louttit who, through his visitations, came to see the wisdom in a plan piloted by the Diocese of Northern Michigan to raise up priests from within a congregation, offering a means of formation in place and to locally form priests initially to serve as supply priests. In assisting Bishop Scott Benhase, I saw the ways in which his views were shaped by week after week in congregations with fewer than 50 people, sometimes far fewer. I remember him speaking of faithful leaders in churches with a dozen or so on Sunday whose witness to the Gospel mattered.
And I notice how my views of the decline in church attendance across all denominations and non-denominational churches is shaped by visitations filled with moments that offer me a realistic hope grounded in what God is already doing in our midst. Three Sundays ago, I visited Christ Church Frederica on St. Simons Island. Deacon Deb Luginbuhl introduced me to Thea, the acolyte serving with us at the 9:15 service, the middle of the three liturgies each Sunday. Thea told me how much she loved her church and then proved it as she recounted the story of her historic church to me. I know the life of their renowned Rector Anson Greene Phelps Dodge quite well, though I must admit this is largely through the historical fiction of Eugenia Price’s Beloved Invader. I thought I knew this history well and enjoyed her enthusiasm. Thea told me he founded a church in India where his first wife died while on their honeymoon. I probably read about the church in India at one point, but if so I had forgotten. I so enjoyed Thea’s delight in telling me the story and all the more for learning from her.
During the same visit, I talked to recent Senior Warden Gail Manning between services, saying how much I am pleased her granddaughter, Emma, has found a church home at Christ Church in Savannah. She let me know how much it meant to Emma, that I let her update the photo she had of herself wearing one of my mitres. It makes me happy to see Emma with her friends when I visit our oldest congregation, and to see the large group of 20 and 30 somethings there in friend groups.
This past Sunday, I was at King of Peace in Kingsland. About 45 minutes before the main service, I met with kids and teens to answer their questions. Aliyah’s mom got the discussion going, asking me about mitres and why they were shaped as they are. I let them try on mitres as I told the kids how the pointed shape is to remind us of the tongues of fire over the disciples’ heads on the Day of Pentecost and so points to bishops as successors to the apostles. Then Aliyah brought her questions. She wanted to know why numbers go on infinitely. She told me that was confusing. I used the question to connect infinite numbers to eternity and how God exists beyond time and space as a way of introducing God’s transcendence. Then, Aliyah wanted to know why there is a God and how I know God exists. And here’s the thing to understand, Aliyah expected answers. I walked her through it. She listened and asked more.
My message of a realistic hope in a risen savior is this: The kids are alright.
Yes, the median age of our Diocese is rising. I see that reality, and yet it is not the whole story. We worship a risen savior who is still redeeming this world, one life at a time. We are to join in what God is already doing. There is a large team in the Diocese doing what we can to raise up deacons and priests who are well prepared for ministry. The Diocese is also offering both more retreats at Honey Creek and online options for spiritual formation so that no matter the capacity of the congregation, every parishioner in this Diocese has opportunities to deepen their faith.
I also see all across the Diocese the children and teens who are taking their faith seriously. I also get to confirm, and even more often, receive into the church mature believers who are as grateful to find the Episcopal Church as I was. These too are children of God and so to Thea and Aliyah’s love of church and seeking answers to questions, I include folks finding us in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and older when I say: The kids are alright. The children of God who are looking for more are already in our pews. We have people in our churches now who have so much going on in life that each day and week is a challenge. Yet, they faithfully find time to worship with us when they can. And we need to remain a safe space for a questioning faith of people longing for answers that the world can never bring.
The survey data is clear that your neighbors are lonely as people live increasingly isolated lives. They need the community your church can offer. And they need to find that there is joy found through the grace to turn our lives around as we come to faith in Jesus Christ.
And the questions Aliyah brought me are the tip of the iceberg. Every human wonders what happens when we die? Or how do we understand awe, which is the powerful sense that tells us that there is more to life than we see? How can we find forgiveness and healing? Everyone wonders about Good and Evil and how to live rightly and how to prepare our children and grandchildren to face the challenges that will come their way. The questions that lead to faith persist. Jesus remains the way, the truth, and the life. We don’t have to have all the answers ourselves to point others to this truth.
We could complain that the Holy Spirit is not bringing who we wish within our red doors, but we would be better served to start again where we are now with who God has given us. Then invite and welcome more of your neighbors who can connect to their faith in Jesus for the first time or reconnect in meaningful ways through your church.
The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ, as we pray and worship, proclaiming the Gospel in word and deed. This mission is carried out in each of our congregations. The Diocese of Georgia exists to support its congregations, to build up its parishioners, and to assist their clergy. We are encouraging one another to try new things as we strengthen what is working in our to more fully live into our call to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves.
The survey data is clear that your neighbors are lonely as people live increasingly isolated lives. They need the community your church can offer. And they need to find that there is joy found through the grace to turn our lives around as we come to faith in Jesus Christ.
Yes, as I told Aliyah, God is not contained within the creation, but transcendent. Yet, the creator of the cosmos is not a distant divinity, but the Holy One who knows the number of hairs on your head. God pitched his tent among us in the person of Jesus. God is with us.
As keep our churches aligned what we do with our purpose of joining with God’s work of reconciliation, God the Holy Trinity will be with us, guiding us. For the mission of the church is not ours to accomplish. Jesus is the one reconciling all creation who sent the Holy Spirit to stand alongside us in every trial we face. There is no cause to simply manage decline. This is no time to shrink back. We serve a risen savior who died that we might live. For nothing, not even death, can stop God’s love.
Amen.
