In a strong denominational setting, how do you support your denomination?

From the very beginning, the Church of the Nazarene has invested in me. As a child, a teenager, and even now as a young minister, by giving me a voice and allowing me to pour back into the group that kindled a flame for Christ in the first place. How do I honor the people who have selflessly offered me hope and inspired me to take risks for the kingdom? How do I make this a priority when I’m involved in and support other major groups?

Supporting a denomination means…

Knowing who you are. We are Christ followers. We owe our lives to Jesus. God has also used the places where we worship as catalysts for life change. For this, we owe our utmost respect, regardless of the ups and downs our churches face.

Telling the story. Our denominational stories are important. They are rich with people who have sacrificed much to share the good news of Jesus with others. I have a few favorites when it comes to telling our denomination’s story. Find yours and tell it often.

Get involved. Find ways to take your youth to denominational meetings or events. If they are awful and lack leadership, look in the mirror. Your calling awaits. With humility, consider others better than yourself and begin to ask how you can give back. Chances are you’ll receive much more than you expect, and your students will find a heritage deeper than their Facebook accounts.

Pray. Look at the needs of your denomination. Consider the direction and the way the Spirit is moving and pray for God’s will to be done. I pray for our students who attended a denominational event of ours last summer. I pray for thousands of them every day and ask God to use their lives as they make life decisions, go to college, marry, get jobs, and change the world. They are a part of our future as they live out their lives in faith now. We should be praying. We should be looking for ways to intercede on behalf of those closest to us in addition to those we pray for in other areas.

Be gracious. I support our denomination by not judging or belittling others who believe different things. I think it honors our tradition to love in this way. Don’t make a fool of yourself, be a jerk, or live exclusively. Share your heart, your life, and the message of Christ. You’ll serve your people, and you’ll set an example for all believers to follow.

Know the lingo. You’re hardly a Christian if you don’t have a plethora of acronyms in your vocabulary. I’m kidding! But it’s important to be able to speak your denomination’s language at the appropriate times and be able to translate it for others. Assuming that everyone you meet knows what it means to be involved in NYI, NMI, and NCM after you’ve graduated from MVNU—is just ridiculous. Know your stuff, but share it in ways people can understand. If you’re in a strong denominational circle, say what you need to say together using whatever acronyms and verbage suit your fancy. If it’s a part of your tribal language, go with it when it doesn’t exclude those around you.

Count it a blessing. Not everyone has the support of large, connected groups of people as they serve the Lord. Thank God for it because it’s a great source of strength.

I love our denomination. Yeah, there may be things I don’t like about it, but there are things I don’t like about my own house—which I chose, furnished, and currently live in (and I still want to live there and call it home). I hope I serve and support my denomination well over the years and set an example for others to follow.

I have friends who pick Catholic teams in the NCAA basketball brackets, even if Notre Dame is facing Duke, Boston College is up against Kentucky, or Xavier against Ohio State. (That’s all right; I have other friends who will pick Michigan over Gonzaga because a Wolverine should beat a Bulldog, or they prefer the team colors… Yes, I have weird friends.)

But man, as Catholics, we seem to sweat Catholic identity about everything. Sometimes I wonder if Lutherans are sweating Lutheran identity as much, beyond my own perceived conclusion that it involves, “Hey, we are not Catholic!” A Google search indicates that there are about seven times the hits for “Catholic identity” over “Lutheran identity” as well as “Baptist identity.” All this in a time when the church should be more engaged in confronting moralistic therapeutic deism, that mutant watered-down faith that sloppily meshes our doctrine together in a statement more about us as people and not about our unique understandings of our relationship with the Lord and the church.

There are some things I do to continue to imbue my own ministry with Catholic identity (beyond cheering, “Go, Irish!”), and I suggest they may be applicable for you no matter your denomination.

Follow the news. What is the major source of news in your denomination? I have come to follow a few select websites because I am aware of the influence they bear in denominational leadership. Also, I utilize Google Alerts to monitor what is happening in my denomination.

Collaborate denominationally beyond your own church community. Whatever your denomination’s structure, find ways to actively engage in the programming, training, and discussions occurring beyond the boundaries of your individual church’s reach. It is important not only for you but also your volunteers and young people that we recognize that we are part of something much larger than us.

Define differences. Early in my career, I found myself as a Catholic youth minister in Freeborn County, Minnesota, which understood itself at that time to be the “most Lutheran county in the United States.” It became important to help young people articulate not only the differences but the belief behind it.

Once I was offering a True Love Waits (started by the Baptists) retreat weekend in Bountiful, Utah, where the young people were immersed in Mormon culture. Young people appreciated the opportunity to redefine CTR: Choose the Right into Choose the Rite as they engaged in making decision to wait for sexual activity until marriage.

Never assume with parents. In 1 Peter 3:15, we are reminded to “always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” Yet we usually do not imagine that we should be doing that in house as well. The research indicates that the cultural religion of moralist therapeutic deism is being passed along, in part, generationally. We need to be able to pass along the richness of our faith tradition not only to the next generation, but we must continue to remind or re-educate parents about the depth of faith into which they were baptized and sought baptism and/or confirmation for their young people.

One thing is for sure. We have all got to improve our efforts to assist young people in being able to articulate what it is they believe as well as what it is the church they call home to their faith believes. That is true for denominations as much as it is true for non-affiliated churches.

As a denomination in the United States, Catholics are blessed with many organizations and structures that are designed to serve and enhance youth ministry. Yet, even if we were not, I would hope to find ways to collaborate with my brothers and sisters in Catholic youth ministry, seeking them out and gathering with them locally as well as within the national non-denominational conferences around the country and via internet connections.

Oh yeah, and, "Go, Irish!"

The leadership from the denomination I am part of sees itself as a resource for its churches. Functionally it does not carry a hierarchical role; decision making is largely made on the local and district levels. But our denomination, rooted in the Anabaptist tradition, still has a distinct and strong influence in our congregation. One of the primary reasons for this is that the denominational headquarters is located in our city, and many of the national staff are active in our congregation. For that reason, it seems that most people serving our congregation also find their way into being asked to also serve the denomination.

I have served as a youth leader and Sunday school teacher for our congregation for four years. This has brought many opportunities for me to participate in district, regional, and national conferences and events with our students. Recently I was also asked to serve on the national youth advisory board. This has given me the chance to meet high school students from all over the United States who are part of our denomination.

I worked as a youth minister and volunteer in many other churches before joining my current denomination. I suspect my experience is like many other denominational settings, where it takes time to learn the culture and language of the group and not feel like an outsider among those who have been part of it for so many years.

Here are some of the efforts I work toward to support my denomination as a youth leader:

Participate in denominational events. This seems like a given, but it is surprising how many of our churches choose not to participate in denominational youth events. I can understand why, since such events often feel stuck in styles and traditions from the past, with leaders trying to relive camp experiences from when they were young. But we have decided to keep supporting and owning these events. Otherwise, we feel it would subtly communicate to our teens that church should cater to each person’s style and wishes and that if it doesn’t, they should find one that will. That consumer-driven message is destructive to our churches and our own personal growth.

Encourage people in denominational leadership. Many of the people I know in denominational leadership have been there a long time. They are often busy planning, traveling, and serving churches. It is difficult for them to be consistently involved in a local congregation. For this reason, many are not able to have regular interaction with youth and are a bit intimidated and insecure about the events they plan. They wonder if they are personally and professionally relevant to today’s teenager. They have tough jobs! For many, it is much more administration than relationships (perhaps not what they expected). They desperately need the support and help of those of us actively serving students. They also have people trying to schmooze them to gain opportunities and power in the denomination. Your efforts to encourage, serve, and support with no strings attached will carry profound meaning.

Share concerns and ideas together. Denominational leaders become lightning rods for complaints. Pastors and congregants with an agenda or grievance seek them out to unload their problems. I can only imagine that after a while, everything must sound like grumbling. If you don’t like what is happening, offer ideas (and your time) to help make it better. If the regional youth conference was bad, volunteer to lead part of it, or submit a list of ideas that your teens come up with to make it better. Show ownership and initiative with a sense of positive energy.

Explore your denomination’s story with your students. Why are you part of your denomination? What about your denomination’s roots and traditions are meaningful and resonate with you? Take time to explore with your students why your church follows the traditions of your denomination and heritage. Focus on the positives of your unique identity as a part of Christ’s church. Tell the stories of those who have given shape to your denomination.

My congregation is a peace-church rooted in the Anabaptist tradition. We continue to take time to tell the stories of those who helped forge the way of this tradition and dialogue about how their stories have meaning for us today. I even gave students the assignment to study and present some of these stories to the entire congregation. We are also inviting some of the older members of our congregation to share with our youth group their personal experiences and how they continue to find meaning in our tradition.