Summer Days

My wife and I have just returned from back to back retreats at Ocean City. From Monday to Wednesday, we had our annual EC staff retreat with their families and from Thursday to Saturday, the annual elders retreat. Both were very fun and satisfying.
We had a bunch of children at the staff retreat. Obviously, it is because many of our EC pastoral staff are relatively young. It was good to spend time with their wives and children, getting re-acquainted once again. I felt like a grandfather or a tribal leader, working with young parents and young children running around the house all the time.
The elders retreat, however, was totally different. There was not a single child. All our children are grown now. It wasn’t always like that, however. When we began our church, most of us were in our 30s. Therefore, we had lots of young children. Everywhere we went we had to take them with us. They all grew up together. Now that we are in our late 50s and 60s, all our children have grown up and have left home.
So the differences were stalk and real. But all of us were glad that we belong to a greater extended family, namely the church, where we are still connected to people young and old and we enjoy relationships beyond our immediate circles. We can draw benefits from one another. We learn to enjoy and appreciate them all.
This week, I will spend another 3 days with the KC pastoral staff and I assume it will be somewhere in the middle. We have some older folks and some younger folks on the KC staff.
By the way, this retreat was made possible by the Christmas gifts that you gave to the entire staff as a group last year in lieu of individual gifts. The congregation gave generously; we were able to enjoy this year’s retreat without spending the church’s budget. So, I want to thank you for your generosity.
Next Sunday and the following Sunday I am going to address both Maryland and Virginia KC on the topic of “Raising Children.” It is becoming alarmingly clear that our children are fast losing interest in the church. Just a few days ago, in the August 11 issue of USA Today, there was an article entitled, “Teens Getting Less Involved in Church Groups, Research Shows.” It said, “Bye-bye, church. We’re busy.” It is the message teens are giving churches today and much of the blame is on parents.  “Talking to God maybe losing out to Facebook.”
I have similar concerns. NCFC has always maintained a strong children’s and middle/high school ministry, thanks to the people who are dedicated to the young people. However, I feel that the culture might be shifting these days. It may not be as noticeable right now because the process is slow and subtle. But it is real, nonetheless, in my opinion. And the time to address these issues is now, not later when the problem becomes paramount.
We’ve had another successful VBS this year, thanks to all who helped out. As far as I’m concerned you are my heroes. Thanks for loving God and the children so much. I’m sure you have touched their souls in a very special way. It means a lot to me.

August 15, 2010
Dr. W. Jamie Kim