We’re excited to bring you an episode with a genuine ‘lift-where-you-stand story’ of a family in the UK. Sam and Jen Norton have served young people in the church for more than twenty years and most recently as FSY Session Directors in London. FSY stands for “For the Strength of Youth”, and refers to the week-long summer events held for youth around the world.
As FSY leaders, Jen and Sam began facing difficult questions about how to include and support youth with a range of perspectives and lifestyles. They wanted to affirm the wisdom of the standards set by the Church for youth; they also noticed that many youth were driven away the fear of exclusion they would experience if they fell short. As a result, many youth would drop out of Church activity before giving a chance to learn what it’s really about.
Through prayer, open conversations, deep listening, and creativity, Jen and Sam were taken on a truly transformative journey; they found their way to loving the younger generation more than they thought possible, and learning how to really champion them and their unique spiritual gifts. In short, they believe in believing in the next generation and giving them a more gentle on-ramp to following Jesus and reminds them that perhaps the most important word in the sacrament prayer and baptismal covenant is ‘willing’. Their story will be valuable to anyone working with youth, or who is interested in blending top-down and bottom-up approaches to Church callings.
If you want more of what you hear in this conversation, Sam wrote a book about it called Come as You Are: Creating Space for the Rising Generation to come to Jesus Christ. The book aims to be an accessible guide to parents, leaders and teachers and invites us all to rethink about how we support our young people’s faith discovery.
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140. Understanding and Preventing Sexual Abuse — Sage Williams and Rebecca Bettilyon
138. The Rediscovered Gospel — A Conversation with Elaine Pagels
137. Loving Your Enemy: Daryl Davis and the Ku Klux Klan
136. Let Me Drown with Moses — A Conversation with James Goldberg
135. Imagining a Four-Stage Church — A Conversation with Patrick Mason
134. Do I Stay Christian? — A Conversation with Brian McLaren
133. The Love Map — A Conversation with Carol Lynn Pearson
132. History and Faith — A Conversation with David Holland
131. The Burning Book — A Conversation with Jason Olson
130. Original Grace — A Conversation with Adam Miller
129. The Early Christian World — A Conversation with Laura Nasralla
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128. Relentless Hope: The Chiou Family Story —Sam Chiou, Mindy Chiou, and Julia Chiou Knutson
127. Mind, Matter, and Spirit — A Conversation with Michael Ferguson
126. Lift and Love — A Conversation with Allison Dayton
125. Proving Polarities — A Conversation with Jared Halverson
124. Getting Real About Missionary Work — A Conversation with Jeff Strong
123. Behind the Scenes at Faith Matters — Bill Turnbull, Aubrey Chaves, Tim Chaves, and Zach Davis
122. Under the Banner — A Conversation with McKay Coppins and Patrick Mason
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