I took six young adults to Urbana in 2022, despite several church members commenting that the contemporary student mission conference differed from previous years. They particularly critiqued the absence of notable speakers from earlier decades, which they felt made the conference less potent. However, the student conference significantly impacted the young adults who attended because it used their lexicon—not that of Gen Xers or even Baby Boomers. The speakers addressed issues relevant to this generation, and as a result, four of the six participants engaged in short- and long-term commitments with agencies they encountered at Urbana. To foster a robust student movement, we may need to recognize that it's ultimately their movement, not ours. And that's okay.
I'm reminded of Jim Collins's 'hedgehog' concept from his book, Good to Great. I have not been to an Urbana though my organization was there in 22 and isn't planning on going back because of a perception that the concept of world missions had been superseded by other good and important issues, however issues that aren't at the core of the missionary task. Agencies and events often evolve and change, but then the fruit of those agencies and events will change as well. And if Urbana indeed is shifting away from the core missionary task then an obvious consequence will be fewer and fewer missionaries who identify Urbana as the beginning of their long-term missions journey.
The local church is the tree, and when it comes to mobilization it seems like a lot of people are not interested in the tree. Cultivating healthy trees begins with not taking the apples (missionaries) unless the tree (church) is doing the sending (I know the analogy is getting stretched now). Imagine sending agencies not taking missionaries unless their church was a healthy sending church.
I took six young adults to Urbana in 2022, despite several church members commenting that the contemporary student mission conference differed from previous years. They particularly critiqued the absence of notable speakers from earlier decades, which they felt made the conference less potent. However, the student conference significantly impacted the young adults who attended because it used their lexicon—not that of Gen Xers or even Baby Boomers. The speakers addressed issues relevant to this generation, and as a result, four of the six participants engaged in short- and long-term commitments with agencies they encountered at Urbana. To foster a robust student movement, we may need to recognize that it's ultimately their movement, not ours. And that's okay.
I look forward to taking another batch in 2025.
I'm reminded of Jim Collins's 'hedgehog' concept from his book, Good to Great. I have not been to an Urbana though my organization was there in 22 and isn't planning on going back because of a perception that the concept of world missions had been superseded by other good and important issues, however issues that aren't at the core of the missionary task. Agencies and events often evolve and change, but then the fruit of those agencies and events will change as well. And if Urbana indeed is shifting away from the core missionary task then an obvious consequence will be fewer and fewer missionaries who identify Urbana as the beginning of their long-term missions journey.
Mobilizing students from a conference is like picking up apples from the ground. Maybe our efforts should be focused on cultivating better trees.
Let me know when you get that done.
Yes, I am being snarky (sorry), but everybody wants better trees.
Why don't you tell us how that is going to happen?
The local church is the tree, and when it comes to mobilization it seems like a lot of people are not interested in the tree. Cultivating healthy trees begins with not taking the apples (missionaries) unless the tree (church) is doing the sending (I know the analogy is getting stretched now). Imagine sending agencies not taking missionaries unless their church was a healthy sending church.