Slaughter Exodus 12:1-14 Over the next few months at least until Advent - my preaching will be taking on a particular

r theme (with a few reprieves for feast days and special occasions). I dont like to leave people guessing, so let me state up-front that the purpose of addressing this particular theme is to get people thinking, praying, reading and talking, and to lay the foundations for our future as Gods missionaries amongst the 18,000 people across the ten suburbs of our parish. Its a provocative exercise. So lets begin. To start with, human life (in our culture) may be divided broadly into Thirds. Theres the third Third of life focused around rest and wellbeing. Its when people are approaching or enjoying retirement, enjoying lots of leisure time, consolidating, maybe downsizing, more concerned about physical health and perhaps enjoying grandchildren. The second Third of life in our culture tends to be focused around children or career or both. Proving oneself as a worker or parent, working long hours to provide for a family, running kids to a multitude of activities, looking out for the next promotion or contract and so on. But its the first Third of life to which I intend to give particular attention until the end of the current liturgical year. For two reasons. Firstly, because people in the second and third Thirds of life with mature and active faith overwhelmingly discover that faith in the first Third of life. And secondly, because the approach to ministry in the first Third of life employed by mainstream Christianity in the first world has been a crashing failure. While theres lots of peer-reviewed research on the topic, the evidence is generally right before our eyes. Despite the massive youth fellowships of the fifties, the overflowing Sunday Schools of the sixties, the huge Student Christian Movement of the seventies, the large numbers of Kids Clubs and Holiday Programs of the eighties, and the countless youth groups started and youth workers employed in the nineties and noughties a survey of a conventional Anglican, Uniting, Lutheran or, to a certain extent, Roman Catholic church in Australia will see hardly anyone under 40 with an active and mature faith. So thats why were going to focus on ministry in the First Third of Life. But before we can have a rational discussion, its necessary to slay some sacred cows. Now, anyone who has worked in an abbatoir knows that butchery is a messy business. So I need to apologise in advance because most of the philosophy and methodology which has driven first third ministry for the last century has failed us. But its not individuals who have failed its the system. Weve all been part of it, including me and weve generally had good intentions inside that system. But the system is defunct. And if you always do what youve always done, youll always get what youve always got. So what did this system tell us to do? Three things: Instruct, Attract and Exhibit. Together the three points created a kind of Bermuda Triangle into which generations of children sailed, never to be seen again. So lets start the killing spree with Instruction. 1

Some of us were good at school. Well behaved. Diligent. Properly dressed, with neat handwriting. Some of us were bad at school. Naughty and defiant. Shirt untucked, smoking behind the bike sheds, proudly showing off the latest hickey. Whether we were good or bad at school, though, generally has little or no bearing on whether we are good or bad at life. Most people can tell a story of the goody-two-shoes from school with the unplanned pregnancy, the class clown who got their own TV show or the disobedient kid who now owns their own jet. The same sort of rule applies to qualifications a degree does not automatically create a good GP or priest, and a trade certificate is no guarantee that a plumber can actually fix your dunny. Schooling or instruction is no guarantee of anything, really. It helps, but its only part of what contributes to a persons character. A century ago, in Christian Europe, there was a coalition of four forces that worked together to form the faith of children. Primarily, family life so the Christian family would pray together, read the bible together, impose moral standards and model appropriate conduct. Secondly, the social contract in ostensibly Christian cultures like Britain, everything was imbued with a religious sense. Theatre referenced the bible, the law was based on Judeo-Christian principles, Bishops sat in parliament and schools began the day with hymn-singing. Thirdly, liturgy children and indeed people of all ages attended divine service regularly. Children sang in the choir at daily morning and evening prayer, schoolchildren went to Chapel every day, even on holidays one would seek out a church. Finally, and of least importance, was instruction this might involve going to a catechism class or perhaps religious instruction at school. In the 1870s, Sunday School was invented, but it was to provide basic literacy for child labourers and paupers, not primarily to form faith. This coalition was, perhaps, a valid response to the context and era. But you hardly need me to tell you that most families today, even the churchy ones, dont pray and read the bible together. We arent, and never will again be, a Christian society. For decades weve been booting children out of liturgy, or segregating teenagers them in their own liturgy. But Instruction has enjoyed a rags-to-riches success story. Ive never met an Anglican church that didnt either have a Sunday School, want one, or want a bigger one. There are so many Christian Education resources available, you cant choose between them. Even though no one actually wants to teach RE in state schools, everyone agrees that its important. And RE in the hugely popular church schools, while spurned by students, is nominally supported by parents who want their children to have values. Classrooms, in their various forms, are commonly seen as the normal environment in which faith is formed. Its as if an edict went out that proclaimed People will have faith if they are instructed about faith. And everyone, from the laity down to the Bishops, unquestioningly complied. And why not? Mature, active Christians know their bible, are theologically astute and have a healthy 2

spirituality so clearly if we teach people about those things, then they will become mature, active Christians. Right? Wrong. Instructing people about democracy does not make them democratic. Instructing people about music does not make them musicians. Instructing people about the dangers of smoking does not stop them from lighting up. So while it does no one any harm to know information about our faith, if our intention is to form active and mature believers then there is simply no evidence that Instruction works. The good news is that, before the Instruction obsession, Christians and Jews managed for millennia to form mature and active people of faith. So its not as if were starting from scratch. There are any number of alternatives which present themselves, one of which is outlined in our scripture reading today from Exodus 12. The Israelites escape from Egypt is commemorated annually at Pesach with a seder meal. If you ever have the opportunity to attend a seder (a real one, not a Christianised imitation) you should take it. Because youll see in action a method of faith formation which has succeeded for nearly three thousand years. At the At the At the At the At the At the At the seder, seder, seder, seder, seder, seder, seder, the household prays together and relives a story together. there are ritual actions in which everyone participates. key beliefs are communicated through symbolism. the smallest child is given an integral and necessary role. the story of your forebears becomes your story. you are taught traditions stretching back thousands of years. you know that you are part of a worldwide movement.

Why on earth would put our children in classrooms to be instructed, when our scriptures and our tradition provide us with such rich examples of how faith is actually formed? The Lord be with you And Also With You

The Reverend Chris Bedding is an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Perth, Western Australia. He is also an actor, director, musician and comedian. His passions are ministry amongst people in the first third of life, dynamic liturgy and advocacy for the oppressed. twitter.com/frchrisbeddin g facebook.com/frchrisbedding Email: rector.darlington@live.com.au
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