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Native Americans explore youth outreach


 Nancy Donato, a member of the Yakama Nation, credits the Rev. MarLu Scott, pastor of Wilbur Memorial United Methodist Church in White Swan, Wash., with helping guide her along the path to a college education. A UMNS file photo by Nancy Neelley.

By Jerad Morey*
August 24, 2009 | BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (UMNS)

Native American leaders are making plans to bring Facebook and other social media into the mission field for youth and young adults.

Older Native Americans may be more comfortable with traditional forms of communication, but the younger generations are increasingly doing their talking through texts and Web sites, said United Methodist leaders at a meeting of the Native American Comprehensive Plan.

 
The Rev. Anita Phillips

 

“There is an intimacy there that is foreign to a lot of Native American elders,” said the Rev. Anita Phillips, the plan’s executive director. “We must approach the sharing of ourselves and things about our ministry and work and faith using mediums that reach out to young people and yet retain cultural integrity.”

Social media received heavy emphasis during an Aug. 22 discussion on engaging young people in the church. The session came near the end of a two-day meeting of the comprehensive plan’s directors, who focused on a variety of issues related to strengthening Native American ministries.

Members of the Youth-Young Adult Ad Hoc Committee said they would have a Facebook fan page for the plan running by the end of August. Young adult Native Americans will be able to become “fans” of the comprehensive plan and learn about upcoming conferences, workshops and scholarship opportunities designed for them.

The use of social media, however, is not the only challenge in reaching younger Native Americans, church officials said.

A place in church

Native American youth and young adults find themselves straddling two worlds, meeting participants said.

“In the Native American world, there is a fine line that people have between the 'traditional' and the 'Christian,' and some young people just don't know how to walk that line,” said young adult representative Jalisa Ross. “Because they have been oppressed for so long, they feel like they have to stick with their traditional ways, and that's what keeps them away from church.”

Jennifer Battiest, another young adult representative, agreed.

“In the Native American world, there is a fine line that people have between the 'traditional' and the 'Christian,' and some young people just don't know how to walk that line.”
–Jalisa Ross


Native American youth and young adults “still experience oppression in some churches,” she said. “They are made to feel that being traditional is wrong. Some young people can't quite figure out ‘where do I fit in,’” or they find it too difficult to participate in their traditional culture and also be Christian, so they just decide, “'I don't want to be part of that struggle,'”

In making that decision, they often leave the church behind, young people said.

The Rev. David Wilson, plan chairman and superintendent of the United Methodist Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, said an additional challenge the church faces in reaching young Native Americans is that most church events and resources are not written for them.

At national church events, he said, “Young people ask, ‘Is anybody here like me? Does anybody care that I'm here? When they talk, are they talking about me?’”

Financial issues

Native American churches also struggle to reach young adults.

“Most of our churches are so rural, and the churches themselves don't have access to the technology that our young people have access to. This creates a disconnect,” Wilson said.

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Small, rural churches also lack the finances to send young people to events such as rallies and national or jurisdictional events.

Wilson said event organizers “should always keep in mind the economics of impoverished ethnic groups.” The comprehensive plan also needs financial resources to provide scholarships to youth and young adult Native Americans, he said.

There is hope, plan officials said.

“Thinking of a single event or way to do things that can touch all young people is pretty challenging, but we are getting better at being able to do this. We're putting our minds and hearts together at gatherings like this, and you can hear people contributing who are on different places on the cultural continuum,” Phillips said.

“That is our best hope and best promise to young people today: that all generations are willing to put our heads and hearts together to share, and to do it like our ancestors did.”

*Morey is a freelance writer based in Minneapolis.

News media contact: David Briggs, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.    

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