FOR RELEASE November 13, 2015 MOUNT …...Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), with 56 percent of residents belonging to the Mormon church (83 percent of total church-goers).1

RECOMMENDED CITATION: Bull, Sylvia, “Mount Olympus Presbyterian Church,” The Confirmation Project, Princeton Theological Seminary, November 13, 2015. http://theconfirmationproject.com/gallery/mountolympus

FOR RELEASE November 13, 2015

MOUNT OLYMPUS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Salt Lake City, Utah | Presbyterian Church (USA)

BY Sylvia Bull

A portrait completed as part of

Research through Princeton Theological Seminary Funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc.

THE Confirmation PROJECT www.theconfirmationproject.com

ABOUT THIS REPORT -------------------------------------------------------------------------

In addition to a national survey, researchers from The Confirmation Project visited congregations, using the research method of Portraiture to understand how confirmation and equivalent practices are practiced in congregations. Portraiture is a method of inquiry that shares some of the features of other qualitative research methods, such as ethnography, case study, and narrative, but it is distinctive in its blending of aesthetics and empiricism in an effort to capture the complexity, dynamics, and subtlety of human experience and organizational life. Portraiture first came to prominence in the works of Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot. This Portrait is one from a gallery that can be found at www.theconfirmationproject.com/gallery.

CO-DIRECTORS Katherine M. Douglass | Princeton Theological Seminary, PC(USA) Richard R. Osmer | Princeton Theological Seminary, PC(USA)

PROJECT MANAGER Kristie Finley | Princeton Theological Seminary, PC(USA)

STEERING COMMITTEE Reginald Blount | Garret Evangelical Seminary, AME Kenda Dean | Princeton Theological Seminary, UMC Terri Martinson Elton | Luther Seminary, ELCA Lisa Kimball | Virginia Theological Seminary, Episcopal Church Gordon Mikoski | Princeton Theological Seminary, PC(USA)

GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS Peter Bauck | Luther Seminary, ELCA Sylvia Bull | Princeton Theological Seminary, PC(USA) Shonda Gladden | Garrett Evangelical Seminary, AME Kate Obermueller Unruh | Princeton Theological Seminary, UMC Kate Siberine | Virginia Theological Seminary, Episcopal Church Jacob Sorenson | Luther Seminary, ELCA, Camp Consultant

SPECIALISTS Michael Gewecke | Digital Missioner, www.smartchurchproject.com Bryan Miller | Digital Missioner, www.smartchurchproject.com Sarah Hong | Graphic Designer, www.designbysarah.net William F. Lewis | Research Consultant

ABOUT THE CONFIRMATION PROJECT --------------------------------------------- The Confirmation Project seeks to learn the extent to which confirmation and equivalent practices in five Protestant denominations in North America are effective for strengthening discipleship in youth. These denominations include the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church in the USA, and the United Methodist Church. It seeks to provide Christian leaders with examples of good practice and with strategies that are effective in helping young Christians grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. Strengthening discipleship includes nurturing faith in Jesus Christ and facilitating youth encounters with Christian traditions (Scripture, creeds, confessions, and practices) to support lifelong Christian vocation. This project is funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. and housed at Princeton Theological Seminary.

MOUNT OLYMPUS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH | 1


INTRODUCTION---------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress;

he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they had quiet,

and he brought them to their desired haven.” - Psalm 107:28-30

Inverted Student Ministry at Mount Olympus Presbyterian Church, a confirmation-

equivalent practice, functions as a haven - a safe space to rest from the buffeting

winds of the dominant culture, a culture that seems always to want to bend you to

its will. A place for young people to be with others who are on a similar journey. A

safe place to explore the meaning of Scripture, of one’s doubt, questions, and faith.

A place to be loved and cared for and to love and care for others. A place to refuel for

the week ahead.

CONTEXT -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you first arrive in Salt Lake City, it is easy to see why Mormon leader Brigham

Young announced, “This is the place,” choosing the site for settlement in 1847. The

city is bordered to the east by the Wasatch Mountains and to the northwest by the

Great Salt Lake. The sky is vast and blue, the views unparalleled. The planned city is

laid out on a grid, making it hard to get lost, even for those who struggle with

directions. The streets are wide and well-marked, and the mountains provide a

constant landmark. As suggested by its founding, the city remains a bastion of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), with 56 percent of residents

belonging to the Mormon church (83 percent of total church-goers).1 Only about 10

percent of residents identify as Roman Catholic, and less than 10 percent identify as

either Evangelical or Mainline Protestant.2 There is a history of tension and conflict

1 “Salt Lake County, Utah (UT) Religion Statistics Profile - Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Sandy, West

Jordan, Taylorsville,” http://www.city-data.com/county/religion/Salt-Lake-County-UT.html. PewResearch Religion & Public Life Project Religious Landscape Survey indicates that 58 percent of Utah residents are affiliated with the LDS. http://religions.pewforum.org/maps. Accessed February 25, 2015.

2 Ibid.



between the Mormon and non-Mormon residents of Salt Lake that has led some to

describe the city as “a city of two selves” with a unique character all its own.3

Mount Olympus Presbyterian Church (MOPC) is on the east side of the valley,

nestled up near the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains. This area is more

homogenous than the west side of Salt Lake City. It is also whiter, wealthier, and

more highly educated. The closer you get to the mountains, the wealthier it

becomes. It also tends to be highly transitory, with professionals moving into and

out of the area for job opportunities and advancement. The drive to the church on I-

215 is beautiful, and Mount Olympus looms over the church’s parking lot once you

arrive. Its neighborhood is residential, comprised of both smaller, single-family

homes and more upscale housing, complete with the requisite housing development

culs-de-sac. Several elementary schools, a middle school, and two high schools are

in close proximity. The meandering streets of the nearby housing developments

contrast sharply with the planned grid of the rest of the city and suggest that one has

wandered into suburbia.

The oldest part of the church looks

right at home in its mountain

setting. It is a rustic structure of

stone pillars and wood shingles,

with tall, scraggly pines growing up

next to it. Once I entered, however,

the feel became more modern, with

a coffee shop atmosphere and lots of

hip (and helpful!) signage. This is

particularly important as the original building has had two additions, resulting in a

maze of hallways and stairways that lead to offices and classrooms. The classrooms

used for the Sunday morning youth learning labs are clean, bright, and well-

furnished. Time has clearly been taken to paint and decorate. Home-made artwork

and framed photographs of student activities adorn the walls, making for a

3 Nels Anderson, quoted in John S. McCormick, “Salt Lake City,” Utah History Encyclopedia, Utah

History To Go, http://historytogo.utah.gov/places/saltlakecity.html. Accessed February 25, 2015.



welcoming and homey atmosphere. In some of the rooms, couches suggest a more

relaxed environment for discussion, while in others tables and chairs provide space

for study and projects. Evidence can be found throughout of the program’s ties to

mission sites, particularly in Kenya.

CONGREGATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mount Olympus Presbyterian Church, a congregation of the Presbyterian Church

(USA) was chartered in 1963. Currently, the congregation has about 360 members,

but about 500-600 people are involved with the congregation. The congregation is

predominantly white and middle- or upper-middle-class. Many congregants are

professionals. Parishioners come from a range of religious backgrounds, including

un-churched, evangelical, LDS, and Roman Catholic.

MOPC describes itself as a “relaxed, inter-generational congregation” whose mission

is to “invite people to experience Jesus Christ and to become his passionate

followers.”4 Average worship attendance is about 300 people per week combined

from three services. Each worship service has a different feel. The 8:30 am service is

attended mainly by older adults, who were described to me as the “meat of the

congregation” because they are “so strong in their faith.”5 The service feels like a

traditional Presbyterian service. The service centered on the sermon, preached by

Pastor Phil Hughes on texts from Deuteronomy, as the congregation makes its way

through the entire Bible during 2015. The choir led traditional hymns, accompanied

by the organ. The contemporary service at 11:00 am replaced this traditional

hymnody with praise music led by a team of young musicians. This service was

attended by a younger crowd, with more families, many of whom wandered in

during the opening songs. While both services reflected the relaxed character of

MOPC, this service was more casual. (The pastor even took off his tie for this

service!) Most of the youth who were present on Sunday morning attended this

service, sitting together in groups, although some sat with their families.

4 Mount Olympus Presbyterian Church, http://www.mtopres.org/#/about-us/what-we-believe.

Accessed February 10, 2015. 5 Jamie White, conversation with author, February 2015.



Communion was offered at both services. A third service, the Mount, is geared

toward young adults and meets at 6:00 pm on Sunday evenings.

MOPC feels like a West Coast, evangelical-leaning Presbyterian church. The casual,

coffee-shop-like atmosphere of the entry space contributed to this feel. The

language used by congregants, the youth, the pastor, and other staff also suggested

an evangelical culture. Frequent references to the authority and power of Scripture

– God’s Big Story – indicated the centrality of the Bible for the congregation, as did

the congregation’s decision to focus on Biblical literacy through devoting a year to

reading through the Bible. Parishioners that I spoke with described their faith and

their hopes for students’ faith in terms of “growing in a personal relationship with

Jesus,” “becoming followers of Jesus,” and “having a heart for Jesus.” A major

emphasis for the congregation appears to be the life of discipleship and how to live

as a faithful follower of Jesus. The sermon for the Sunday I visited was about the

connection between love of God and obedience to God’s commandments as found in

the book of Deuteronomy.

One of the most significant aspects of this congregation’s culture and identity is

their existence as a minority church. Christian churches are fewer and farther

between in Salt Lake City than in many other parts of the United States because of

the high proportion of residents who are LDS. Wards (the equivalent of parishes for

the LDS system) can be found every few blocks throughout the city and are a major

source of communal identity. Less than 20 percent of the population in Utah

identifies as Christian (non-LDS), compared with about 75 percent of the total US

population.6 Especially given the significant emphasis in the majority LDS culture

on conversion and missions, congregants tend to see MOPC as a sort of haven. They

can come to church and have a respite from being in the religious minority. Youth

Director Jamie White told me that although people in the church come from a

variety of religious backgrounds and do not agree on everything, they like it that

way. Something bigger draws them together. Pastor Phil Hughes put it this way:

“There’s a sense of safety here. People think, ‘I don’t know what I am, but I’m not

6 PewResearch, “Affiliations,” Religion & Public Life Project Religious Landscape Survey, 2013,

http://religions.pewforum.org/affiliations. Accessed Feburary 25, 2015.



that [LDS].’”7 MOPC is, then, a place for people to come and explore what it means

to have a relationship with Christ while being accepted, where they are, in the

journey. This existence as a minority church, coupled with the West-coast

evangelical culture, may help to explain why there is a low level of denominational

identity at MOPC. Although some members were raised as Presbyterians and would

self-identify as such, Jamie suggested that perhaps 60 to 70 percent of adults in the

congregation would not identify as Presbyterian and as many as 90 percent of

students. Most identify as a Christian and as part of the MOPC family.

OVERVIEW OF CONFIRMATION------------------------------------------------------

Over the years, the youth and confirmation programs at MOPC have gone through

several iterations. Prior to the arrival of the current youth director, the confirmation

program was more traditional, with an emphasis on mentoring relationships and

the use of workbook activities. Parents who had children in that program described

it as “more structured” and “rigid,” as well as “program-oriented.”8 However, they

did appreciate its use of small groups, which one parent said had been an important

anchoring point for his daughter during a difficult time. All the parents I spoke with

appreciated the shift within the youth programs at MOPC to becoming more

relationally-oriented. The mother of a current student said that, because of this

emphasis, she sees the church as the first place to go when her child is struggling.9

Youth ministry changed leadership in 2004, when current director Jamie White

started Inverted Student Ministry, aimed at “a life right-side-up in a world upside-

down.” Confirmation, however, still operated as a separate program until 2011. In

that year, a review of confirmation was initiated, due in part to low attendance. The

review included assessment of a wide variety of curricular resources. Jamie told me

that she, “bought or downloaded any curriculum I could get my hands on,” but that

none were a significant improvement on what they had been using, which was no

7 Phil Hughes, conversation with author, transcript, February 2015.

8 Margaret and Eric, interview by Sylvia Bull, transcript, February 2015.

9 Margaret, interview.



longer working.10 During the review, Jamie and congregational leaders also assessed

understandings of and expectations for confirmation. Jamie found that many

parents were no longer even asking for a confirmation program, and few knew what

confirmation actually meant. This, in part, led to a decision to integrate

confirmation into the overall youth ministry program. Inverted Student Ministry

remained as an integrated middle- through high-school program focused on youth

discipleship, with opportunities for profession of faith or baptism along the way,

based on student desire and readiness. Implementation of the integrated program

began in 2012.

Accounts of the transition vary, although parents of past and present students

indicated that transition was “hard” with “growing pains.” One parent felt that some

students had gotten lost in the shuffle of the transition. However, this sense of

difficulty in transition did not appear to negatively impact their views of Inverted

Student Ministry. A long-time volunteer also said that the changeover had been

“hard,” but that she was now “seeing really good things” coming out of the change

and was excited about the future.11 Jamie told me that the transition period had

been fairly smooth, partly because most people in the congregation did not appear

to care about the changes, at least not enough to put up any resistance. She

attributed this to a lack of understanding and engagement among many parents,

students, and the congregation at large. She based this also on a survey recently

conducted among MOPC families, most of whom admitted that they rarely, if ever,

talked about faith or church at home.12

Inverted Student Ministry at Mount Olympus Presbyterian Church consists of

students in grades six through twelve, roughly 100 in total. The program meets

twice per week, once on Wednesday nights and once on Sunday mornings. Most

students (60-80) attend the Wednesday night session (7:00 to 8:30 pm), and

approximately 20-40 of those students attend the Sunday morning sessions (9:45 to

10 Jamie White, interview by Sylvia Bull, transcript, February 2015.

11 Barbara, interview by Sylvia Bull, transcript, February 2015.

12 Jamie White, interview.



10:45 am). These numbers fluctuate greatly from week to week. About 60 percent of

students involved in the program are from families involved with the church and the

other 40 percent are from families with no other connection to the congregation.

The program is led by Youth Director Jamie White and Youth Ministry Assistant

Jared McClure, with assistance from over 30 other adult leaders who serve as

mentors, chaperones for retreats, small group leaders, and teachers.

On Wednesday nights, students are divided up between middle and high school for

their Track One teaching time, with additional time for small group discussion and

whole group fellowship. Track One classes present foundational material for faith

development, focusing on the big picture questions like “Who is God?” and “Who is

Jesus?” These classes are usually based on sermons or inductive Bible study. Last

year, the entire year in Track One was focused on the Gospels. Choices about the

course material are made alongside the children’s and adult ministry teams to fit

with the overall theme for the congregation. This year in Track One, students are

learning about the church and what it means to be a follower of Christ.

On Sunday mornings, two sessions

are usually offered, one in Track

Two and one in Track Three, with

Jamie and Jared each teaching one

class. Topics have included

technology and its effects on teens

and their faith, the Bible, servant

leadership, what happens to us

when we die, and the problem of

pain. Students usually have a choice of which session to attend, although Jamie felt

that the class on technology was important enough that she did not offer an

alternative. Classes in Tracks Two and Three are set up to function as “learning

labs,” modeled after science labs. Students listen to a video, sermon, or discussion

and then are expected to put what they have learned into practice. This includes a

lab assignment to do at home, involving, for example, practices of reading and



studying scripture, self-guided labyrinths, or trying out the principles of servant

leadership. Attendance at Sunday worship and Track Two and Three learning labs

are required if students want to go on the program’s mission trips for middle or high

school. The high school mission trip is to Kenya, where students teach Bible school

and do construction work in urban and rural areas. There are many other

opportunities for retreats and camps throughout the year.

Students wishing to make a profession of faith or be baptized have the opportunity

to do so each year. Students preparing for baptism meet with Jamie during a day-

long retreat to learn about its significance and meaning. Each year, a group makes a

trip up to a site in the canyon for immersion baptism in the river. Those being

baptized or making a profession of faith meet with elders of the congregation

beforehand to be asked about their desire to do so and about their faith journey.

Youth described this process to me as “awkward” because they did not know the

elders well and felt like they were “on trial.”13 Pastor Phil Hughes agreed that this is

“one place we need to get better… to take away the fear-factor and ‘on trial’ feeling,

but also encourage the youth to speak their faith convictions.”14 But, at least for

those being baptized, the process seemed to be worth the trouble as they found their

baptism to be very meaningful.

Most of the materials for the classes in all three tracks are developed by Jamie and

Jared, who are both trained teachers. Jamie indicated that much of their time and

energy goes into curriculum development because so much of the confirmation and

youth materials out there “have no depth for teens.”15 One of the only outside

curricula the program has used recently is Echo the Story, by sparkhouse, as it is

“mainline and meaty” with a lot of resources so “you can pick and choose what

works.”16 Less frequently, Jamie and Jared use materials by Alpha, Simply Youth

Ministry, Download Youth Ministry, or denominational curriculum from the

PC(USA).

13 Youth, focus group led by Sylvia Bull, audio file, February 2015. 14 Phil Hughes, e-mail message to Sylvia Bull, March 2, 2015. 15 Jamie White, interview.

16 Ibid.



Inverted Student Ministry, like many youth programs, is highly relational in

character. It was abundantly clear from their interactions with youth that leaders

Jamie White and Jared McClure know their youth well, love them, and treat them

with respect. They always called students by name and referred to their lives,

families, and experiences. In the focus group, at which their leaders were not

present, youth shared that they “can tell” that their leaders “really love and care

about us, and really want to know what’s going on with us.”17 An opt-in six-month-

long mentorship program intensifies the relational aspect of the program for some

students, as they meet one-on-one with a lay member of the congregation with

whom they have been specially - and prayerfully - matched.

The youth also have strong relational bonds with one another. In the group of 20

students that I interviewed, students ranged from fifth grade to twelfth grade (about

ages 10 to 18). With that significant of an age range, I was surprised at how well the

students knew each other and how well they got along with one another. They had a

good rapport - jokes and good-natured jibes abounded. They also were comfortable

disagreeing with one another and working through conflicts among their different

perspectives. They built on one another's observations and comments. It was

abundantly clear that they felt at home at MOPC and with each other. The

consistent refrain of our time together was that this was a “safe” and “non-

judgmental” space, where they could be free to doubt and question. Pastor Phil

Hughes thinks this sense of safety at MOPC may be an “[unconscious reaction] to

the larger LDS culture which can tend to be judgmental and discouraging of

questioning one’s faith.”18

A unique feature of the program at MOPC is its strong emphasis on student

initiative. In contrast to earlier iterations of confirmation, which Jamie said were

driven by “parental pressures and motivations,” the current program relies heavily

on students’ self-motivation and decision to opt-in.19 Students who come on Sunday

17 Youth, focus group.

18 Phil Hughes, e-mail message to Sylvia Bull, March 2, 2015. 19 Jamie White, interview.



mornings normally have a choice between attending either the Track Two or Track

Three classes, based on where they think they are in their faith journey. (Jamie did

say that sometimes she strongly encourages individual students to attend one or the

other, based on her own assessment of their needs.) The mentoring program, which

was mandatory under the old confirmation program, now is optional, but more

students are choosing to participate in it than before. Although one parent

expressed to me a wish that more would be required of students, it seemed to me

that, on the whole, this focus on student initiative is quite effective.

Inverted Student Ministry at MOPC also trusts students to engage with advanced

theological and biblical material. Students, for their part, take great pride in this

trust, and live into the challenge. During my visit, Track Two students were learning

about the story of Noah after the flood (Genesis 9:8-29). This story, about Noah’s

drunkenness and conflict with his sons, was “less Sunday-school safe.” Students

took a great deal of pride in having access to this type of more “ugly” or “weird”

story in scripture.20 They were attentive, interested, and engaged, asking insightful

and difficult questions. In the focus group time, students again mentioned that one

of the things they love about their youth program is the opportunity to go deeper

into the Bible - to learn not just the “Sunday school, felt-board stuff,” but also the

“bad stuff.”21 One of the sixth graders referred to that morning’s session on Noah,

who “gets drunk because he’s so depressed - it’s embarrassing,” how stories like that

“show you how God acts in both ways” of love and judgment.22 Jamie related that

one of the program’s values is “trusting students to think critically,” and it was clear

that this value had a profound impact on students’ experience of the program.23 The

winter retreat’s focus on the book of Hosea demonstrates that this commitment to

engaging the difficult parts of scripture runs deep. Students I spoke with loved that

they were entrusted with the fullness of scripture, consistently listing this as the

most important learning they have done while in the program.


21 Ibid.

22 Natalie, ibid.




The youth ministry program at MOPC differs significantly from traditional

confirmation programs in several key ways. First, it spans the student’s entire

middle school and high school years (seven, in all). Unlike many other Presbyterian

confirmation programs, which last from as little as a few weeks to as long as two

years and often take place separately from the other youth programs, Inverted

Student Ministry allows for consistent and prolonged discipleship formation over

the lion’s share of an adolescent’s development. This also makes it flexible enough to

account for students’ different starting points when they enter the program. No

student is expected to be baptized or make a profession of faith before she is ready

because of scheduling. It reduces the number of transitions among programs that

students make and facilitates transitions from children’s ministry and to young

adult ministry. Parents, the youth directors, and the children’s minister all

mentioned the relatively high retention rate that already exists for students heading

into college. It will be interesting to see in the coming years how the revised

program (started in 2012) impacts how many students keep attending after they

graduate. Most of the students in the focus group indicated that they expect faith to

continue to be important for them as they get older.

However, very few of the students expressed any sense of identity as a Presbyterian

Christian. The exception was those who had grown up going to MOPC and whose

families had been longtime members. None of the students expressed any interest in

confirmation or profession of faith as a means to formal membership in the church.

When I asked about this, students responded this way: “Is it like a sign-up?” “What

would you do?” and “I thought we were already a part of the church.”24 Several,

however, who had recently been baptized gave positive accounts of their

experiences, and many viewed telling others about their faith as important. The

youth directors (who come from Assembly of God and non-denominational

backgrounds) and the pastor (who is Presbyterian) all indicated that formal church

membership is a relatively low priority for their congregation as a whole. Unlike

most mainline churches, MOPC has many more active congregants than members.




Part of this they attributed to negative connotations of membership in Utah because

of connotations of doctrinal conformity in the Mormon church, but Pastor Phil

Hughes pointed to larger conversations in the PC(USA) and mainline Protestantism

about redefining membership. It seems that youth are being shaped by the broader

Reformed tradition implicitly in this program, rather than explicitly, as in more

traditional confirmation programs.

METAPHORS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Planting the seeds, tending the garden. One metaphor that comes to mind for

confirmation-equivalent practices at MOPC is that of a garden. Several parents

expressed their hopes for youth discipleship in terms of “planting the seeds” of faith

in youth that may not grow until later. There was a sense of hopefulness but also

realism about this work, that we do not always see the harvest or the fruits. Yet the

image of planting seeds alone does not do justice to the ongoing work of discipleship

formation that happens at MOPC. Seed is not merely scattered in the hope that it

might one day grow. Instead, gardeners are constantly at work. They have a

relationship with the garden: spending time in it, watering, weeding, nurturing. The

leaders and, I think, the youth are in this for the long haul. This metaphor of the

garden speaks to the relational heart of Inverted Student Ministry and to its

integration with other ministries of the church. Some of the garden’s growth can

already be seen in the excitement of students in their study of Scripture, in their

encouragement of one another, in their service in the world. Other seeds may lie

dormant, not yet ready to sprout, but still cared for and nurtured in this garden by

these workers in hope and expectation for the future.

Haven: a place to be Christian in a non-Christian context. This metaphor applies as

much to the youth ministry program at MOPC as to the whole congregation,

perhaps even more. Students clearly were drawn closer together by their

experiences of being Christian in a predominantly Mormon context. Students spoke

articulately and eloquently about their experiences growing up in this context. They

shared stories of the positives - of their Mormon friends and neighbors welcoming



them and bringing them food when they in the hospital. But they also talked about

“harsh treatment” from the LDS community, of being excluded by friends and

neighbors when they did not convert to Mormonism.25 Jamie, Jared, and others

talked about this in the language of “shunning,” saying that by high school many of

the students will have lost friends because they are not Mormon. One student said

that being in the religious minority led her to question her beliefs more, especially

since it can be hard to understand and explain the differences between Christianity

and Mormonism. She appreciated that there was space for questioning and doubt at

MOPC. 26 Inverted Student Ministry, including its confirmation-equivalent

practices, offers students a place to learn what it means to be Christian and to just

be Christian in the midst of a culture that wants them to be something else. As a

haven, it performs an important stabilizing and sustaining function for students as

they grow in faith and discipleship.

AUTHOR’S LEARNINGS ---------------------------------------------------------------------

The youth program at MOPC once again demonstrates that relationships are

essential for youth discipleship formation. Students time and again referred to

relationships - with each other and with their adult leaders - as being a primary

motivator for their current participation and as a primary factor in considering their

future connection to the church. About half of the students I interviewed said that

they come to Inverted Student Ministry because of the “support system,” “friends,”

or because it is “a good community.”27 The consistency of the adult staff and the

length of the program deepens this relational element. Parents identified Jamie and

Jared’s leadership as being fundamental to the relational culture of the program.

Others can also learn from MOPC’s student-centered approach. Jamie and others

have worked hard to create a culture of self-motivation and accountability among

students for their own participation and faith development. None of the students I


26 Candice, focus group.




interviewed said they were there because their parents made them come. All said

they were there because of either a desire to grow in their own faith or because of

the community.28 These are compelling reasons to participate that seem less likely

to fade with time. Inverted Student Ministry is also student-centered in its

expectation that students can and will engage with challenging theological and

biblical content. Access to difficult biblical texts humanized the Bible for youth in

the program and gave them a sense of coming of age, which they took seriously and

in which they took great pride.

The youth program at MOPC strikes a delicate balance in structure, content, and

method that appeals to its students. Students enjoyed telling me about group games,

retreats, mission trips, Bible study, critical engagement with faith and culture, and

small group fellowship, all of which form a part of Inverted Student Ministry. When

students were asked whether they would change anything about the program, a

fascinating thing happened. Students initially made different suggestions: using

fewer videos, playing more games, having more discussion, and playing fewer

games, to name a few. They engaged in a back and forth dialogue, negotiating these

suggestions with each other. Eventually, though, they decided that the program had

“a good balance to get everybody’s needs.”29 What a testimony to the balance struck

by the leadership of the needs of its students! Churches would be wise to consider

how they can strike a balance appropriate for their own students and context.

Finally, others can learn from MOPC’s engagement with questions of what

confirmation means and to what extent denominational identity plays a role in

youth faith formation. Jamie noted that “denominationalism is quite intentionally

not emphasized. We teach church history and talk about what it means to be

Presbyterian, but we don’t prioritize it over any other denomination.”30 Mainline

churches such as the PC(USA) will have to think deeply about what membership

and denominationalism will look like in the future, and how confirmation will

28 Ibid.

29 Ibid.




impact and be impacted by these shifts. MOPC, for its part, has moved away from a

traditional confirmation program and rite toward an integrated pattern of youth

discipleship formation with opportunities for public profession of faith. Others can

consider what might be lost and gained from such a move.

Documents

FOR RELEASE November 13, 2015 MOUNT …...Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), with 56 percent of residents belonging to the Mormon church (83 percent of total church-goers).1