 |
 |
January 25, 1996 UNDERSTANDING GENERATION X 96-01-001-SP CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Under blue California skies, Lutheran students from across the country met Dec. 28-Jan. 1 in Costa Mesa for the Lutheran Student Movement-USA's annual national gathering for Lutheran university and college students. "'Generation Xers' must be harbingers and creators of new approaches to evangelism," said William Mahedy, a counselor from San Diego and co-author of "A Generation Alone." "They are the generational pioneers of the post-modern era." Mahedy said he disagrees with the negative views toward this generation, which he illustrated with statistics on high rates of divorce, suicide and violence among young people. A total of 339 students and Lutheran campus ministry staff met under the theme "Prophets of Hope: Understanding 'Generation X'." "Generation X" is a term coined by Douglas Coupland to define people born between the years 1961 and 1981. In his book, "Generation X," Coupland writes about a generation of alienated, hopeless and futureless people. The gathering program featured worship services, workshops and a series of speakers addressing different aspects of "Generation X" each day, including a panel discussion on "Who we say we are as 'Generation X'." Brian "Butch" Peterson, senior at the University of California-Berkeley, spoke of a "plug-in society" from greater population growth. "Government and community services aim at fulfilling the daily needs of a large population. This necessity of providing a growing populous with existing resources has created a 'get in and get out' approach," he said. Laurie Larson Caesar, an LSM alumna, spoke on who the Scriptures say "Generation X" is. Caesar told a story of an imaginary encounter of a witch with King Saul, reading from the witch's diary. "Each generation has its own calling," King Saul kept saying to the witch. Caesar told participants there are parallels between their generation and those from very long ago. "The Bible is a way of getting to know our grandparents of the faith," she said. Participants left the gathering with a sense of hope from the final day's topic - "Who does 'Generation X' hope and plan to become?" Sean McMillan, former Lutheran Youth Organization member, preached that "Generation X" is "the baby in labor" whose familiar "womb" is changing into a world where there is no more security. McMillan said, "The origin of a generation is not in the mother or father but in the mind of God." "I felt energized because everyone there wanted to make a difference and make a change," Heather Embree, a junior at California Lutheran University, said after the gathering. "It was refreshing to see that our generation isn't a bunch of duds." Following each speaker, students met in small groups where they discussed what the speakers said and their own views on the different aspects of the gathering's theme. "Many of the people in my discussion group felt they didn't fit the stereotypical descriptions of our generation," said Anne Schonauer, a sophomore at the University of California-Berkeley. The discussions were recorded and LSM hopes to compile them into a publication on "Generation X." "There's so much negative stuff written about us out there that we wanted to produce something positive about ourselves," said Kirsten Boyd, a member of the gathering's planning committee. Boyd, a senior at the University of Colorado-Boulder, was elected President of LSM-USA for 1996. She said LSM needs to be more intentional about telling the church who it is as a whole. "I think we need to look at issues surrounding poverty, because that's something we have not looked at before as LSM and as students," Boyd said. She also said she hopes to lead LSM in drafting a statement on abortion. LSM-USA is an independent and pan-Lutheran organization of Lutheran students at public, private and Lutheran colleges and universities across the United States. Next year's gathering will be held in San Antonio. This story was written by Stephen Hovick Padre, the staff intern in Chicago for the Lutheran Student Movement.