The Hippy Generation--from the mid '60's through the early 70's. It was a tumultuous time...it was a rebellious time. Young people were tired of the establishment and began rebelling against the norm. There were sit-ins on government lawns protesting the Vietnam war to sit-ins on the school lawns protesting bad school lunches. It seemed young people were fed up with everything and making demands for change. Everything was groovy and far-out and young people wanted peace, not war. A flower child was on every corner and Hare Krishna's were handing out flowers at the airports. Things were stirred up, to put it simply.
The church was even affected by the Hippy movement. There was a musical that came out in the early 70's that our church youth performed. I remember each girl had a hot pink dress that was a few inches above the knee and had scalloped edges--as close to a mini-skirt as our moms who made them would allow. The guys had flowerd-y shirts with a big collar and bell-bottomed pants. And we sang songs that had never been a part of our church culture. Our music minister rented lights for our performance--which our church had never seen. Because I wasn't a rebel, I was very nervous (and yet excited) about our first performance for the church. We didn't know how the church, as a whole, would respond. It was edgy for a Texas panhandle church...and it smacked of change. We performed and I remember one family walked out. The church nominally received the musical, but we heard lots of low grumbling for months afterwards. But if you'd asked the youth, they would have said they felt deliriously successful! It was a great move forward in change.
So...it's hard for me to understand that generation having problems with change in the Church today. The hippy generation is now about 58-68 years old. And those are the low grumblers I hear in the Church now. What happened? They championed change when they were young. They were willing to rebel to get it. And now when another generation wants to elicit some changes to move the church forward, they are the ones dragging their feet.
I just don't get it.
2 comments:
So true! I believe it's because it's not their change... I think that age group likes what they fought for to change and wants it to stay that way. Just as the older ones fought the changes they wanted. One thing I have learned over my years is that as some people get older, they start digging their heels in more. It doesn't really matter what area you would be discussing - church, how to raise your kids.......
I didn't want "change" in church. I wanted Jesus. I was happy to give up bell bottoms and peace signs when I found the Truth. Forget the worldly skirts and hippy flowers - or their cultural equivalents now. The only change we need is a revival of righteousness in our churches.
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