Gathering the NeXt Generation: Essays on the Formation and Ministry of GenX Priests

Gathering the NeXt Generation: Essays on the Formation and Ministry of GenX Priests. Edited by Nathan Humphrey. Harrisburg, Pa.: Morehouse Publishing, 2000. xxiv + 163 pp. $21.00 (paper). This essay collection is one of the initiatives that resulted from the 1998

Gathering the NeXt Generation, a conference for Episcopal priests under thirty-five. The themes of formation and ordination, formation and ministry, the changing faces of ordained ministry, and mission and ministry for the new millennium frame the discourse.

These essays brim with passionate callings. In the foreword, The Most Reverend Frank Griswold invites the reader to sense the diversity of character and strength of faith within the voices of these GenX priests. In "Youth's Authority: A Spiritual Revolution," Margaret Schwarzer identifies the Episcopal Church's failure to embrace the gifts of student communities and "their ability to create solid Christian communities in neutral or hostile territory" (p. 59). Schwarzer's essay commands the Church to take "their wisdom seriously and risk the discomfort and uncertainty of transition as we welcome them into our congregations" (p. 65). In "A Living Church Serving a Living Lord," Rock Schuler reflects on the critical components of visionary leadership for mission and ministry in the twenty-first century. Schuler challenges the Episcopal Church to address the critical topic of acculturation. In his illustrations, one clearly hears the command for purposeful risk-taking.

These writers dare to declare their distinctive churchview and way of calling. If they are truly eager to be in conversation with all, then much will be gained. In her essay on an Episcopal culture through an Xer lens, Beth Maynard addresses the discontinuities of the Episcopal Church that conspire to keep the GenXer out of the church. Her image of "the Xer with mouse poised, contemplating the next step in a virtual journey ... thinking: OK, Christianity, show me some added value-and the damn link had better work" (p. 92) leads the reader to a watershed of cultural and ecclesiastical realities. In "To Be Young, Priested, and Black," Jennifer Lynn Baskerville calls for a transformational shift of the Episcopal Church's lens upon diversity of race, background, and theological belief. She reminds the church that the dearth of young Black clergy is a concern for the whole Church.

This collection of essays confronts the Episcopal Church's reluctance to affirm, in general, the NeXt Generation's vital voice in the church's postmodern discourse. By its strength of declaration, Gathering the NeXt Generation may disengage, rather than engage, their elders in the postmodern discourse who believe that the shelf life of their engagement in the identification of mission and ecclesiology is greater than this particular network of GenX priests will acknowledge.

In the afterword, Nathan Humphrey points out that this collection of essays was one way the GenX priests could have their say. Without question, the Episcopal Church can benefit from such says, if the Church receives this collection as not only an unabashed chastisement of its myopic vision in this postmodern culture, but also an invitation for authentic conversation. These essays will stimulate necessary conversations in our churches and our seminaries. They will also lead to new responses on the shared pilgrimage.

BARBARA R. I. ISAACS

Seabury-Western Theological Seminary Evanston, Illinois

Copyright Anglican Theological Review, Inc. Summer 2001
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