Back to School

In November 1987, Time carried a cover story entitled "Who''s in Charge?" The magazine answered its own question with these words: "The nation calls for leadership, and there is no one home." How can the church assert leadership in the world today?

In many churches the Sunday after Christmas is also "Student Recognition Sunday" - the reason being that on this Sunday there is probably a pretty good chance that those kids who grew up in the congregation and have gone off to college are in town for the weekend. One of the church's big problems these days is that it continues to see "students" as a unique subgroup within the congregation - they go away to learn at school and return (possibly) to the church for worship.

But to be really accurate, Student Recognition Sunday should be on Pentecost. For on the day it was born, the church committed itself to being a life long learning partnership in faith. Sometime before next Sunday, with Christmas break over, nearly all of the public school and college students will return to their classrooms. But lifetime learning takes no holidays - can the church continue to be "in session" throughout the rapid approach of the twenty-first century?

Peter M. Senge ("The Leader's New Work: Building...