{"id":10178,"date":"2015-06-24T00:00:40","date_gmt":"2015-06-24T00:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.brethren.org\/news\/?p=10178"},"modified":"2018-11-07T17:44:00","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T17:44:00","slug":"lightsabers-and-communicating-with-jr-highs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2015\/lightsabers-and-communicating-with-jr-highs\/","title":{"rendered":"Lightsabers and Communicating with Junior Highs: An Interview with Bethany Dean Steve Schweitzer"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Josh Harbeck<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo by Glenn Riegel<\/small>
Bethany Seminary dean Steve Schweitzer speaks at 2015 National Junior High Conference<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When pondering the best tools to use to communicate with junior high youth, lightsabers may not appear on the top of the list. However, according to Bethany Theological Seminary academic dean and professor Steve Schweitzer, they may have their place.<\/p>\n

Schweitzer is teaching a new course at Bethany called \u201cScience Fiction and Theology,\u201d and he brought some of the ideas discussed in that class to a workshop at the National Junior High Conference held June 19-21 at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College.<\/p>\n

Schweitzer showed clips from the Star Wars and Star Trek movie and television franchises, along with clips from various episodes of the BBC television show \u201cDr. Who.\u201d Each of these clips had to do with faith, humanity, relationships, and concepts of God.<\/p>\n

Why bring topics from a college course to a junior high conference? For Schweitzer, the answer is simple. \u201cThis is my favorite age group. I love junior high,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re honest, they ask good questions, and they don\u2019t know yet that those aren\u2019t the questions you\u2019re supposed to ask. There\u2019s a blunt honesty about life that makes you smile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junior high is an important time in the life of an adolescent, a time when many changes are happening. One of those changes is independence that manifests itself partly in choices about entertainment. Authority figures must have an idea about what junior high students are consuming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be aware about what’s going on culturally and be willing to engage it in productive ways\u201d Schweitzer said. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean we have to agree with it, but we have to communicate about the truth of the gospel and truth of our faith in ways that make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schweitzer brought up the example of Paul and how he tried to minister in the New Testament. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t go in and pull out references that no one understands. He talks to them in ways they understand culturally and ways that make sense,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s a huge part of what it means to communicate effectively in our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Glenn Riegel, a photographer and member of Little Swatara Church of the Brethren in Bethel, Pa., has posted albums from the National Junior High Conference at
\n<\/em>www.facebook.com\/glenn.riegel\/media_set?set=a.10206911494290541.1073741846.1373319087&type=3<\/em><\/a> .<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

That means taking an interest in the interests of students. Those who serve as authority figures have to be able to meet the students on their level. \u201cThink about the young adult dystopian phase right now, like the Hunger Games and Divergent [book series and movies], and if your children are into that, for you not to talk about why this is so appealing and what\u2019s the attraction seems to me a big missed opportunity, whether it’s a parent or a teacher or a pastor,\u201d Schweitzer said.<\/p>\n

In the end, communication is about honesty. A genuine interest in the interest of the students will bring about real conversations about serious topics. That\u2019s how a discussion of Yoda\u2019s philosophies about the Force in \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back\u201d can lead to discussions about faith and the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want someone who is going to respect them and listen to them and is going to, when they have a question, have a real answer,\u201d Schweitzer said. \u201cSaying, \u2018I don’t know\u2019 is fine, but [we also say,] \u2018This is how I am able to make sense of some of this.\u2019 That authenticity and respect is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

— Josh Harbeck is a high school English teacher and member of Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren in Elgin, Ill., where he serves as a junior high teacher.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When pondering the best tools to use to communicate with junior high youth, lightsabers may not appear on the top of the list. However, according to Bethany Theological Seminary academic dean and professor Steve Schweitzer, they may have their place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[806,1283],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-10178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-congregational-life-ministries","tag-youth-and-young-adults"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10178"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12677,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10178\/revisions\/12677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10178"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=10178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}