Over the next several weeks, we will share workshop and plenary content from our Rooted 2020 Microconferences. This workshop, titled and planned before we knew what COVID-19 was, addresses the pervasive loneliness in our fragmented culture and how Jesus meets us there.
Even before the pandemic hit, researches were claiming our culture is experiencing and epidemic of loneliness. Changes in the structure of the family, greater mobility and transience, and the rise of social media have left millions feeling less deeply connected. Add to this the realities of quarantining and social distancing, and loneliness has become one of the major mental, emotional, and even physical health challenges of our present age. In this workshop, Anna Meade Harris and Liz Edrington will explore the dynamics of our current moment and share how the God of all comfort ministers both to us and to our students in their loneliness.
Discussion questions
- What are some of the factors that make it difficult for our students to talk about their loneliness?
- What are some of the things that make it difficult for us, as youth workers & parents, to talk about our loneliness?
- Which of the three areas are you experiencing loneliness the most in right now? (Intimate, relational/social, collective)
- What are some ways it could look to invite our students/kids into deeper relationship with Jesus in sharing in His sufferings as we accept and offer our loneliness to the Lord for His kingdom’s sake?
- How can we pray for one another right now in relation to our loneliness?
You can also listen to it as a podcast:
