Ryan Harrell – Between Generations

I sit in an interesting spot when it comes to this topic. I was born in 1983 which is in millennial territory. I have never really felt like the millennial archetype fit, though, and even less so the Generation X. I feel more like I’m in a no-man’s land between the two where certain aspects of both apply, and some of neither. This has given me almost an “outside looking in” perspective on the generational aspects of world as a whole, and on the Adventist church specifically. Without strongly identifying with any single group I’ve had the opportunity to be more objective in my examinations. Now in my late 30’s with children of my own, I can explore this topic along with the students in a way that will hopefully allow us to find common ground in a church that has often struggled to create an identity for the diverse generations that call themselves Adventist.

I grew up in the church in the 1980s and 90s, and saw some of the conflicts that alienated the youth of that era, but I also was young enough in the early 2000s to still be developing my sense of identity in the Church, and benefited from some of the positive progress during that era. I attended Adventist boarding schools from 2000 till 2008, through late high school (Forest Lake Academy in Apopka, FL) and 5 years of undergraduate work (Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, TN.) I was married by a wonderful Adventist pastor, and now I’m seeing my children experience the world through the eyes of a generation we haven’t even defined yet and helping students at Southern understand their own place in this wonderful world. This is an exciting chance to examine how what we experience, what our parents experience, and what our children experience shapes the shared existence of our culture in the Church and how it defines our past, present and future.