Why some Gen-Xrs are involved

Tom Beaudoin, the 30-year-old author of "Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X" and co-founder of Xairos, a Generation X Catholic ministry at the Paulist Center in Boston, credits his family as laying the groundwork for his involvement.

"I came from a family where the symbols were available," he said. "I came to know Jesus in a personal way so the language of the tradition became important."

He was also influenced by teachers. "I was continually supported by good people in Church," he said. "I was blessed to study with the best Catholic theologians alive. I experienced God deeply and had great Catholic teachers."

Michelle Miller, a 30-something program specialist for the United States Catholic Conference, said being invited played an important role in her faith journey. "I have found that there's no exception to personal invitation," she said. "I was invited to participate in campus ministry."

Meanwhile, 35-year-old Vince Stephens [not his real name] has memories of sitting in the director of religious education's office rather than in the classroom at his parish.

"Confirmation was presented as the end," he said. "Once you did that, you knew everything." (MM)

(05-27-99) [[In-content Ad]]