A summer of 'radical acts'

Jeff Ward-Bailey

TMC Youth, the youth-focused arm of The Mother Church, recently announced an ecumenical summer program called “Radical Acts” on time4thinkers.com. The program gathers 18 of Jesus’ “toughest teachings”—things like “Forgive 70 x 7” and “Do good to people who hate you”—and challenges participants to live them. “We’ve heard from a lot of young people that it’s hard to relate to Jesus and what he did,” says Amy Richmond, TMC Youth’s manager of Web activities. “They don’t think they can do the same. This summer they’ll see differently.”

“Radical Acts isn’t just for youth,” adds Nina deCordova, one of the creators of the program. “It’s for anyone who wants to live Jesus’ teachings with community support . . . It’s much easier to act radically, and dig deeper spiritually, together.”

In the weeks since launch, Richmond says, TMC Youth has heard from many people who are sharing both the triumphs and challenges of the program. “Good things—amazing things—are happening,” she adds. The “Radical Acts” Web page, found at time4thinkers.com/radicalacts, includes stories of feeding the hungry, loving the “unlovable,” and of course sharing healings, among many others.

Radical Acts also offers brief weekly podcasts, each featuring a true-life healing story. The podcasts are produced in a youthful style for an ecumenical audience, and are often linked to that week’s Christian Science Bible Lesson. There’s also a new song each week, ranging from folk music to rap. Every story and every song is clearly linked to one or more Radical Acts, so Sunday School teachers can easily see how to link them to future Bible Lessons. For example, a song about freedom fighters in contemporary Tibet relates to “Challenge Pharisees,” a theme that occurs three times in this summer’s Bible Lessons. Radical Acts also features film and book reviews related to Jesus and his life.

Most of the audience for time4thinkers.com is age 16 to 30. But Richmond notes that the experience can be “adapted to Radical Act-ors regardless of age.” One Sunday School teacher team with a younger class is already finding ways to share Radical Acts in an age-appropriate fashion. Each child has chosen his or her own Radical Act to study and practice this summer.

The Radical Acts tag line is “Jesus taught it—can you live it?” “That’s a question,” says deCordova, “we hope lots of people will ask themselves this summer.”

Jeff Ward-Bailey, Staff Editor

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