Religion and the Next Generation

In this episode, hear a Hindu-Christian dialog about faith formation in the next generation.

In these days when young people are leaving organized religion in droves, how do our faith communities form, educate, and empower youth? And how can we build healthy, multi-religious relationships when, let’s face it, they can be hard and uncomfortable?

Listen to an unlikely conversation between Pooja Bastodkar and Andrea Roske-Metcalfe as they discuss youth spiritual engagement in their respective Hindu and Christian communities. Pooja and Andrea are Twin Cities religious leaders in the Collegeville Institute’s Multi-Religious Fellows program who model friendship across religious boundaries in a society that makes it easy to stay in our own bubbles.

Topics discussed in this episode: ​ ​

• The joys and headaches of crossing religious boundaries
• How Pooja and Andrea are engaging young people in their communities
• What they hope to pass on to youth from their religious traditions

Resources mentioned in this episode: ​

• Find the Hindu Temple Society of Minnesota on Facebook or their website
• The Pray-Ground at Grace Lutheran Church in Apple Valley, MN is a space for young children in the front of the sanctuary
• Learn about the Hindu Temple Society of Minnesota’s religious education resources

Bios: ​ ​

Pooja Bastodkar serves as the Executive Committee President at the Hindu Society of Minnesota (HSMN). Her interests include engaging and maintaining the interest in Hinduism among second-generation Hindu Americans through religious education and social cultural events. Originally from Toronto, Canada, she holds a master’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Kinesiology from the University of Waterloo. She lives in the Twin Cities with her husband and two children.

Andrea Roske-Metcalfe recently accepted a call to the ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program in Nepal. Previously, Andrea served as the associate pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Apple Valley, MN. She holds an MDiv from Union Theological Seminary in New York, where she worked as a community organizer for the Poverty Initiative. She’s passionate about writing, storytelling (she won the 2017 Twin Cities Moth GrandSLAM), and making soup (blended ones, especially). She currently lives in the Twin Cities with her husband and two children.

Ellie Roscher is a writer, theology teacher, and host of the Unlikely Conversations podcast. She is a board member at the Collegeville Institute and the author of 12 Tiny Things, Play Like a Girl, and How Coffee Saved My Life. Ellie holds an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and an MA in Theology from Luther Seminary. She lives in Minneapolis with her spouse and sons. Find out more about Ellie on her website and follow her on social media at @ellieroscher [Twitter, Instagram, Facebook].

Matthew Ian Fleming edited the audio for this podcast. You can find Matthew on Instagram at @matthewianfleming and his other podcasts at www.alterguild.org.

Next Steps

• Follow the work of the Collegeville Institute on social media at @collegevilleins [Twitter, Instagram, Facebook] and subscribe to our email newsletter
• Use the following discussion questions with your small group for further conversation

Discussion Questions

• If you grew up in a faith tradition, what were the important things that you internalized from your community?
• What from your faith tradition do you hope to pass on to the next generation?
• What will we miss out on if young people decide to find community elsewhere?
• What shifts can you and your community make to truly see and treat young people as full, contributing members?
• After listening to Pooja and Andrea, what are you curious to learn more about?

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