Glen Guyton, executive director of Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) and author of “Ideal Me: Discovering Your Call in a Cluttered World,” spoke at Forum on Nov. 26 on the subject of “Living Well. Living My IDEAL Life.”
Guyton hopes, by sharing his experiences, students will be able to learn from his mistakes to help navigate life and discover their call and purpose. He talked about some of the challenges that generations are dealing with like this social media age as well as how to deal with traumas in life. While it may seem like everyone is connected and social, there is still a sense of isolation and a growing depression through seeing the ‘highlights’ of people’s lives.
“I think isolation is probably one of the more damaging things to young people right now,” said Guyton.
Guyton started working for MC USA in 2009 to work with racial-ethnic congregations and promote intercultural relations within the denomination. He looked at this role transition as his opportunity to make an impact at a different level within the ministry.
“I have two children in my life, one has graduated from college and one is in college,” said Guyton. “I was a youth pastor for a number of years, so a lot of the stories and lessons have come from watching students and seeing the things they struggle with over the 17 years of my youth ministry.”
He shared personal experiences during his presentation and expressed that he and some of his colleagues did research to continue to understand more of what people and students are struggling with now. They also had to understand how to handle situations where one is dealing with trauma in their life and how they can still work toward living their ideal life.
“I hope [students] get some tools to first, understand that [they’re] not alone in some of these questions,” Guyton said. “Be comfortable with your life—nobody can live your life but you. So live your life and love the life that you live—that’s the key right there.”
