Karl Sinclair will be doing confessions, visiting the sick and administering marriages, baptisms and funerals. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
SAY goodbye to sex. Your party days are over. Switch your phone off. Shut your mouth, too - you might have to stay quiet for more than a week.
More of us than ever have no faith in religion. Young adults in 2011 were more than twice as likely as those in 1976 to have no religion (29 per cent to 12 per cent).
But many twenty-somethings still take extraordinary religious vows. They pledge to ditch life's simple pleasures to become ministers and priests.
Doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun. You probably couldn't do it. I definitely couldn't.
Even Tony Abbott, a bloke who loves his religion (and torturing himself with exercise and politics), decided against it after coming close.
So what's it like? What impact does deciding to devote your whole life to religion have on you?
Karl Sinclair, 26, is a Catholic priest-in-the-making. He's taken some very serious vows - and he's still "daunted" by it.
VOWS:
"Obviously, (being a priest) comes with a vow of celibacy and obedience to a bishop. That essentially means they have control over my life in terms of where I serve. It's like having a parent. but a lot nicer than that. I'll be ready to serve him and serve his church."
NO SEX:
"There's more to life than pleasure, than just thinking 'Immediate Pleasure Now'. I'm still a sexual being. All priests are sexual people. It's about making a choice ... that speaks to human dignity."
WEEKS OF SILENCE:
"I think I've spent something like 47 days in silent retreat (where you do not speak - only pray - at least between 9 and 5 and at meals). We spend an hour each day with our spiritual rector talking about we need to discuss internally in our prayer."
BEING SOBER:
"Getting drunk is the same sort of thing. There's something absolutely bigger at plan.
That's not to say we don't have an occasional drink or two. The key is not to go overboard.
HOURS OF PRAYER:
"I pray for around two-and-a-half hours a day. I could probably pray more. It's a bit like being at a 'spiritual gym'.
DITCHING TECHNOLOGY:
"In our first year, we actually refrained from using technology Monday to Friday. We handed in our phones, had no internet access, no televisions, a laptop in order to do essays. I think the point of that is to learn a sort of respect - not to let it overrun life."
Kate Lohmann is studying at Morling Theological College. She was living on site but decided it was a 'bit too insular'. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
Other student ministers do not have to take vows of chastity or relative poverty. Kate Lohmann, 25, is studying to become a minister in the Baptist Church.
REBELLION:
"I was going through a bit of a rebellious phase. I was out all night partying and drinking ...
It wasn't as a guilt thing, but more that I as I developed my relationship with God, I thought 'This isn't a holy way to live my life'."
NO MONK:
"I don't think I've got that much self-control. We can get married and the church pays your income."
COMMITMENT:
"It's probably a big reflection of Gen Y. We're not that committed. More people believe in God and believe in spiritual things ... you know, I'll take a bit of the Christian god and the Buddhist god but I won't commit to anything. We don't want to be tied down to anything. We even find that in our church, when sessions are weekly, it's harder with Generation Y because they're kind of like: 'I don't know what I'm doing.' It's commitment more than not being religious."
Paul Avis, 27, says he sacrificed a successful career for his religion. Source: NewsComAu
Paul Avis, 27, is a student minister at Trinity Macquarie Church. He also does not have to take vows of chastity or poverty - but he says the choice has affected him in other ways.
GOODBYE CAREER:
"My sacrifices are not that bad. There was the sacrifice of a potential career. I used to work for the ABC and people I trained have gone on to some great careers there in TV and news production. So I had to decide whether it was worth giving up that."
THE WEIRD FACTOR:
"People think it's pretty weird in our culture now. They don't quite understand. (When) you talk about what you're doing it's a bit awkward. Christianity in our culture at the moment seems more and more like a strange thing. Statistically, church visits are declining. It does increase the awkwardness."
Continue the conversation on Twitter @drpiotrowski | @newscomauHQ |
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