The hippie movement was at its height in 1971, and Stuart Briscoe had just become pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brook-field, Wisconsin. Stuart persuaded a group of 100 counter-culture youth to attend worship one Sunday, and one of the church's leaders was not pleased.

"I want to make one thing perfectly clear," the leader said. "These young people you brought into our church have to be kept separate. We have worked hard to keep our children away from these kinds of people."

Stuart had recently traveled to South Africa, where he had witnessed a similar form of prejudicial separation. Stuart mumbled something about apartheid. Today, he quips, "You must remember, I was a new pastor then, and not versed in diplomacy."

When a "full and frank exchange of positions" concluded (Stuart's more experienced, diplomatic description), the leader offered a solution Stuart could agree to. "I'm tired of hearing about the generation gap—let's ...