How can the church minister to young adults? How can young adults minister to the church?

[Katy Resop]

I recently had a conversation with a friend about my position working for Youth and Young Adult Ministries at the ELCA Churchwide offices. She was fascinated by the work of Young Adult Ministry, particularly from her background in marketing. So she posed the question (in very business-like terms):

What do young adults need or want from the church?
And what does the church need or want from young adults?

What are your thoughts?

We might rephrase it spiritually to say:
How can/should the church minister to young adults?
How can/should young adults minister to the church?

[Jessica Dudzik]

First, it would be nice if more local churches realized that we work during the day so offer things in the evening for us. I am going to propose to my church to hold a Bible Study in the evening with a potluck meal. It is great to have Women's Bible Study, but what about couple's Bible study with childcare offered. That's the other thing, many of us have young children, too young to go to Sunday School. I have a 2 1/2 yr old and a 7m old, they do not entertain themselves. I can not participate in many church activities because of childcare issues. Furthermore, it would be nice if people would welcome us and tell us that they loved our kids and didn't mind them making noise during church. I fear bringing my kids to service because they make a lot of noise at quiet times, but I see no point in coming if they are going to be secreted away to the nursery throughout worship. Pastors need to engage the young adults in conversation to find out our specific needs and then call on the appropriate people to engage us and invite us to participate. I know I feel uncomfortable just barging into a new situation without knowing if I will be welcomed.

As for what the church wants from us, I don't know. I hope that they want new ideas and new passion. At my old church it was always, "we've never done that before," instead of "let's try it, what can I do to help." I would like to think that the church is open to our enthusiasm and skills. We bring a new way of communicating that could help reach out to other young adults.

[Ray J Gentry IV]

I think the church needs to realize that Young Adults do not place inherent value in the church anymore. Young adults have nearly infinite resources when there is a question, concern or need and do not instinctively look toward the church. Beyond trying to "seem cool" by hopping on facebook, twitter and such, there needs to be a realization that simply having a presence isn't enough. Presence is necessary, but must be followed up with a connection. We scan volumes of information and then look at what catches our eye. I think the most recent campaign the ELCA used with the TV commercials was solid. Unfortunately if someone goes to the ELCA website it's a struggle to actually find anything of use concerning Young Adult Ministry. It took me about five visits in the last month before I was even aware of this page.

I also think the church is still too uptight. Churches must create an atmosphere that anyone can walk in to and feel welcome and like they belong. If people feel like they have to present themselves as anything but who they are, they won't be interested. There are enough options in the world that say "come as you are," so why would they bother?

Honestly, the church needs young adults to be present and interested. That's all they can ask for right now. As a denomination, the ELCA is depressingly lacking a real connection. Often we hear that youth leave the church after confirmation and come back to baptize their children. How long will that (if there's still any truth to it) last if we stay as stagnant as we've been? Once the church reconnects with Young Adults, they'll step up and provide.

[Erin Daubert]

I think churches need to provide a way for young adults to feel "needed" by the church. Young adults come, but there is no way for them to plug in and be "needed" in so many church communities. Older adults serve on councils and take on leadership positions. Church is simply another "extra-curricular" to add to a resume. There are already enough of those on most resumes. Churches need to find ways to engage young adults in ways where young adults serve as enriching, useful members of the congregation. There are so many things young adults can do that the church passes over and ignores because they are "young adults."

Churches also need to be open to change. Perhaps a Thursday night or Sunday night service instead of a Sunday service would work best. Perhaps different styles of music or creative sermons or ways to reflect could draw in more young adults instead of traditional Lutheran services. Too many churches are afraid of change and instead draw in older crowds. Also, too many churches try to reach out to young adults with "Contemporary Services" without considering whether or not it's something young adults would even be interested in.

Finally, churches need to find a way to grow and support Christian roots in young adults. Sunday Schools and Bible Studies are usually geared toward Pre-K-High School and Adults. However, someone in college, someone in their late 20s, someone in their 40s and someone in their 70s are all at very different points in their lives. Young adults need discussions and bible studies at times and about things that matter to them. Talking about how to raise children or grandchildren might be interesting for an older generation but irrelevant for a young adult.

In return, young adults need to be a strong, reliable presence for the church. Without strong commitment, it's hard for the church to want to open up to young adults and try new things. Churches don't want to try new services or start bible studies if young adults don't come. Young adults need to be prepared to not flake and ready to invest time and energy. It's going to take some young adults to rough the hard times before other young adults are interested in coming.

[Lynn Egesdal]

I appreciate reading your posts on how the church can minister to young adults. I work in a synod office with Education, Youth and Family ministry and would like to expand and learn more about how we can minister to our young adults. Your posts are very helpful. Would it be ok if I would use some of your posts in an article in our newsletter, I would include your name beside your post? You can reach me at [e-mail]. Thanks!!

[Ray J Gentry IV]

You may absolutely use my name and post in the article. Since you're writing articles on this and working in this department, what are your thoughts? What statements are the most relevant and what direction are you heading to address them? I definitely would like to see the discussion that evolves around this question.

It's definitely dear to my heart because the churches that seem to be connecting with youth and young adults the best are churches preaching works based theology. Unfortunately it isn't surprising. Theology of Glory is absolutely so attractive (especially to those of us going through so many transitions in life) to the sinner in all of us since it allows us to say we're worshiping God while we serve ourselves. Lutheran theology that focuses on sinners saved by Christ, who are then called to tell other sinners that Christ has already saved them. Unfortunately young adults want their faith to mirror their lives - and to succeed in the world, we have to accomplish things and achieve success. A faith that tells me that Christ has already save me and I can't do anything to save myself doesn't match.

But anyway, I'd love to see this discussion progress. Maybe some disagreements and discussion about how best to minister to young adults will shed some light on a very difficult ministry that our churches (both denominationally and congregationally) don't know to best do (and often don't seem to care to put real effort into).

[Robert]

As a teacher, I know solid education is important. The church needs to provide young adults with a solid foundation in Christianity that is both engaging and allows for growth. Without this, young adults will never learn why being a Christian is so important and will simply fall through the cracks. I hope that soon the church will realize that it needs a strong curriculum and emphasis on educating young adults or the church will begin to fall apart as its members have a weaker and weaker foundation to build their faith on.

[Shera Nesheim]

I REALLY appreciate this discussion, because I am currently writing a master's thesis on how campus ministry informs congregational outreach to young adults by meeting YA where they are - developmentally, contextually, and spiritually.

I'm using campus ministry as a model, because my fieldwork is in campus ministry, so that being said (and to add to this themed discussion), how many of you have been a part of campus ministry? Did it meet you where you are/were? What things did they "get"? What could congregations learn from campus ministry?

I'm asking these questions, too, because there is a huge amount of Young Adults who either 1. do not get reached out to while they are on a college campus or 2. are not on a college campus and really need congregations to provide avenues for them to become involved and share their gifts.

So I'd also love to see this conversation continue to evolve! After all, statistics are showing that Young Adults leave the church, and do NOT come back (even after they get married, have children, etc.). That's a scary thought - and I think WE the young adults need to start doing something about it!

[Christian Baalsen]

I personally think that it is important to point out that "contemporary worship" is not what our young people want. It almost always lacks substance and my friends and I are hardly willing to sacrifice "coolness" for substance. It doesn't matter if converts go down, because I'd rather have people in the church who are there for the content instead of how much fun they have singing rock songs. Besides, the average age of someone at a "contemporary service" is somewhere in the 50's or 60's in most churches across the country. The hippies need to get out of the way and realize that their time is up and the younger generation wants real worship. For our sake, restore the historic liturgy before it is too late.