Church leaders, congregants, and pastors verbally acknowledge the need to reach young adults with phrases like “Young people just don’t come to church anymore,” “Growing up, we never missed a Sunday,” or maybe even “We have a lost generation, Lord come quickly.” Why are young adults so hard to find in our communities?
These phrases are part of why it’s challenging for us to reach young adults in the church. We want young adults to understand the value of church life, but we can unintentionally use shame to motivate them to attend, participate, or volunteer. Shame is not a motivator. Many of the frustrations surrounding our failure to reach young adults are less about them and more about us.
Along with aging congregations, pastoral age demographics are shifting, with the average age of pastors hovering right below 54. But age is not our weakness; it’s often our greatest strength and source of wisdom. Age does not dictate your vision; your mindset does.
The challenge our churches face in reaching young adults is connecting with them in authentic relationships and being a friend worth having. We lean toward a mindset that values programs over people. Programs can offer environments that foster relationships, but how often do we sacrifice relationships in the name of maintaining a program that we have “always done”?
