Catablog
LifeWay Survey
January 29, 2007
A LifeWay Survey finds the church's inability to minister to young adults is a major influence in their leaving the church. 73% of church members and 47% of non-affiliated 18-34 year olds indicate community with peers is extremely important to them, yet after high school churches send them to their next life stage without accountability. LifeWay Young Adult Ministry Director, Jim Johnston, says "The church ought to be the author and purveyor of the best, deepest, most loving friendships around." 71% of young adult churchgoers want to participate in small-group meetings to discuss life application of Scripture. Young adults gravitate to churches making an impact. Johnston notes, "They want to embrace church, but only the genuine, earth-shaking, Christ-powered New Testament church."
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Me being in this category, I do agree with this article. Young adults want to do what Jesus did, that want to serve and be active, not just sit and listen how we should do this and should do that. Service oriented ministries attract us. We want to live.
Comment by Justin Landrum - Jan 30, 2007 @ 12:08 PM
I couldn’t agree with Jim more, Young adult ministry has had a tendency in the past to focus on “learning about God” or to emphasize participation in bible study in order to reach tangible goals of being discipled. Through this they aim to achieve spiritual accomplishments the whole time keeping to themselves. They seem to have missed the point of discipleship and building relationships through their ministries to the outside world. When they graduate from high school, they are plunged into an environment of community and networking. Students seek relationships that are meaningful and valuable to them. Real genuine passion for the spreading the message of the Cross either wasn’t taught or didn’t click. Young people that are enthusiastic about church aren’t interested in isolation from culture, but in interaction with it to perhaps shape it.
Comment by Chris Fletcher - Jan 30, 2007 @ 08:10 PM
Justin sounds like the young adults we talked to during the research project! One of the interesting things we heard was that a way to get a 20-something involved was to provide community service opportunities that helped them make a difference in their communities while building friendships with their teammates. In the process, many “non-spiritual” young adults began to deepen their relationships with God!
Comment by Tina Bembry - Jan 31, 2007 @ 07:41 PM
Thanks for picking this up. Disclosure: I work for LifeWay’s communications dept. I think this is one of the most vital studies done. My wife and I used to teach young adults before going to the mission field and I used to be frustrated by the low priority our church gave that group. If you want to hear a conversation with Jim you can find an Inside LifeWay podcast with him at http://www.lifeway.com/insidelifeway. Scroll to the archive at the bottom. I was impressed by his genuine heart for meaningful ministry directed toward YAs, and it was an encouragement to hear as we produced this.
Great blog. Great mix of info.
Comment by Chris - Feb 01, 2007 @ 07:31 PM