Churches are Not Reaching the Young Adult Generation: A Solution

So you are concerned about losing a whole generation from the church. We all are. Young adults seem less interested in Christianity than ever before.

We wonder why they aren’t attending our churches. After all, we have carefully created programs for every life-stage: for children and teens, for young parents, for older adults, and for singles – both older singles and… specifically for them – for single young adults! Why aren’t they connecting with that ministry?

Perhaps we need to rethink the way we categorize people.

Skye Jethani, in his book Futureville: Discover Your Purpose for Today by Reimagining Tomorrow, writes,

“This generation’s lack of response to the institutional church’s call has left many pastors flummoxed. They mistakenly believe it is a matter of style… Others blame it on immaturity…

I don’t believe the problem is style or immaturity; it is a church that has lost a theology of vocation.”

We are missing a whole generation due to a lack of a theology of vocation!

Certainly people in like life-stages have a lot to share with each other. But most people don’t necessarily categorize themselves exclusively in that manner. Each person also sees himself or herself as a “teacher,” a “mechanic,” a “salesperson,” a “medical professional,” a “factory line worker,” as well as a “single,” or a “mom” or a “dad,” a “husband” or a “wife.”

Gabe Lyons believes that vocation is the key to reaching the next generation. He writes in The Next Christians that the next generation of Christians see their place in the world differently from their predecessors.

“The next Christians don’t work at jobs; they serve in vocations. They see their occupational placement as part of God’s greater mission… While some may be called to full-time religious work, they accept that many Christians should simply work to restore the needs right under their noses. They’ve grown tired of being regarded as second-class Christians and want to be empowered on mission right where they are. They see the need all around them for Christians to show up and restore in their neighborhoods and workplaces.”

Lyons sees hope for the issue that Jethani states.

“The churches that recognize that this move is under way find themselves in the middle of what could be the greatest transformation in how Christians have consistently engaged culture in a century. It has all the signs of being a manifestation as crucial as the Reformation was.”

So here is the question for church leaders:

Are you willing to shift your ministry toward equipping and empowering people to live fully into their callings from God?

If so, you just might see young people coming back to the church. They are hungry for this. They want to be in a community that will have their backs while they seek to be transformative agents in the world for the common good.

As it is, they understand that church communities are just not interested in this. They see the primary agendas of churches as (1) bringing people into the building so that the preacher can tell them about Jesus, the cross, and salvation, (2) about strengthening their marriages and families, and (3) teaching people how to be better Christians in their personal piety and their participation in church activities… in everything but their vocations.

Image by Jeff Giles. Used with permission. Sourced via Flickr.