News / Education
Conference helps leaders “connect” with young adults
Evangelical leaders offer tips to reach young adults.
The Connect Conference, held Aug. 20-21 in Nashville, Tenn., addressed issues related to young adults and was sponsored by the Threads initiative of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The conference, geared toward church leaders who work with young adults, included sessions revealing recent statistics about young adults and why Americans ages 18-34 leave the church.
Sam Rainer, who co-authored Essential Church: Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts with his father Thom Rainer, offered reasons for what some speakers described as a "mass exodus."
"We find that the No. 1 reason young adults leave church is that they simply want a break from church," said Rainer, noting that 16 is the critical age when most students begin to drop out.
"Our research shows that at around the age of 16 many of the net gains for attendance switch and become net losses," Rainer said. "Spiritually, the problem begins earlier than young adulthood."
Rainer also offered solutions to the dropout problem.
"Churches must build a sense of community," he said, citing data that indicates 83 percent of young adults who were active in a small group or Sunday school class remain in the church after five years.
"The younger generation goes to church because of the sense of purpose and mission," he said. "They value authenticity and depth."
Thom Rainer also was a featured speaker and outlined three components of depth as discussed in Essential Church.
Depth begins with the pastor, he said. Depth also must come from small groups and Sunday school classes. Finally, depth must come from personal devotion and Bible study.
The Rainers also mentioned three characteristics of individuals who stay in church.
Studies show that individuals who stay in church come from families that regularly discuss spiritual matters, serve together on a mission trip or service project, and pray together consistently.
Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research, offered data about how young adults view God and their beliefs about the church.
Stetzer revealed that 81 percent of young adults ages 20-29 believe that God, a higher or supreme being, actually exists.
He further cautioned conference attendees about statistics that portray young adults as unspiritual.
"Don’t believe that young adults, even unchurched young adults, are not interested in spiritual things," Stetzer said.
They are interested, he said, but they are looking for spirituality outside of the church.
According to a survey released in the book Lost and Found by Stetzer, Jason Hayes and Richie Stanley, 73 percent of unchurched 20- to 29-year-old Americans consider themselves "spiritual" because they want to know more about "God or a higher supreme being."
Further, 77 percent of 20-somethings believe Christianity today is more about organized religion than about loving God and loving people.
Jason Hayes, young adult ministry specialist at LifeWay, said church leaders are dealing with a generation that God could use to change the course of history.
"For both churched and unchurched young adults, we have found that they recognize that their choices make a difference, and they want to improve the world around them," Hayes said. "As a result of this heightened sense of responsibility, we can help create a door for service and evangelism."
Hayes said young adult leaders must teach the whole Bible, foster discussion and answer the difficult questions of faith.
"Offer quality, exegetical Bible teaching and sing theologically sound music that accurately depicts the Word of God," he added.
John Oswald, assistant pastor at Grace Baptist Church in St. Louis, attended the conference and said the young adult group at his church has grown from four members to 30 in the past five years.
He attributed the growth to assimilating young adults into the life of the congregation.
"We raised the level of expectation of our young adults and became intentional about how we ministered to them," Oswald said. "We offered opportunities to go deeper into Scripture and began a mentoring program that paired young adults with seniors in our congregation."
Lee Saunders, associate pastor of Garden Oaks Baptist Church in Houston, said the Connect Conference offered information on the importance of dispelling the myths of the younger generation.
"We must correct those myths within our churches and realize that young adults are not hard to reach," he said. "We have to let the Holy Spirit guide us. God ultimately has to be in what we are doing. It’s not about us, but it is about reaching a generation for Christ and offering spiritual growth and development."
The Connect Conference included small-group discussions about leadership, the postmodern worldview and the importance of understanding the young adult context. The conference also offered a question-and-answer panel forum.
For more information about the young adult ministry at LifeWay, visit www.threadsmedia.com.
