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Sense of community, purpose vital to reaching 20-somethings
Young adults vary in religious, spiritual beliefs
Though Stetzer doesn’t drink coffee, he finds himself going to the coffee chain regularly for meetings and fellowship. With its low lighting, intimate seating and easy-listening music, it doesn’t take long to figure out that Starbucks’ success is not all about the coffee.
“It sells community,” Stetzer writes in his latest book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them.
Stetzer said young adults classified as “unchurched” – those who have never been to church or stopped going – hunger for something deeper than upbeat music and a pep talk.
“If the body of Christ will provide opportunities for these types of relationships to develop with this generation, the doors of evangelism and life-changing ministry could be flung wide open,” the book claims.
In the book, Stetzer and co-authors Jason Hayes and Richie Stanley, focus on why most young adults – those in the 20- to 29-year-old age range – are avoiding church and what churches are doing (or could do) to reach them. The book is published by B&H Publishing Group, a division of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“We’re calling it Lost and Found because we want you to know that lost young adults are being found – effectively engaged in their culture, coming to faith in Christ and being incorporated into congregational life,” Stetzer writes in the book’s introduction. “This book is not entitled Lost and We Just Wanted to Tell You (and it’s the church’s fault, by the way).”
The writing team pulled its data from a series of polls; more than 800 surveys with church leaders, churched and unchurched people; and nearly 100 face-to-face interviews. The book also includes surveys with 149 churches that are reaching young adults.
The book reveals some sobering statistics.
While 94 percent of unchurched individuals believe God has impacted their lives in a positive way, half of those believe that the biblical God is no different from gods of other world religions such as Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Sixty-seven percent believe the church is full of people who criticize others for doing the same things they do themselves.
Still, there are bright spots.
Seventy-three percent believe the church is generally helpful to society as a whole. Seventy-seven percent of young unchurched people believe in Jesus and that He makes a positive impact on a person’s life.
“The unchurched are not staying away from church because they have a problem with Jesus,” the authors write. “That is good news if we are interested in living like Jesus and sharing Jesus with people.”
Believing in Jesus, however, doesn’t get people into the church, they add.
The authors point out that young adults are also looking for depth, roles of responsibility and relationships that cross generational lines.
Right now, churches are segmented into different age groups. From a historical perspective, the authors claim, this is not normal and is ultimately harmful to the church. In fact, young adults prefer the opportunity to cross the generational boundaries and learn from the spiritual journeys of those who have already walked the path.
There are churches that are reaching younger generations, and the book gives several examples of churches reaching young adults by providing community, depth, and opportunities to impact their world and connect with others.
“The potential of this generation is hard to fathom,” the authors write. “If we can connect them to God and the church, the world could truly be changed forever.”
More information can be found at www.lifewayresearch.com
