| February 18, 2009 |
Vol 10, Issue 6
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 Get Ready to Lead!
"It's simple. We're just changing the world."
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I asked for feedback, and wow--did I ever get it!
| Greetings!... Last week I shared some research by Tobin Belzer et. al. about six things churches that "get it" do differently. I asked our readers to respond to Belzer's conclusions and did they ever! Many, many people wrote in. Some had one or two comments, others wrote paragraphs.
The tremendous response reminds me of why I enjoy editing this newsletter. Our readers are thoughtful and encouraging yet not afraid to say what they think.
It was difficult to edit the various comments down to just a sentence or two, but I've done my best to give you a flavor of what folks say about how to stop the
hemorrhaging of twenty-somethings from the church.
--Jeff
Jeff Myers, Ph.D., President (email me)
(visit my website)
(visit my Facebook)
(follow me on Twitter)
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| Update on the Passing the Baton DVD course | | |
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Churches that "Get it"? GRTL Readers Respond with 17 Ideas
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 Last week's newsletter focused on research by Belzer et. al on what churches that are ministering to twentysomethings do effectively. It's a big issue because all the research shows that twentysomething are abandoning the church in record numbers. You can read last week's newsletter here.
Briefly, Belzer et. al seem to think that the way to attract twentysomethings is to value their presence, give them a sense of ownership, meet their needs, allow them to be emotionally affected and let them ask hard questions without showing a "lack of respect" for other religious traditions.
Our readers seemed to agree that we need to be more active in keeping twentysomethings involved, but most of them thought that Belzer et. al's list painted twentysomethings as being self-centered and were bothered by the "It's all about me" mentality.
Here's what some of them said (the bolded headlines are my summary of each comment):
Find older couples to mentor them. Tim says,
"Personally I can say the most impact I've seen for myself is when a couple
reaches down a generation to college students."
Pray for them and speak the truth in love. Briana says, "It is important that our churches focus on
what God wants. His will be done, not ours.... We must fall on our
faces before our God and intercede for them, asking Him to provide opportunities to mentor them, tell them the truth
of God's Word, and live it out in front of them."
Trust the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary says, "If our
young children truly know Jesus, they are going to be drawn to stay in church
and connected through the power of the Holy Spirit's drawing and staying
them....It isn't about tickling their ears
to make them feel good so they'll stay."
Be precise in your definitions. In response to the point about respecting other religious traditions, Grant asks, "What is meant by religious traditions? Are we talking merely about
in-house differences among Christian denominations OR are we talking about
cults and belief systems which deny the deity of the
Triune, Living God?.... Young people--even in church youth
groups--can be less than precise when discussing these terms."
Treat single young adults as adults. Daniel says "Young adults want to be treated like young adults ....It starts when we believe
the myth of being a 'teenager' and it really never stops until that
magical moment you get married and poof...you become an adult. Young adults
want to be challenged and treated like adults and they are adults whether they
are married or not."
Get them into discipleship relationships. Patti says, "To 'keep' this generation, the church needs to be praying for these
people and evangelizing them, teaching them the truth of God's Word, and
then getting them involved in discipleship with an older believer.... I've heard
something about a "baton" somewhere....heehee."
Don't exclude either "good works" or the "Good News." Russ says, "You're hitting a nail.... The book The Externally Focused Church talks about balancing the dynamic between
doing 'good works' and sharing 'Good News.' The authors
contend that a great risk for a church is to exclude one or the other. This may
be an antidote to the'"drop-out' syndrome you mention."
Teach solid theology. Kelly shares the excitement of having a new youth pastor who is teaching the youth good theology. "You can give these kids love,
entertainment, missions, but if they don't have a decent basic theology it's
all words to them....We are slowly building a Biblically sound theology and they are getting and reflecting it."
Listen to their ideas. Tracy says, "I
think this is exactly why I left the church for several years as a youth. I went back when I had kids...but even as a young mother who was very active in the church, the leadership was
very reluctant to change and make things a little more family centered even as
they asked for ideas and help."
Don't overemphasize emotion. Rachel says "I
think it is of utmost importance for young people to realize that Christianity
is not based on emotion. If they are taught and shown the facts [about what
they believe and why] ...they will
mentally be prepared for those times when it's hard to be a Christian."
Accept them but give them depth too. Joy says, "Those points sound very vague. They could easily describe a church that
is off it's theological rocker.... I'm 34, so I guess I'm not too far removed
from some of their ages, and I do believe we need to meet them where they are
and be very accepting. However, I have seen too many churches [where] nothing
deep is going on."
Make them valuable to the body. Michelle says, "In order for young adults to feel valued, they must be valuable. If they
want to feel like they are a part of the body, then they must function as a
part. Any 'effort' to make them feel differently than what they
are is a disservice to the body and the individual."
Focus on the Word of God. Stephen says, "The church should be Seeker
Sensitive... but the only Seeker is the Lord God. If you want to see young
people grow up and remain in the faith then what the church needs to do is
get back to preaching the gospel AND parents need to get back to teaching
their children the Word of God instead of depending upon the church to do it
for them."
Encourage them to stay in the first place. Tracy makes an interesting point: "Why
do Christians encourage their children to leave home, find a new church on
their own, when they probably had a wonderful body of believers who valued
their gifts and talents 'back home'?"
Pass the baton to them. Sarah, a 24-year-old, says "I've embraced a mentality of not really expecting the
church to cater to my needs (not sure if this is good or not) but I would like
to take action and draw young adults to my church for the purpose of passing
the baton. I'm not quite sure how to go about this AND maintain unity in
vision with my church."
Live out the truth. Beth says, "Contrary to stereotype, most young people I
encounter...are looking for depth in their relationships and hunger for knowledge
that is relevant and applicable to daily life. They want to see
the TRUTH lived out consistently and authentically by people who identify
themselves as Christ followers."
Start earlier in life. Terry, a Christian school principal, says, "The reality of Jesus must be presented through
relationship and at the junior high level, a vision of what is coming because
some days the students don't have a clue and need to be coached into God's
best."
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