Talk to congregational leaders about engaging more young adults and something like a rock show for Jesus (with artisan coffee) terrorizes their imaginations. But my experience working with young professionals in the D.C. area suggests otherwise: they’re not looking to be entertained; they’re looking for spiritual nourishment.
Many young adults I encounter have some childhood connection with church, are open and curious about religion, and even profess to “believe” in God. They visit congregations in an effort to satiate their spiritual appetites. But they report that the food the church provides doesn’t nourish them, and the church seems fairly unwilling to change its menu.
So they try other options. Yoga centers, “spiritual” retreats, “spiritual” books, long conversations at Starbucks -- anything they think will satiate them spiritually. More often, however, they just remain famished and empty. I met recently with a woman who said she had tons of questions but no one to talk to about them. Most of the people she knew were either “totally religious” and believed themselves to have all the answers, or they were “totally unreligious” and thought people who asked such questions were stupid. She confessed she “believed in God” and that she had even attended many churches in the area, but nothing clicked. Over and over again this D.C. young professional, who was otherwise upbeat and doing well in the world described herself as spiritually alone.
This doesn’t seem quite right. Young adults are out there asking questions, professing belief in God, and seeking some kind of spiritual community -- and church pews are empty.
This frustrates most of the church leaders I know. I hear some of them say that if their congregation could just advertise more to young adults, those young adults would like what they find when they finally showed up. But that’s just the problem. Young adults have been to our congregations, and they have told us that they don’t like them; they aren’t nourished in them.
This is where my conversation with congregations often breaks down. When congregational leaders have followed the conversation long enough to realize that young adults aren’t just going to come, be like us, and like what we like, they struggle to go any further. Maybe they are tired (understandably); maybe they don’t know what else to do; maybe it’s because they don’t want to change. But this is why, after three and a half years of ministering to young adults, I am less confident about the church’s ability to connect with them. It feels like we lack options and imagination for welcoming young adults.
Perhaps less confident, but not without hope. Two congregations in our synod are seeking to connect more imaginatively with young adults. One has admitted to itself that its current make-up will only allow it to connect with a few. But the leadership wants to do more, so the congregation sent a mission pastor out to engage with young adults in the neighborhood. Another congregation decided to reform themselves so that young adults would feel welcome in their midst. The pastor leading this group cares deeply about young adults and nurtures her own young adults to reach out to others.
Together, we are planning an event for young adults all across the Metropolitan Washington DC area, which seeks to feed the spiritual hunger we’ve sensed in the young adults we meet. We don’t know what will come of this event. It could be a complete flop. But it could start something new, spirit-filled, and spiritually filling to a famished group of young adults. At the very least, this group is excited to do more than just read and talk about reaching these people. They will try to do it, too.
Pray for us. We’ll let you know what happens.
