by Rebecca Glover, Digital Communications Coordinator at Youth for Christ. Her first degree is in Youth Work, Communities, and Practical Theology
Picture this. You are nineteen years old, too old for the youth group now. You have spent the last few years leaving the main church service part way through to join the other young people in a programme aimed specifically at those at your age stage. You have learnt key Biblical stories as well as practical life lessons through a varied mixture of role play, discussion, reading, activities and games. There have been leaders around you whose specific job has been, at the most basic level, to take an interest in you. But more than that, these people have been around to mentor you, grow you, and facilitate these learnings.
However, now you are an adult, so you stay in the main service with the rest of the adults. The preacher today is providing practical application for the Scripture, but they keep mentioning jobs and family. You are a student; you’re not yet sure what you want to do for a long term career, and you don’t have a spouse or children. In fact, your parents and siblings are over one hundred miles away, back in your hometown. Ahh home. It’s okay; “I can make this message transferable to my own life, fill in the gaps”, you think to yourself.
Throughout the sermon, there have been a couple of references to popular culture… in the eighties, that is, so these references have gone straight over your head. The sermon is 50 minutes long – almost as long as tomorrow’s morning lecture – so you sit and listen, trying to take notes. But you miss the games and the discussion, even if you were beginning to feel a bit too old for it.
Eventually you stand to sing the final song and you enjoy the lyrics; perhaps you recognise one of the choruses from a psalm you read. But these songs don’t sound much like the music you listen to outside of church, and you are not sure what some of the lyrics mean. Never mind, you make a mental note to Google ‘cherubim and seraphim’ later.
Everyone gets up to mingle with their coffees and teas in hand, but you feel somewhat out of place. You try to wiggle yourself into circles, but you end up saying the same things – what you’re studying, where you’re from – and can’t relate to what everyone else is chattering about. There are not many people your age or at your stage; not like when you were in youth group.
This was similar to my experience of church as an emerging adult. Too old for the youth group but feeling too young, too out of place really to feel part of ‘adult church’. Some recent stats show that I wasn’t alone in this feeling.
For example, YouGov has carried out a range of surveys on whether Britons believe in a god or in a spiritual greater power. The 2022 figures gave 39% saying they did not believe in either. And it’s the younger generations who are most likely to think there are no greater forces out there. The Evangelical Alliance says “the Church is missing a generation of young adults from our congregations” and, in 2018, as part of its ‘Young Adults Conversation’, employed for the first time a Head of Missions to Young Adults.
My own contribution to these discussions has been to write a Grove booklet, entitled How to Engage Emerging Adults in Church. That phrase, “emerging adults”, is widely discussed, but generally means about the ages of 18-25.
It’s short – just 27 pages – but explores the key themes of emerging adult engagement. First of all, attraction, and briefly whether it’s okay to be attracted to a church; we need to have that conversation about church as part of consumer culture. Secondly, I look at creating community, including inviting emerging adults to serve and join small groups. Thirdly, I discuss critical mass: it’s important that emerging adults see that there are people like them. They need to belong, and I suggest producing for them a Freshers’ Guide. Before concluding (I’ll leave that part for you to read yourself!), I explore intentionality, and how youth workers, pastors, and the church alike need to take responsibility.
I’ve included case studies, statistics and guides, as well as an ecclesiology based on the first church in Acts, and vision based on Ephesians 1.
This booklet is based on my dissertation, and I used the same title for that. I chose it because this was my lived experience as an emerging adult, and I felt I had something to say on the matter; stories to tell, pointers to give, questions to ask. So often, I think, the church notices they are missing a demographic (often those under 25), and instead of asking people in that age group what would attract and engage them, they come up with their own ideas during their members’ meetings. I suppose that’s better than not noticing at all, or not doing anything about it. Perhaps you’re in this position now? If you’re looking at how to engage emerging adults, may I ask that you ask emerging adults? My booklet doesn’t provide all the answers, but I hope that it begins a conversation, asks the right questions, and points you in the right direction.
Any thoughts?