When I first moved to the North Island to a brand new city for a brand new job, almost straight after graduation, the first thing I noticed wasn’t actually the slew of ‘long blonde hair surfer boys’ that my friend warned me about but the massive lack of young adults in many of the churches I visited. Sure, Tauranga is well known for being a popular place for elderly people to retire with its beautiful scenery and breathtaking ocean views, but more than once I was the only young adult in attendance.
OK. Let’s give a little background!
Growing up, there were two churches I had attended (one between the ages 0-6 and the other from ages 6-18) and both also had a glaringly obvious lack of young adults going to Church. Sadly, one of the two churches that I had grown up in had to close down due to the lack of congregational members – in particular a lack of young adults.
Don’t get me wrong, I love making friends with older congregational members – they are so full of wisdom and they inspire me with their ongoing journey of living in God’s grace! And I love little kids with their pure spirits and happy smiles as I do still feel like a child at heart! But as a young adult myself, I found the apparent lack of young adults concerning.
This led me to begin thinking about why this is. Why is it that so many churches have a youth group and have small groups for young married couples with kids but that they have such a massive lack of young adults going to church?
Why are There No Young Adults?
Some might think that the main reason why so many young adults are fleeing their Christian upbringing is because of how ‘uncool’ religion is. But with the ever-increasing number of Pentecostal churches that cater to this generation of young adults with upbeat music, flashing lights and charismatic speakers, why is the number of young adults at church still dwindling? Why do so many young adults fall away from faith?
That would have to be discussed about on another blog post, but one thing that I do know is that while churches often have great programs for kids and youth, and groups for mature and married adults, young adults in the church are often like the classically awkward ‘tweenagers’. Ya know, with gangly hair and acne and all. They struggle to fit into the perfect mould that so many churches unintentionally form as congregation members make that transition from youth to being a married adult raising youth of their own!
But one thing I deeply believe in is that young adults are so vital! They are worth investing in and they shouldn’t be forgotten. The role that young adults play in ministry and in the church is crucial to building the body of Christ. And here are just a few reasons why…
#1 They Are Capable of Massive Change
Being a young adult is that precious time of life where you are completely untied to raising a family or being distracted by marriage. You are fully free to pursue after the beauty that Christ has set apart for you and fully free to chase after His truth! There will be no better time to dedicate all your time and resources to pursuing after His calling for you!
How scarce are the moments when you can just unabashedly, passionately and sincerely set sail on the journey that God has prepared for you without needing to think about a whole set of worldly worries! So why not take advantage of your A.M.A.Z.I.N.G situation? 🙂
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#2 The Years as a Young Adult Sets Believers Up
Pouring into other young adults around you is so incredibly important! This is because, for many, it is usually when they become young adults that they truly and completely make that choice to follow Christ. If you were brought up with a Christian background, chances are you would have had to go to church with your family as a youth. But as you headed into your young adult years and moved out of home, to keep that relationship you had with God growing, you would have had to consciously make that effort each day while in the face of the world, to pick up your cross and stop living that lukewarm Christian faith!
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#3 They Have a Fresh New Perspective and Passion for the Lord
If there is anything young adults do best is that they have so much passion, life and joy! Being young believers, the zest that they feel, the drive that they have to chase after the Lord is most likely at one of the highest peaks that they will have in their life. This short 4-minute clip below shows Matthew West talking about how he sometimes wished he could go back to when he was a young believer. All so that he can experience the beauty and excitement he had to follow Christ back then.
Hands up all you peeps who love Matthew West as much as I do! Drop a comment in the comment section below telling me what your favourite song by him is!
Click the image below to grab your FREE 20+ page devotional on How to Find Your Identity in Christ! And join the Truthfully, Michelle community for Biblical encouragement and personal deep chats straight into your inbox!
#4 They Will Raise the New Generation of Believers
I like to think of the different groups of congregation members as wheels on a train. Without any one of these groups, the train will only go off-track. And the role of young adults? Not only are they some of the best people to go to for serving, but many of them will be the ones who will eventually get married and raise their kids in the church. Yep, I know, I am making Church sound like a farm raising animals. If they begin to fall away, the chain will be broken. So that in itself is just another reason why it is so important to continue growing and pouring into young adults!
As a young adult, even if you might sometimes feel like you don’t have your place, God chose you. There is no better time than now to be the vessel through which God will bring about change. And there is no better moment in your life to unashamedly, unabashedly and undeniably chase after His set-apart calling for you! How good is that? 🙂
Click the image below for your beautifully designed, downloadable devotional on Why You Can Trust God to Write Your Story!
So friend! Do you think churches are doing enough to cater to young adults — especially single young adults?Drop a comment below!
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We are the Lost Generation: Young Adults at Church
filed:
Just your 27 year old dental surgeon, writer and creator of Truthfully, Michelle & Girls After Truth. I love creating printables to help encourage, uplift and propel women to take charge of their faith. I hope you leave this space feeling more joy than when you first came in today Xx
I am a dental surgeon, small printables business owner, former graphic design freelancer and a budding pilates enthusiast.
I love creating printables that help encourage, uplift and propel women who want to take control of their faith and live a set-apart life for the Maker who knows their heart.
I adore tea, all shades of pastel and watching the sunset. I hope that you will relish in the beauty of every moment and find joy in the smallest of things. I pray that you will be able to find true satisfaction in Christ alone and that you will be able to rejoice in the goodness of the Lord whatever season of life you are in.
MEET THE BLOGGER
Before you get any further... Hey! I'm Michelle!
I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE HERE.
Thank you for taking the time to check out my site! I am so excited to share more with you about this passion that the Lord has placed upon my heart and get to know a little more about who the Lord lovingly made you to be!
Cinnamon spiced lattes, puppies with bows and watercolour paintings are just some of my favourite things. However, above all, I’m just a lover of Jesus and people. So let’s live with joy that set-apart life that God has created us purposefully for together. For He is the One who calls you by name and has loved you from the beginning of time! ❤️
hey girl!
Hey,
I'm MichellE.
I am a dental surgeon, small printables business owner, former graphic design freelancer and a budding pilates enthusiast.
I love creating printables that help encourage, uplift and propel women who want to take control of their faith and live a set-apart life for the Maker who knows their heart.
I adore tea, all shades of pastel and watching the sunset. I hope that you will relish in the beauty of every moment and find joy in the smallest of things. I pray that you will be able to find true satisfaction in Christ alone and that you will be able to rejoice in the goodness of the Lord whatever season of life you are in.
Friend. Dental Surgeon. Small Printables Business Owner.
Encouraging the modern twenty-something girl to boldly spark His beacon of light in this oft-dark world and inspiring them to A. seek biblical truth through scripture and B. stand for biblical truth in the midst of a culture-driven world.
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Statement of Faith.
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MY FAVOURITE: AREN'T THESE WHITE FLOWERS SO LOVELY?!
We believe in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
We believe that we are all sinners and all sins need to be paid
We believe that Jesus died to pay for our sins
We believe that it is only by grace through faith that we're saved
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