Thank you for believing in emerging adults! May God guide you as you seek to set expectations on emerging adults in your community.
Before you begin:
- Include church leadership from the highest level.
- Include emerging adults in the discussion (participation will cause ownership).
- Educate participants on the current challenges and characteristics of emerging adults.
- Hand out discussion questions before the meeting.
Discuss Questions:
- What characteristics do we desire for our emerging adults to have? How are we going to help them develop those characteristics?
- Is it our goal to provide an extended “youth group” experience that will keep them interested in church?
- How will we assimilate them into the adult population and activity of our community?
- What are the needs of emerging adults in our community? How are we specifically designed to meet any of those needs?
- What roles do we desire for our emerging adults to have within our congregation? How are we going to identity and create space for them within our community to help them fit those roles?
- What kind of relationships are important for emerging adults? What can we do to provide ways for these to be established?
- What problems are emerging adults facing? How can we empower them as they face these obstacles?
Before you leave:
- What are some actions steps to take because of your discussion? Who is taking responsibility for each step?
- When will we meet again to check in about progress in this area of our ministry?
- Are there any key players that were not able to attend, but need to brought into this discussion?
This is just the beginning of issues that need discussed by churches. Add your thoughts or questions to the article by commenting below.
Dr. G. David Boyd is the Founder and Managing Director of EA Resources. If he can help your community minister to emerging adults, you can contact him at gdavid@earesources.org.
