Author Archives: G. David Boyd

New Website Announced! EA Resources Is Expanding Again!

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God has greatly blessed our work in the past year. I am so very thankful for our financial partners who make our work possible.  (You can join our Financial Partners – Here!)  We recently expanded by adding a new staff position, new seminar/conference options, and now…

EA Resources has launched a new website!

Morethanamirror

You can find our website at www.morethanamirror.com.

Our new website is MoreThanAMirror.com.  The purpose of EA Resources is to provide quality resources to help parents and churches understand the characteristics and needs of emerging adults.  As part of our vision, we desire to host a multigenerational website that seeks to explore various aspects of being a women who follows Jesus Christ.

Did you know?

 EA Resources oversees the production of three sites:

  • EA Resources – a website designed to provide resources to parents and churches who wish to understand and minister to emerging adults.
  • More Than A Beard – a multigenerational website that seeks to explore various aspects of being a man who follows Jesus Christ.
  • More Than A Mirror – a multigenerational website that seeks to explore various aspects of being a woman who follows Jesus Christ.

If you find value in our work, here are some…

Ways you can support our work.

  • Read and Share our Content.  We appreciate each time you share our content on Facebook, Twitter, or other forms of social media.  This allows our work to be seen by a greater audience.
  • Write for us.  We want our sites to reflect the diversity of the body of Christ.  If you love to write, you can send your submissions to me at gdavid@earesources.org.
  • Pray for us.  I ask that you pray that God will open doors for our work, and give me wisdom to discern the needs of His kingdom.
  • Join our financial team.  We are thankful for those who have joined our regular monthly supporters.  You can join our team today through Paypal.

Thanks so much for your support!

David - Prof 2Dr. G. David Boyd is the Managing Director of EA Resources, a non-profit designed to help churches and parents understand emerging adulthood.  If he can be a service to your community, please contact him at gdavid@earesources.org.

How big is the Millennial Generation?

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I came across this article while doing some research, and I wanted to share it with those who enjoy reading about Millennials (who are currently emerging adults)!

Marketers tend to focus a lot of energy on Millennials. Their lives are deconstructed on many different levels, and there’s research to be found on anything ranging from their top financial goals to the ways in which they use their phones. Those analyses are all helpful in their own right, but –  stepping back to the big picture for a moment – how many of these prized individuals are there in the US? The latest data out from the Census Bureau gives a sense of how large this coveted generation is.

CensusBureau-Share-of-Pop-by-Age-Group-Gender-Apr2016

Read the rest of the Article HERE.

 

 

EA Resources is Expanding! Introducing a New Staff Member

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God has greatly blessed our work in the past year.  Through the generosity of God’s people, I am excited to announce that EA Resources has hired someone to join the team.  (You can join our Financial Partners – Here!)

Julia Powers and I connected through a blog post that got my attention – (You can read that post here.)  She will be joining our team to help manage the multiple blogs.

Julia Powers is a writer and aspiring minister currently based in Dallas, Texas. She received a B.A. in English from The College of William & Mary in 2013 and is set to begin an M.Div at Duke Divinity School in 2016. Since college, Julia has spent time working in nonprofit communications, interning at her local church, and living in intentional Christian community with other emerging adults. Julia writes regularly on her own blog and has contributed posts to numerous other sites, most frequently the blog of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA. You can connect with her online on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

Julia will be responsible for the content and oversight of our websites.

EA Resources oversees the production of three sites:

  • EA Resources – a website designed to provide resources to parents and churches who wish to understand and minister to emerging adults.
  • More Than A Beard – a multigenerational website that seeks to explore various aspects of being a man who follows Jesus Christ.
  • More Than A Mirror – a multigenerational website that seeks to explore various aspects of being a woman who follows Jesus Christ.

I am so excited about Julia joining me in the work that God has called me to do.  I know that you will be blessed and encouraged by her work.

David - Prof 2Dr. G. David Boyd is the Founder and Managing Director of EA Resources.  He is also the Founder of the EA Network which seeks to connect people who desire to minister to the needs of emerging adults.  If you would like to contact David, you can e-mail him at gdavid@earesources.org.

Attentiveness and A Harvest Vision: Spiritual Attentiveness in Emerging Adulthood

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I came across a series of articles on Sapientia, a series of articles that is collected by Trinity International Divinity School.  The articles are written by David Setran, who is the co-author of what I consider to be the best resource written on understanding the spirituality of emerging adults called Spiritual Formation in Emerging Adulthood.

Here is David’s article:

Emerging adults often have their focus directed squarely upon the future. Parents and other concerned adults regularly ask them about the five and ten-year plans they are devising for adulthood. They are preparing for a future career and, at least potentially, a future spouse and children.

Read More Here.

group of girls

Photo courtesy of Aaron Robert Photography. Copyright 2014. www.aaronrobertphotography.com

 

A Great Way to Eliminate Your College Debt.

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Chilean artist steals and destroys $500 million worth of student debt papers.

actor burns student debt

Here’s one inventive way to deal with the student debt problem. Late last week, Chilean police arrived at Santiago’s Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral and removed a white bin of gray ash — allegedly all that remained of $500 million worth of student debt notes.

Here is the Link to the Article in the Washington Post.

Here is a Link to the Video!  The video went viral, but not here in America.  It is not in English, and not very exciting.

If you want to read some resources to really help you eliminate educational debt, here are a few links.

Tales of Four College Students

Debt Scams – Don’t Get Fooled

This Millennial paid off $23k in college debt in 10 months.

Financial Literacy

 

 

Millennial Exodus – Kristin’s Story

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(This is part of a series written by Millennials who have either left or stuck with the church.  If you are a Millennial and would like to submit your work for publication, you will earn $100.  Here is the link.  To read more stories by Millennials search Millennial Exodus.  If you would like to fund our research among emerging adults, click here.)

Here is Kristin’s Story entitled, “I could leave.”

Why dig beneath the shallow surface of my mind when I know I will be looked at and treated differently due to my past and present struggles?

Why choose to put a label on myself when I know I will be thrown into the same category of hypocritical Christians to anyone that asks about my religious affiliation?

old church desertedWhy be a part of an institution that has strayed so far from its original intent due to power struggle and misguided missions of its leaders?

Why surround myself with people every Sunday when I know many will stab my back by Monday?

Why do I put myself through it? I could have left the church years ago. No one is making me stay. In fact, looking at my peers it seems like that is the easier way to go.

But instead I pour myself out, lay myself down, and open up my soul to this so-called “church.”  I could leave.  Why stay?

Jesus.

You may call this a Sunday school answer, but its not Sunday school I’m after.

I’m after Jesus’ own heart.  If he wasn’t still in the church I would be long gone.  The one who knows my future, my present, and my past.  The God whose very name covers me with a blanket of forgiveness and love.  The authentic, organic fire within my soul.

I could choose to leave the church. In fact, it would cause me less pain if I abandoned these modern-day Pharisees for good.  The people who make up the church are sick with sin. No one can be trusted. But I will continue to be vulnerable through it all with the people who are just as broken as me searching for the Ultimate Truth.  In the midst of all this brokenness, one fact remains:

Jesus is still there and He isn’t going anywhere.

So I’m not either.

Kristin AllenKristin Allen is a 22 year old from central Illinois serving as a Director of Christian Education in Escanaba, Michigan to complete her degree from Concordia University Chicago. She is happily engaged to her high school sweetheart. If it involves family, music, volleyball, or pizza – count her in.

Media Addiction and Young Adults – An article from the Washington Post

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I read this article this past week, and I wanted to share it to my readers.  Should technology be treated as other addictions?  I do believe that it is a topic worthy of discussion.  Media and technology is definitely an escape from reality that is abused by many people.  Enjoy!            -David

FALL CITY, WASH. — It was group discussion time at reSTART, a woodsy rehabilitation center about 30 miles outside Seattle. Four residents sat around the living room and talked about their struggles with addiction, anxiously drumming their fingers on their legs and fidgeting with their shoelaces. One young man described dropping out of college to seek treatment for the crippling problem that brought them all here: compulsive Internet use.

You can read the entire article here!

Here are some interesting tidbits from the article.

  • A recent study by Common Sense Media, a parent advocacy group, found that 59 percent of parents think their teens are addicted to mobile devices. Meanwhile, 50 percent of teenagers feel the same way. The study surveyed nearly 1,300 parents and children this year.
  • In the United States, there is no definition of Internet addiction. It is not recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which sets the official standards for disorders in the United States. A draft definition covering video-game addiction is included in an appendix for further research review, but there is no entry for general tech use.
  • Other countries, however, do officially recognize some forms of Internet addiction as serious conditions. In South Korea, Internet addiction has a formal definition; there, students are diagnosed and sent to government treatment centers.
Hayley Tsukayama covers consumer technology for The Washington Post.

Follow @htsuka

The Millennial Exodus – Abby’s Story

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(This is part of a series written by Millennials who have either left or stuck with the church.  If you are a Millennial and would like to submit your work for publication, you will earn $100.  Here is the link.  To read more stories by Millennials search Millennial Exodus.  If you would like to fund our research among emerging adults, click here.)

Here is Abby’s Story

Churches and Christians often get bad reputations. They are called judgmental, close-minded, uninviting, and even hypocritical at times. I would like to call a news flash – because all humans are hypocritical, not just those who entitle themselves Christians!

old church desertedThere are a million reasons for someone to not feel compelled to go to church. You may get incredibly annoyed and turned away from God when you read “Christian” statuses on Facebook. You may not believe that you need to go to church in order to go to heaven. You may think you don’t have time for church. You may not like what a particular church teaches. You may believe God has caused you suffering so you are turned away. You may think you’re too broken for church – what you’ve done is too bad to step foot into a church and ask for forgiveness.

I’m not here to tell you you’re wrong; I don’t know what you’re going through. But, I am here to tell you that whatever your situation might be, you’re missing out.

No matter how good of a person we try to be, none of us are perfect, so we’re going to fail at one point or another. But it’s how you let those experiences change you that shows the world either love or hate. And in this world, everyone feeds off of one another. This world lives by the philosophy an “eye for an eye” or “I didn’t get my way, so I’m certainly not going to let you have yours.” But that’s not what we’re called to do.

Jesus calls us to a different philosophy.

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and send rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? … And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?”

– Matthew 5:38-47

Living like Jesus is much easier said than done. Living like Jesus would be living perfectly in an imperfect world. If you’re consistently trying to live in this manner, it can be flat out exhausting. If you pour your heart and soul out for others on a regular basis in this broken world, you will grow weary. And eventually, your cup becomes empty, and you can’t pour out from an empty cup. If you don’t have a church and a church family to turn to, who will help remind you to turn to Jesus to become refilled?

What Jesus has to offer turns being overwhelmed with anxiety, fear, and depression into being overwhelmed with peace and love. It turns not ever having enough into having more than you ever could have asked for, even if it is nothing like you planned your life to be.

I’m living proof that lives can be completely transformed when you feel like there’s no hope ahead if you stay in the church. I’m living proof that darkness can be turned into light with the help of Jesus himself. I’m living proof that if you persevere through the times where it’s not easy and you have Jesus by your side, your life will eventually be filled with joy, regardless of what you’re going through. I can promise you that my darkness would still be darkness if I didn’t have the church and Jesus in my life. There would be no hope for my future.

I dare you to prove me wrong by trying it yourself.

AllenAbby Allen is a full-time physical therapist from Springfield, IL. She spends her days doing her best to be Jesus’ hands and feet, facilitating healing of all her patients each day. In her free time, she enjoys writing inspirational and encouraging blog posts, which are written purely from whatever may be weighing on her heart at that time.

 

The Fracturing of Evangelicalism – Will Millennials be the Wedge?

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Fractured from Flickr via Wylio

© 2012 Lloyd Davis, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio

I have walked among evangelicals my entire life.  Raised in a conservative Baptist tradition, my faith changed after I attended a national meeting where the denomination officially separated themselves from Walt Disney, Promise Keepers, and Billy Graham.  While I understood their fear of modern culture exemplified in media giants like Walt Disney, I wondered how anyone would call Rev. Billy Graham “evil?”

Since then, I have moved among various denominations under the umbrella of Evangelicalism. Evangelicalism as a movement arose within Protestant Christianity in the 1940’s.  The National Association of Evangelicalism (www.nae.net) is the organization which defines and leads this movement.  Approximately 26.3% of Americans identify themselves as Evangelicals, according to Pew research.   While “the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ” is a stated value of the organization, their divergent views on politics and culture may now be causing the movement to break apart.

Cultural issues like homosexuality, politics, and sexism have been splintering the unity of evangelicalism for the past decade.  The organization does not hold official doctrinal statements on these issues and therefore seeks to remain united in spite of their diversity.  However, Millennials might be the wedge that splits this movement.  The rift is not because Millennials want to fracture the movement, or because they hold a hidden secret agenda.  Nor is it due to the media’s frequent characterization of them as lazy, narcissist, or delusional.

rachel evans

Rachel Evans, a popular blogger and speaker.

Millennials are sometimes viewed as the catalyst for progressive changes within Evangelicalism.  In the divide between conservative evangelicals – like Trenton Wax; and more progressive perspectives like Rachel Held Evans, each holds different views on how to reach and re-engage Millennials.  While these and other writers can contribute to change within the church, during the process they are trailblazing pathways in seemingly opposite directions. (see Note below)

Many articles are filled with reasons why evangelicals are leaving the church, including:  churches are too cool; churches are not cool enough; churches are irrelevant; churches are too relevant; churches are too strict; churches are not strict enough; and on and on and on.  However, upon dissecting these statements, one finds that the focus often shifts from young adults themselves onto the cultural war happening within Evangelicalism.

Our desire to reach Millennials may become the wedge that will split us. The progressives are yelling, “Well, if you would stop living in the past…” while conservatives shout back, “If you would stop conforming to the culture!”  Each side is being consumed by their own beliefs.  Each side is filled with anger at “others” who they perceive to be injuring the church.  Each side claims spiritual discernment and is filled with righteous indignation.

Many assert that without change, the future of the church is at stake.  This fear motivates us – especially when it revolves around our children and the legacy we will leave for them.  Unfortunately, this fear often also motivates us to move in unhealthy directions.

All the while, each side is contributing to the fracturing within Evangelicalism, when both should be focusing on the Millennials who are stuck in between them.

Religious communities must ask themselves key questions:

  •  Do we understand emerging adults and their needs during this life phase?
  • How do we reach and re-engage emerging adults?
  • What are our expectations (spoken and unspoken) of emerging adults within our community?
  • Where is there room for Millennials to serve and lead within the church?
  • What messages are we sending to them, and how can we communicate our confidence in them?

These are changes that conservative and progressive evangelicals can agree upon.  May we focus not on the issues that divide, but upon the gospel, and seek to follow the voice of our one God and Savior Jesus Christ.

David - Prof 2Dr. G. David Boyd is the Founder and Managing Director of EA Resources, a non-profit designed to equip parents and churches to understand emerging adulthood.  If you need someone to help your community understand the challenges of emerging adulthood, contact him at gdavid@earesources.org.

Notes:

  1. I believe these authors and leaders want to find unity within the church (just as Jesus prayed for his followers to be one in John 17).  Rachel Held Evans blogged about her personal struggles with the future of evangelicalism, and then “left” evangelicalism and now worships at an Episcopalian church.  However, the church must question whether our unity is even reflected through man-made labels like “evangelicalism.”

Church Refugees by Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope

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Emerging Adults are not the only ones who are leaving the church.  According to the authors of Church Refugees, “The phenomenon of people walking away from congregation-based church has much more to do with how our culture has evolved over the years for everyone, not simply for emerging adults.” (76) While the decline in church participation is greatest among Millennials, churches are seeing decline in every generation.

While I do not hold a negative attitude toward the Millennial Exodus, those who love the church should examine cultural trends, and how God is calling us into a new season of ministry in a rapidly changing world.  Unfortunately, the authors’ research was not based upon a broad or diverse sample.  The researchers state that the sample was diverse geographically, socioeconomically, generationally, and gender; however, the responders were 92% white.  (10)

During their research, the authors coined the expression, “the Dones” to represent the individuals who were once active in church participation, but no longer attend.  Some of these individuals may also be classified as a None (who declare no religious faith) while others still hold tightly to faith (and yet are “Done” with the organized church).  The dechurched, as they sometimes are referred to are “disproportionately people who were heavily involved in their churches.” (50)

old churchThe book offers solutions about how to begin bringing these church refugees back into churches.  The authors share how, “In order to reengage the dechurched, then, our respondents are clear that the church needs to adopt policies and practices that disseminate power, reduce the role of the pastor as the holder and conveyor of all knowledge, and utilize organizational resources to empower people rather than to control them.” (94)  These are important topics that need to be discussed within our churches.

This book contains the “story of what happens when an organization invests in training and discipling scores of people, and yet does very little to retain them or reengage them when they leave.”  (11)  I discovered within this book a call to action.

The Nones won’t go to church, and they are afraid of church leadership. The church needs to provide healing and help for those who have left wounded (those suffering from PTCD – Post-Traumatic Church Disorder).

A rehabilitation process and program is needed for Christians wounded led by Jesus’ followers who can work outside the organized church and possess gifts of mercy and compassion.  If we fail to meet this call, “the church continues to run off faithful followers who are, by their nature or religious conviction, conciliatory, compromising, and nonjudgmental, then we will continue to see a church that’s increasingly insular, alienating, and irrelevant.”  (19)

As the church, we should be passionate about reaching the Nones.  Instead of cycling through decades of “evangelism tactics” like concerts, outreach events, seeker-sensitive bible studies, or tracts, maybe it is time to look around us and backward in time towards those we have hurt and have left David - Prof 2behind.  I completely agree with their statement that “the Dones and the almost Dones are the strongest bridge to the Nones.”  (137)

Dr. G. David Boyd is the Founder and Managing Director of EA Resources, a non-profit designed to help parents and parents understand emerging adulthood.