Millennials have been called many names during their pursuit of adulthood including: lazy, narcissistic, immature, and other words that I prefer not to type. The purpose of this article is to explain why a new human life phase is beneficial to both Millennials and the rest of us. Continue reading
FACTCHECKER: DOES COLLEGE CAUSE YOUNG ADULTS TO LOSE THEIR FAITH?
I recently came across an article that I wanted to share with my readers.
Parents do have a great fear that college will mark the end of their child’s faith. However, here are a few points that I would like to make.
1. Many parents blame college, but the adolescent actually left their faith many years before.
Adolescents leave the faith for a variety of reasons, and parents sometimes turn away from signs that their children no longer hold to the faith that they were taught as children (article). I recommend a book on this subject by Drew Dyck, Generation: Ex-Christian.
2. Professors do not want to convert your children.
The recent film “God’s Not Dead” continues to paint the picture that professors desire to destroy Christians. While some professors may be personally hostile towards a specific religion, faculty cannot discriminate against people of a specific religion, by grading their religious beliefs.
3. Postmodernism allows diversity and a variety of religious beliefs and experiences on campus.
Christian Smith states, “The increase of relativism and the decline of strict scientism, which allows for discussion of faith and spiritual speculation, similar to what Paul experienced at the Aeropagus.” Dr. Smith is talking about the decline of modernity, and the rise of post-modernity. While some Christians have in the past been extremely out-spoken against postmodernism, it has made college campuses more accepting of faith and diversity.
Here is the article. The author, Glenn T. Stanton is the director of family formation studies at Focus on the Family and the author of five books.
I hope that it is an encouragement to you as you parent.
Six Steps to Naming Your Young Adult Ministry. (Includes 40 Name Possibilities)
© 2013 T.Kiya, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio
I want to admit that the reason I am doing this post is because I know that people spend more time researching online for ministry names than researching how to ensure that it will be healthy. Buried within the church is a false belief that image is more important that behavior. We have forgotten that, “A rose by any other name is still a rose.” This desire is driven by hope that a fancy name and graphic will cause people to show up.
So to feed your misguided need, I have included over forty possible names for your ministry; however, I will warn you that some of them should NEVER be used. After getting a few ideas, I hope that you will look deeper at the other resources provided, and join in the discussion as we try to empower the church to help emerging adults.
Web 2.0 Logo Collage from Flickr via Wylio
Six Steps to Naming Your Ministry.
1. Pick a normal household item and put “the” in front of it.
Examples include: the livingroom, the porch, the green room, the couch, the table, the upper room.
2. Pick any ordinary item and put “the” in front of it.
Examples include: the element, the branch, the well, the gathering, the flock, the bridge, the oasis, the river, the journey, the pathway. Double points are scored if the word is used in the Bible.
3. Revive the 90’s, and make up an Acronym.
Examples include: YAM – Young Adult Ministry or YAF – Young Adult Fellowship, or C&C – College and Career. I am just kidding. Please do not. If you are tempted, please remember those churches who used the acrostic for Adult Sunday School.
4. Mix a portion of your church name with words like: explosion, collision, point, power, life, limit, beyond, limitless, path.
5. Search the Web for what other churches already are using.
A quick search for me brought me to: Mosaic, Tapestry, Epic, Lifeline, Anchor, Catalyst, Lead, Ignite, T&T (Twenties and Thirties), Ethos, Rooted, Overflow, Driven, Resonate, Savy, Reach, Reality, Renew, Core, and Illuminate.
6. If these don’t work, try something random like…
- Your favorite trendy word + A color you are wearing + An item you ate for breakfast
My results were… awkward blue bagels. No, I am serious. Give it a chance – the marketing possibilities are endless.
Alright, so the last one didn’t work.
Maybe we should be focusing not as much on what it is called, but what we do.
Maybe we should rely on grabbing attention because of lives that have been changed.
Maybe a strong name is not the source of our power.
Maybe a trendy name is not a replacement for being relevant.
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D
r. G. David Boyd is the Founder and Managing Director of EA Resources. He has a passion to help churches build healthy ministries to young adults. If you want to see change at your church, contact him at gdavid@earesources.org.
Why Courtship is Fundamentally Flawed
I find it amusing whenever a person starts talking about the “Right” or “Biblical” way to find a mate. If you look through the pages of the Bible, several methods of getting a mate might get you in trouble these days. Continue reading
Recruiting a Team for Emerging Adult Ministry
If you desire to minister to emerging adults in your church, I highly encourage you to create a team. Teamwork makes your journey more fun, and allows you to accomplish more than if you are working alone. While a good team can expand your reach and ministry; however, a bad team can exhaust you and hold you back from making a difference.
So if you recruiting people to minister to emerging adults, here are some essential qualities.
1. Community Builders
![ftflagler-washington-pictures-4376127-h[1]](http://www.earesources.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ftflagler-washington-pictures-4376127-h1-e1377712949724.jpg)
These are the people that everyone wants to be around. There is just something contagious about who they are, and what they bring into a room. I actively recruit several “life-of-the-party” people before launching any type of small group or community, because they will be the glue that makes new people stick. These people are your front-line welcome the new guests. You want your new guests to walk away saying, “Wow, I really liked the people we met.”
2. Accepting
Look for teammates who readily accept others for who they are and where they are in life. Some people breathe judgmental attitudes, while others regularly speak their mind. While I do believe in the gift of discernment, sometimes people claim this spiritual gift because they simply want to speak their mind. After being raised with a postmodern mindset, emerging adults will run from those who claim to have all the answers.
Emerging adults must be safe to express who they are, and where they are truly at in their faith journey without fear of becoming a spiritual project of someone else within the group. I want teammates who are gifted at asking questions, rather than giving advice. A wise team will fully accept others for who they are, and wait for God to do the work.
3. Consistent
One consistent worker is worth – twenty part-timers. Due to the constant changes in their lives, emerging adults are looking for consistency. Emerging adults want to know who is going to be at meetings before they show up. When looking for workers, I ask those who were not otherwise involved in church ministry because I want my teammates fully devoted to our goal. Availability is also important because your teammates must have enough margin to be available to your group outside of your weekly scheduled meeting.
4. Intergenerational
Your team should include emerging adults. If you have no emerging adults on your team, you are already communicating that they are not capable of leading or contributing to the ministry. Emerging adults have great potential to give and lead within any ministry.
Your team should also include other generations who have traveled further down life’s road and can offer a different perspective. However, older adults need to understand that emerging adults are looking to develop relationships that involve give-and-take rather than downward-focused. As the team enters each week with an expectation of receiving, it will be amazing what God will do in their lives as they serve.
While you may be overwhelmed by starting a ministry to emerging adults, the beauty about starting a ministry is that you can pick your team. Choose wisely. Spend time praying over who God is calling you to invite into this exciting movement.
Dr. G. David Boyd is the Founder and Managing Director of EA Resources. He is passionate about seeing Emerging Adults survive and thrive in our world and the church.
Raising Expectations on Emerging Adults
What does your church expect of emerging adults in your congregation? Continue reading
Christ and Keg Stands – An article on College Binge Drinking
I came across this article that I wanted to share with my readers. It is a great read for students who are making choices about drinking on campus, and for parents.
Here are my top three lines from the Article.
1. If you think not drinking gets you closer to God, get a better reading of Scripture.
2. If you think drinking gets you closer to relevance, get a better understanding of ministry.
3. Even when there are intellectual objections to Christianity, these are often just cover for a debauched lifestyle.
I was going to say something about them, but the article says enough. Enjoy!
Kevin DeYoung is senior pastor of University Reformed Church (RCA) in East Lansing, Michigan, near Michigan State University. He and his wife Trisha have six young children. You can follow him on Twitter.
A Guide for Setting Expectations on Emerging Adults in Your Church Community
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.
Teen who Sued Her Parents is Back in Court.
Rachel Canning is back in the news again after filing a lawsuit against her boyfriend for choking her. Her boyfriend also filed a restraining order against Rachel, but both sides dropped their lawsuits in order to have a clear record for college.
Maybe her parents were wise when they asked her to break up with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend was one area of disagreement between Rachel and her parents before she moved out and filed a lawsuit asking for money to support her lifestyle and future education.
It seems that the national attention was profitable for Rachel. She landed a $56k scholarship to Western New England University based upon her merit. I am sure that many readers are wondering what part of her merit does the school most admire? Her ability to conjure lawsuits? Her proclivity to excessive partying? Her sense of entitlement?
I am definitely disappointed that if the money was based upon her time in the spotlight that an academic institution would use the situation for media attention – especially appearing to reward and support her values.
I am wondering whether Rachel will look at her parents and say, “Mom – Dad. You were right.”
I am not holding my breath waiting for that to happen, and I doubt her parents are either.
Eating Disorders – Co-traveler on my Daughter’s Journey
As a woman, you can either face your struggles by turning into them, or running away. But as a mother when your children struggle, you face, feel, and are oppressed by the same pain; and yet cannot fix it.
Continue reading