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One Reason NOT to Have a Young Adult Ministry
Published: 10/30/2009 8:47:26 AM

One Reason NOT to Have a Young Adult Ministry
Pastor Jeff Cloeter

    My ministry takes me into circles of people who would be described as young adults.  When the conversation is about the NBC comedy “The Office,” these are some excerpts:  “Hilarious.”  “I want Dwight’s ‘Howl at the Moon’ T-shirt.”  “Can you believe Jim and Pam finally got married?”  When conversation is about marriage, these are some excerpts:  “I want to get married, but he doesn’t want to commit.”  “I want to get married, but just not yet.”  “I never want to get married.”

     When conversation is about the church, these are some excerpts from young adults:  “Our church does things the way they’ve always been done.”  “Our church doesn’t care about young people.”  “The Baby Boomers are messing everything up.”  “My church is just so old.”  Without commenting on the validity (or falsity) of these statements, one temptation in the church is to pit generation against generation.  There are multiple reasons to have a specified “young adult” ministry.   And there are reasons not to have one.  One reason NOT to have one (or at least think through why you have one) is that young adults need “old people.”

     Last month, I wrote that we need more young adults in leadership positions, and that our church leadership is overwhelming “old.”  This month, I contend that young adults dare not segregate themselves from other generations.  In particular, in forming a “young adult ghetto” you handicap yourself with a lack of wisdom and experience.  Our reaction to an aging and declining church is often to abandon wisdom and experience.  In a room full of 20-somethings, you will have energy, creative thinking, idealistic proposals . . . and a lot of bad ideas.  
Here are a few reasons why intentional multi-generational interaction is a necessary part of the church. 

Learning the faith.    The imonk, Michael Spencer on his Sept. 30th blog post writes: “I’m watching a father bring his 5 year old to mass, take his hand and dip it in the water, make the cross for him, then take him to his seat and show him how to genuflect. … I am especially impressed with how a small child and an 80 year old man are functioning within the same world of thought, ritual and understanding. … I see evangelicals doing less and less that will hold anyone in the faith into their 80s. If I were 80, I wouldn’t go near 99% of evangelical churches.”

      Deuteronomy 6:7 shows us that love for Yahweh is not taught in youthful isolation, cool Gen X ministries, or candle-laden emerging worship experiences propagated by 20-something hipsters.  It is taught within the life of God’s people “when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise.”  Discipleship means that someone with more wisdom and experience pours their knowledge into you.  By its nature, discipleship demands the presence of multiple generations. 

Each Has What Others Need.  A properly functioning body needs the participation of each member.  Each offers something that others need.  No part is completely autonomous.  Young adults are great, but if that’s all you’ve got, it’s like having a bunch of thumbs.  You need a thumb to grab objects, but if all you have are thumbs you’ll never grab anything.  Read I Corinthians 12. 

Caring for those who have need.  If a mantra in Scripture is to care for the “the fatherless, and the widow,” (Deut. 10:18) it would be a good idea to actually do that.  Go shopping with a widow.  Visit a fellow member who is home bound.  Ask a veteran to tell you stories.  For that matter, baby-sit for a couple with young children.  Teach Sunday school.  Help with your church’s youth ministry.  Children and the elderly share a common vulnerability.  They are dependent and often lack a voice in society.  God has a special place in his heart for such as these.  A highly mobile, educated, healthy demographic of young adults will not know what service, care, and sacrifice are unless they are in proximity to those who have need.

You will be an “old person” some day.  Quickly realize that every 80 year old was once 23.  The only thing that separates you is time.  Value one another as fellow members, not as “old” or “young,” “infirm” or “healthy.”  This gives one a humble perspective of a very big church that has outlasted nations and dynasties.  

    Having said all this, I realize that many of you are coming from congregations with more wheelchairs and walkers than people under 30.  You feel you have no place.  You may have a very good reason to complain and seek to get away from all the people who are your parents’ age (and older).  But this also might be the perfect venue to start a young adult ministry.  There are appropriate times to gather only young adults.  But you also must figure out how “old people” (and the very young) can be an asset, and not an obstacle.  Hopefully resources on this website can assist your aging congregation to know how they can support you and other young adults.  If this generational understanding can be part of the fabric of the church, we will be blessed and the mission will be furthered.  Today’s young adult ministry will be the Ladies Aid and Men’s Club of 2070.  May those “old people” continue to love, support, and mentor the church in their time.