Supporting emerging adults on their journey through the ‘wilderness’
BY ANTHONY CASTLE
The National Youth and Young Adults Ministry Team has released a new research report on the lived experience of emerging adults in The Salvation Army.
National Youth and Young Adults Specialist John Marion recently spoke with dozens of young adults across the country about faith, life, and the decisions they are facing.
Research shows that emerging adulthood is a time of change for many and a challenge for church communities seeking to stay connected.
“There are developmental and cultural challenges for engaging emerging adults,” John says.
“It’s a period of time where they engage in exploration. Coming out of high school, young people move out of a heavily structured and regulated space. You go from school with clear rules, no money or license, to having all this freedom. It’s a time when emerging adults are figuring who they are, what they’re going to do, who they’ll fall in love with ...”
Research has shown an ‘exodus’ of emerging adults from churches, a mass movement from attendance and identifying with the Christian faith. Whether these young people were never involved or have since left, most faith communities struggle to engage with emerging adults. This ‘exodus’ raises questions for The Salvation Army.
“This is challenging for churches for two reasons,” John explains. “The first reason is youth ministry functions in a structured way. Every young person is free at the same time; you can’t do that with emerging adults. The second challenge is that emerging adults are experimenting and asking questions. When they begin that journey, the church can also be static; this is what you’re meant to believe. They are open to all the possibilities of faith and belief when the church provides definitive answers.”
Missing demographic Facing the ‘exodus’ of emerging adults from faith communities has challenged churches across the country. In Scripture, the Exodus wasn’t simply about leaving but the beginning of an important journey towards independence. The difficulty was the wilderness period in between, with the complexity of adulthood presenting a risk to young people, not just freedom.
• Why is what we're doing not working? • How do we connect with emerging adults who have not grown up in churches? • How can our churches help emerging adults’ faith grow and develop? • If emerging adults are leaving the Church, where is their faith going?
“Emerging adults are the largest missing demographic in churches ... and in The Salvation Army,” John says. “Life can get busy; they make other choices. They don’t attend, drift away. We shouldn’t just think of this as a problem for churches as much as it can be a difficult time for emerging adults. They have tremendous challenges. With all of that freedom comes all of that risk. They can still be quite vulnerable.”
Practice principles The Youth and Young Adults Ministry Team explored these challenges by engaging in lived experience research with emerging adults about their lives and spirituality. As a result, they have identified practice principles to support emerging adults to thrive in life and faith.
“There are practice principles we can all use to support emerging adults,” John says. “We meet them where they are, walk alongside them as they navigate challenges, empower them to take ownership of their life and faith, and help them discover purpose in their lives. Almost all of the emerging adults we spoke with expressed their faith in terms of how they engaged the world.”
Facing the ‘exodus’ of emerging adults from faith communities can feel daunting, but in Scripture, the Exodus was the start of an important journey. We can understand the emerging adults’ ‘exodus’ not as a move away from faith but as a journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Supporting emerging adults on their journey can be what they need to get to the other side.
“Emerging adults are meant to leave and explore; they are coming of age,” John says. “The challenge is making it through the wilderness, but the wilderness is where the journey is, with God leading the way. We don’t have to think about this as a problem. Let’s not ask why they’re leaving, but ask where they’re going ... and offer to come alongside.”
For more information including resource videos on how to support emerging adults , click here.
To read the ‘Through the wilderness to the Promised Land’ report, click here.
