Dots Dying to Be Connected February 12, 2010
Posted by Dan R. Dick in Christian discipleship, Core Values, Evangelism, Seeker spirituality.Tags: Church growth, Spiritual seekers
38 comments
Recent conversations with pastoral leaders in my home Conference (Wisconsin) about young adult ministry share a common theme: there simply isn’t enough interest in the area. Apparently, young adults don’t want what the churches have to offer. Except, this morning when I stopped off for my morning Buzz at Beans ‘n Cream coffee shop, I noticed two small groups engaged in some deep Bible study. One table hosted two fifty-somethings and five college students, the second table squeezed together nine twenty- and thirty-somethings. I stopped and asked both groups what church they were from and got identical answers: we don’t go to church.
Now the default reaction for most mainline United Methodists is, why can’t we get these kids to come to church? They study the Bible — they’re obviously interested in the Christian faith. It seems like they are a prime target audience. They want to grow in their faith, we’re the church — BINGO! But therein lies the rub. Church and the Christian faith are not the same thing, and much of what those inside the church find so valuable, those outside do not. Much of what church members will tolerate, non-church members have no patience for. Attending worship — the meat-and-potatoes of modern United Methodism — is of secondary importance to those seeking spiritual formation in small groups. The sad fact is, we DON’T have what a large population is looking for. They want relationship with God, we offer them relationship with a church (small “c”).
