A Message From Pastor Alexa

At every single meet and greet, one question (in one way or another) has been posed: how do we get more young people in church? It's the question that many churches are asking, as church membership has been declining steadily for years, and congregations age. It is a question that our congregation asks in particular, as we feel ourselves aging, and begin considering the religious and spiritual legacies we want to pass on to the next generation(s).

One of the experiences I've had that continues to be a wonderful gift to me and the communities I serve, is the Young Adult Initiative at Garrett Seminary. I served as a fellow of this project for three years: interviewing young adults, drawing themes from the interviews all of the fellows conducted, and then developing ministries within a congregation to engage young adults with those identified themes in mind.

I wrote this article in 2018 as part of that work, to respond to this pertinent question you all are asking: How do we get young people in church? or, perhaps better framed: How do we engage young adults faithfully here and now?

The article is aimed toward pastors, so I wrote it with an assumption of some shared vocabulary. Some definitions, if they're helpful: pedagogies, plural of pedagogy: how something is taught; and hermeneutical lenses: the lenses through which we interpret something, particularly scripture.

As always, I'm happy to talk with you more about this topic. It's one of my favorites!

Pastor Alexa

Read the full article here.