In contrast, Rock Church moved to only one young adult service a month in which they all meet together. Previously their weekly services were great, but young adults were not fully integrated with the church. “They were not serving. They were not pursuing discipleship or mentorship, so something needs to change,” says Mercer. The new first Tuesday gathering each month has the “sole purpose of mobilizing the community.” The middle weeks of the month are for small groups, and the last week is for connecting on their local campus.
Discussing the Hard Stuff
“Our senior pastor teaches the Bible unapologetically, both the good stuff and the tough stuff. I feel like this next generation is really looking for strong Bible teaching,” Nibbe argues.
Mercer agrees. “I don’t think Gen Z is scared of the hard things. I believe they are wanting direction, guidance, and to be shown how to live an authentic Christian walk. We are not compromising. They are taught difficult things, difficult passages, having difficult conversations. Whether or not you can really teach and empower and equip will determine whether or not they walk through your doors.”
The 20-somethings at Mosaic Christian Church shared with Moynihan that “one of the best things that’s happening is we’re talking about the spicy subjects that they’re seeing on their social media feeds every day.” He adds, “If you’re talking about what they’re naturally already swimming in, then you’re going to get them to want to lean in.” His recent sermons included hell, doubt, race, abortion and Jesus’ traditional ethic on sexuality. “If you’re not talking about stuff that they’re having to be confronted with every single day, I think you’re going to lose them.”
Another thing working for Mosaic Christian Church is hangouts, one-off events planned by young adults in different demographics and with different interests. These smaller gatherings address data that shows that younger people are more averse to taking risks socially.
“We wanted to create a gateway drug to the goodness of community without the intimidating barrier of commitment,” explains Moynihan. “It makes a large church feel like I can be known here.” After attending a couple of hangouts they’ll often join a monthly group. After the monthly group serves them for a couple of months or a couple of years, then they’ll join a weekly group.
“I don’t think the target of getting them in a group has shifted, but we have to give them a much longer runway,” he adds. “You don’t want to lower the bar of discipleship, but you do want to lower the bar of entry to get them on that path.”
Going the Extra Mile
“Most of them don’t believe right away,” observes Figueroa. “It isn’t this point-in-time evangelism. It really is a process how people come to services and be a part and be around. It’ll be months or a year until they decide, ‘I want to accept Christ now. I’ve seen enough. I’m ready.’”
Thrash shares a similar story, “I have a young man that before he even was willing to meet with me in person and before we even got to the conversation of Jesus—the ‘church hurt’ that he was dealing with was so great—I literally had a 7 a.m. phone call every morning for seven months before we were able to actually start talking about the gospel.”
Young adult ministries, even more than student ministries, take so much time because you need leaders who are willing to go and have these coffees and lunches and hard conversations. Amazing revivals do happen, but Thrash says that most of the time, with 20-somethings, it takes more than just one life-changing moment.
“It’s sitting down at a table with them, taking the time, doing the work, walking with them through Scripture, being there when they mess up, and showing them that the church isn’t something that’s going to push them away when they do something wrong,” he says. “It’s a place that’s going to walk alongside them, even when things go wrong, and help them every step of the way.”
The investments in young adults through your church may need to look different than these examples. But good reports are coming from those making a long-term investment that empowers young adults, is intentional about discipling them, and faces head-on the challenges inherent in their stories.