A blog post by Terri Elton
Image Credit: Social Media Apps by Jason Howie on Flickr
As we come to the end of our month thinking about this command and wrestling with what this question means for our leadership and ministry, let me pause and reflect on seven learnings.
1. It’s ok to feel incompetent! We live in a time when we are moving off the map, away from the territory many of us knew and into uncharted waters. It’s ok to be disoriented. But it’s not ok to let that …
Tags: Digital Age, social media, ministry, youth ministry, young adults, church, faith, culture, emerging adults, Terri Elton, krakotoarivelo001
A blog post by Alyssa Fitzgerald
Image Credit: Table_HDR2 by Mark Thornhill on Flickr
As the Apostle Paul writes to the Philippians, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” (Philippians 1:3). In this holiday season, I have been blessed with the opportunity to reminisce, remembering those I met at this year’s joint Presbyterian Church Camp and Conference Association (PCCCA) and Lutheran Outdoor Ministries (LOM) Annual Conference as I give thanks to God for the work they do every …
A blog post by Jake Sorenson
Image Credit: Summer Sun Shining Through by Will Montague on Flickr
As a new year dawns, the weather is frigid in the upper Midwest. Schools are cancelled in several states due to extreme cold, and the warnings say things like, “Skin will freeze within 5-10 minutes.” Seriously, my skin is going to freeze?!
The trip to the mailbox reminds me of a Jack London story. Bundling up with five layers complete with ski goggles, I make the 75-foot trek through …
A blog post by Terri Elton
Image Credit: Social Media Apps by Jason Howie on Flickr
It doesn’t take much to make me feel incompetent when it comes to technology. For example, while my college daughter was home during break, I asked for help fixing something in iTunes. After a sigh, she let me know iTunes was “out” and Spotify was better. Now, I knew about Spotify, but didn’t know how it worked. Forty-five minutes later I was up to speed with a few playlists and friends.
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A blog post by Grace Duddy
Image Credit: Making a Difference?? by Madhan R on Flickr
A little over a year ago, my colleague, Chick Lane, and I became fascinated with the topic of “stewardship with adults under 40”. As an “adult under 40” myself, I had noticed that “stewardship” was not something that my friends were talking about. I had also noticed that young adults were generally not the target demographic of stewardship campaigns in congregations nor were they …
A blog post by Terri Elton
We’ve spent the month wandering through ideas, insights, resources, and research on younger adults, their understanding of faith, and implications for ministry. Each post offered a picture, a snap shot, of what’s important and meaningful for younger adults today.
We were reminded that Martin Luther was a younger adult when he reformed the church; we got a picture of the breadth and depth with which younger adults engage in ministry, among their peers and with …
A blog post by Kate Reuer Welton
"I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without …
A blog post by Luke Halverson
What is one thing I have noticed about young adults?
Early on in the book of Job, Satan is granted power over Job’s life. From Job losing his children to having sores inflicted all over his body, Job endured enormous amounts of pain and loss. When Job’s friends heard of his pain, they sought to comfort him, but when they saw Job, they just sat with him for seven days and seven nights without speaking a word to him. They didn’t offer a ten step -- or …
A blog post by Isaac van Bruggen
Picture this: it’s the early 1500s, and you are a young Martin Luther. Disenchanted with some of the Church’s teachings, you begin to form your own ideas and question authority. You go rogue.
Do you ever wonder what it must have felt like to completely change the church in your thirties? Look around -- it’s happening again! What an empowering time to be a young adult in the Church. Understanding that there are exceptions, in this post I’ll …
A blog post by Terri Elton
Understanding young adults is one thing, but engaging them in ministry is another. This installment of resources will focus on two issues: Why are Christians who were connected with the church leaving? What about the faith and spiritual lives of young men?
Why are young adult Christians leaving?
There are several reasons, yet many young adults are open to reengaging. Knowing why young adults don’t feel like they are accepted in congregations is critical, but so …