“Dinner and B.S.”
Young adults aren’t always motivated to attend Sunday worship, and Gloria Dei, Huntingdon Valley, and Trinity, Fort Washington have found young adults ask for more when offered the chance to gather for a meal and conversation about life and faith. The two congregations, linked through the call of the Rev. Jim Goodyear as youth minister at Gloria Dei and pastor of Trinity, began inviting young people aged 18-30 to “Dinner and B.S.,” an informal meal and conversation Goodyear hosts.
“It’s designed to let young adults without children to get together and talk about life,” Goodyear says. As dinner morphs into “B.S.”, Goodyear says, “I listen for what’s going on in their lives, and bring a faith perspective to it.” Sometimes “B.S.” becomes bible study, and “sometimes it’s just about the B.S. of life,” he says. Read more 
Encouraging A Young Leader
What is the “new thing” that you have perceived God doing?
Raising up a 2011 high school graduate, who is going to a local college, to teach Senior
High Sunday School, take over as Youth Group Leader.
How are you cooperating with God in this activity? How can other Christians and
congregations help?
Praying for him and supporting this ministry with advice, guidance, connecting him with supportive
lay leaders. Read more
Young Christians Leaving Church…and Rethinking Faith
The alarming church dropout rate for youth leaving high school is less about young people losing their faith and driven by their alienation from church participation and their search to connect faith with the world they live in, according to new research from The Barna Group.
In “You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving Church…And Rethinking Faith”, Barna’s David Kinnaman notes that “most young people with a Christian background are dropping out of conventional church involvement, not losing their faith.” (Read: Five Myths about Young Adult Church Dropouts). His research shows that about 3 in 10 young Christians stay involved with the church through college and young adulthood (although the ELCA has reported lower figures). Read more
Five Cultural Shifts You Should Pay Attention To
Over at Duke Divinity School’s Faith and Leadership blog, Presbyterian pastor Carol Howard Merritt writes about some trends that church leaders should be paying attention to, particularly in relation to younger (emerging) generations. Her top five:
- Younger generations aren’t faring well in this economy. How do we handle money/debt/success, and are giving expectations realistic for them.
- Young workers often don’t have the choice to take Sunday off. Do we have opportunities for them to engage in community and worship at other times? Read more