How can congregations engage in ministry with young adults? Reggie Blount shares ways congregations can strengthen their ministry with young adults through hospitality, welcoming and meeting young adults where they are, and empowering them to engage in works of purpose and mission.
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How can congregations engage in ministry with young adults? In this episode, Reggie Blount shares ways congregations can strengthen their ministry with young adults through hospitality, welcoming and meeting young adults where they are, and empowering them to engage in works of purpose and mission.
Douglas Powe: Welcome to Leading Ideas Talks, a podcast feature thought-leaders and innovative practitioners. I am Douglas Powe, the director of the Lewis Center, and your host for this talk. Joining me is Rev. Dr. Reginald Blount, the Associate Professor of Formation, Leadership, and Culture at Garrett Theological Seminary. He is also the director of the Young Adult Initiative. Our focus for this podcast is young adults. Reggie, thank you so much for joining us today. I’m looking forward to this conversation, and I know so many people are interested in young adults. I’m sure you’ve heard it too, the question is: Where are all the young adults?
Reggie Blount: Thanks for having me, Doug, looking forward to our conversation. And so, if the opening question is “where are the young adults?” They’re out there. The question is, “are we prepared to receive them and truly do ministry with them?”
Douglas Powe: I love that answer and I’m going to let you unpack that somewhat by beginning with sharing a little bit about… you all received the grant from Lilly to actually, sort of, do this work of “where are the young adults?” So can you share a little bit about the grant and some of what your goals were, and then let’s unpack then what you are discovering about young adults.
Reggie Blount: So, I would say about almost eight, nine years ago, Lilly launched a, what they call their young adult initiative; trying to address the question of “what does it mean to do ministry with young adults?” Particularly those in in the ages of 21 to 29. And they approach the work by calling on, I think at the time, 13 institutions to engage in what they call innovation hubs, to work with congregations in their particular area, region—some were more regional, some would even were national—to explore ways of connecting to, working with young adults, and getting greater insight into what would help young adults be much more connected to congregational life.
The work that we have done at Garrett Evangelical through our innovation hub, we started out doing an ethnographic study. So, we had fellows that we sent out to do interviews with young adults, either in their congregation or in some proximity to the life of their congregation, to get a sense of so … how did young adults understand their own religiosity, and how they understood their own spiritual life, and how did they see the church helping or not helping in that arena. And in coming out of that ethnographic study, we were able to name several—or to at least to unearth—several themes that are really not surprising themes. It’s been what young adults have been telling us for quite some time.
What are they looking for? They’re looking for congregations, they’re looking for communities that were welcoming; that were embracing; that met them where they were. They are looking for leaders in these congregations that are approachable. That they can be able to have a relationship with and maybe even experience certain levels of mentoring, spiritual direction. They’re looking for congregations that are mission driven, mission oriented, and particularly focused around issues of social justice. They are looking for congregations that recognize the fact that there are young adults who’ve experienced church hurt, and that… and that they are sensitive to those issues. I guess this kind of connects to the welcoming piece again, being able to create an environment where that is not continued.
Douglas Powe: I appreciate it, and already I feel, like you said, these are things people we know, but we need to hear again because it’s obvious we’re not doing them well. And this leads into—sort of—into my curiosity of what insight you may have. It seems like everything you said is common sense. There’s nothing you said that is not common sense that any of us, you know, we’d all say “yes, yes, and yes.” Yet, young adults stay away from the church. Do you believe they stay away because they aren’t experiencing welcoming from the church? Or do they have the perception that they won’t experience welcoming from the church? Does that make sense?
Reggie Blount: It does. And I’m going to do a both-and. I believe that young adults, particularly those who may have grown up in the church, they’ve seen some things and they’ve experienced some things. And as soon as they have an opportunity to escape from some things, they do so. I think that there’s also a perception out there that because of what maybe peers, friends have experienced, what we end up seeing and experiencing on social media when we have one particular slant of what church might be like, that informs then how many young adults might perceive what they might experience. And so, everything then gets grouped in a monolithic kind of way. All churches are like this, versus having some more knowledge that there are varying experiences that are happening within congregations.
Douglas Powe: So, to build up on that, and this certainly came across in what you were sharing, that young adults value relationships. And when I say relationships, I’m not talking about, sort of, you can come and we’re going to tell you what to do. I’m talking about genuine relationships where you know there’s mutuality between those in a relationship. It feels to me that this is a place, that I have seen and experienced, where the church has not done well in developing relationships with young adults. In the work that you all have done, is there anything you can share about: how can congregations actually do a better job of developing these relationships, and not just fall into this, sort of, “well we know what’s best for you, so you should just listen to us.”
Reggie Blount: So let me use a quote that I heard a young person, a young adult, share. I happened to be at a young adult, a United Methodist young adult conference some years back, and they allowed me to sit in on a conversation that the young adult panel was having. And a young woman shared something that has stayed with me ever since. And that is: “I love Jesus, but the church is suffocating.” And, simply shared, simply said, congregations need to learn how to not be suffocating. It has to—it has to allow themselves to be opened to the ideas, the energy, the creativity that young adults can bring to how to be the church in the community that they’re serving, to release control of some things. And most importantly, let go of the judgmental spirit that far too often our congregation, members of our congregations, offer without even getting to know the young adult themselves.
Douglas Powe: I agree with you a hundred percent, and I have been a part of congregations where you will have those in leadership that actually work on trying to say, “Hey, we’ve got to be welcoming. We can’t be judgmental.” But there are some individuals that in their mind, there’s a certain way you have to look; there’s a certain way you have to behave, and that just comes across. So, how is it that we can help young adults understand: the church is not a perfect place. It’s going to be made up of all these different individuals. It’s not that those individuals don’t love them—but, you know, they’re going to give a spirit that’s going to be different than some other individuals. But I think sometimes we lose young adults before we have a chance to really help them to understand that there’s going to be a mixed ecology of people together. So, is there a way we can actually say, “hey, listen, you’re going to encounter all different types, just like any place else, all different types of people here.”
Reggie Blount: So, let me answer that by saying maybe that might not be the right question. Because young adults said: Maybe I don’t need to understand. If relationship is what I’m looking for, then I should not have to settle for the kind of space, the kind of a community, that—I shouldn’t have to settle for one that may not be as encouraging and supporting—or that I have to really work that hard to be accepted in it. I can create other communities, and God will meet me there. I can find elders who can meet me where I am and love me where I am and build relationship there.
And so, I think the onus is on congregations themselves to make a decision whether or not they’re willing to shift in their own perspectives. Shift in recognizing that times have changed. Shift, and recognizing, if I really and truly want young adults to be a part of the community that I am a part of, then it’s not about: “I want young adults to come in and then make them act like me or change to be like me.” Because it’s not going to happen. Young adults can create their own communities. And if we really look and we define church as the people gathered, and not just the institutional building where folk are at, the people gathered can be anywhere.
Douglas Powe: Yeah. So, just staying with that theme then, and you’ve talked about some of these when we started, what are some practices that congregations can do to be more inclusive in this way? How can we as a congregation actually make that shift to say, “Okay, we’re going to really be intentional about this work?”
Reggie Blount: I think it starts, honestly, with allowing young adults to teach the congregation about the current culture. Learning what are the current issues and concerns facing the present generations; allowing someone to really come in and share what that is. And then, in partnership, collaborative collaboration, partnership with other young adults, begin to explore: how can this congregation be a vehicle. [How can this congregation] be a third space to be open and supportive of particular needs that young adults have. I mean, there are real life issues that young folk are dealing with, and we hear about it all the time. So, there’s mental health issues, there’s challenges around loneliness, right? There is financial, you know, basic bread and butter kinds of issues that they’re looking for communities and they’re looking for wisdom on how to navigate this world. And I think the misconception is that young adults want to separate themselves from elders. That’s not the case. They are seeking wisdom, not judgment. And there’s a difference.
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Douglas Powe: There definitely is a difference. Just to help our listeners, without—not expecting you to give the name of congregations—but can you talk about a congregation or two that you know that have been able to make this shift and was it a group of people deciding they were going to really push this? How did they go about actually making this shift? Because I think that’s the hard piece for congregations. I think many recognize this needs to be done, but they’re not sure how to do it.
Reggie Blount: Yeah. And we’ve had a number of congregations that we were able to work with through our grant, who continue, because it’s not an overnight thing. It’s not a workshop, “and we ready to do this and all of that.” It’s an ongoing process. And so, they’re continually working on this. And… and we’ve had congregations that have worked with young adults to create friendship circles, as young people are really challenged with some of those pieces, and it also relates to issues around loneliness and all of that. We have congregations that we have worked with that are meeting young adults where they are as it relates to life and lifestyle issues and financial issues. Congregations that are helping their young adults set up businesses, and things along those lines. The difficulty in answering that question is that there’s no cookie cutter approach. And so, I can’t share enough the importance of walking alongside young adults and allowing them to let their creativity come forth and be able to say, what are the needs of their peer group and the young adults in your particular community and making space for that.
Douglas Powe: And I think something that you’re implying, and I’m going to try to make more explicit, and you can push back, as I know you will quickly do, is: One thing that is really important is [that]you have to leave the church and go and be genuine in being interested, and as you said earlier, hearing from them, learning from them to build those initial relationships to do these other pieces. If you don’t leave and go out and really intentionally seek to build these relationships, the build it, and they will come model is typically not going to work 99 out of 100 times. Is that fair?
Reggie Blount: 99.5% of the time it’s not going to work. No, you’re absolutely right. It is going to where they are. And I always find it interesting, particularly as we talk about evangelism, and we use Matthew 28, somehow or another, we missed the piece that it says: “Go.” It didn’t say, “wait for them to come.” And so, we do need to go where they are, meet them where they are, and genuinely be open to doing something different. Genuinely be open to possibly making changes. Because if we’re not open for the change, they’re going to sniff that out. And so, it may mean that our ministry with young people is not just on Sunday. Our ministry with young people might be, again, meeting them where they are, and it’s something that’s happening somewhere between Monday and Saturday. And if I could say this as well, being very, very clear about what your objective is: what your goal is. If all you’re doing is looking for young adults to be able to come in and join membership and pay their tithes so that the institution can survive, you can let that go because it ain’t gonna happen.
Douglas Powe: Right. Yeah, absolutely. I’m going to shift a little bit. You talked in the beginning about the importance of mission, or advocacy, justice—whatever term you want to use for young adults and being involved. And this work is critically important for congregations as a whole. But what is the balancing act for congregations in trying to, sort of, do that work and do it with young adults, but also not becoming a social agency? Because I think sometimes, you know, for congregations, they can say, “we’re going to do things for people.” “We’re going to give them soup on Wednesday.” “We’re going to give them these clothes and do these things for people.” And you can get young adults involved in that, but you’re then, I think, losing fundamentally what it means to be a church. And I think, again, you want to—you talked about objectives—so it’s clear that we want to be active in this work, but there’s a difference between a social agency and a church as we think about these things. So, how do you help congregations make sure that they have that balance?
Reggie Blount: So, let me first say that to understand Gen Z, younger millennials, understand Gen Z and Gen Alpha, studies suggest those generations are much more inclined to engage in works of purpose and mission than they are in institutional preservation. So, the future of the church depends upon shifting to being much, much more mission oriented than institutional preservation.
The next thing that I’m going to suggest is that the church needs to reexamine its “why.” And so, to suggest that it’s “why” is not related to being some kind of social service agency, I’m going to say is problematic. Why? Because the purpose of most social service agencies is to meet the needs of people. And if the church doesn’t see one of its primary purposes is to meet the needs of others, then I think sustainability moving forward is going to be quite challenging. As you know, along with the number of hats that I have, I am the founder of an organization called The Oikos Institute for Social Impact, and the theology that undergirds our work is our belief that the work of social impact are also acts of discipleship.
Douglas Powe: So, the “acts of discipleship.” So, unpack that a little bit in terms of working with young adults. Because, I think, as you say, I set you up for that. I’m with you on the piece of the “why,” but, and you know, we push back and forth on this. So, I do believe fundamentally the church is about discipleship, which is different from a social agency.
Reggie Blount: So, two examples. One: One of the leaders comes to Jesus and says, “so, who is my neighbor.” Right? And Jesus offers a particular answer, and—no, I think it was much more of, “what’s the what’s the major commandment and that is to love God, love neighbor.” And he asks, “who is my neighbor?” And then we go into the story around the Samaritan, right? About folk passing them, religious leaders passing. One who had been vandalized, brutalized on the road. And the Samaritan is the one that comes and takes care of them, takes them to the inn. One of the things that, that we miss in that story, or gets glossed over, is the fact that the Samaritan stays overnight. The Samaritan interrupts his travel, his destination, and chooses to stay overnight with this injured person. And then the next day, says to the innkeeper, “make sure that they have what they need. And if there’s anything else, I’ll be back.” And the leader asked Jesus—or Jesus asked, “who was the neighbor?” And the leader answers the question. And then Jesus says, “go and do likewise.” Take the extra mile to care for your neighbor. That’s what you’re called to do.
You hear another parable in Matthew 25. We know it all. We know it very well. “When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was naked, you clothed me. When I was sick, you cared for me.” What if we also translated that into, when we engage in works of food insecurity, that we’re not engaged in works of social service agency, but we’re really working in acts of discipleship. When we engage in works of community, of communal health; that we’re not just engaged in social service agency work, but we’re engaged in work of acts of discipleship. That, I believe, is what young adults can wrap their minds around. That’s the kind of discipleship that I think will motivate young people to be a part of a communal congregational work, really striving to be disciples in that way.
Doug Powe: I love it. I’m going to make one last shift as we get ready to bring this to an end. And as always, Reggie, I love these conversations. Usually, you know, we don’t get to have them on the podcast, so this has been this has been fun. Let me go to a controversial figure: Kanye West. A few years ago, of course, he was doing these pop-up Sunday services. And he had just many people coming out to these, and many of these individuals were young adults. And I heard people in the church, I don’t know if you heard it, who are actually mad because they were showing up or putting aside some of Kanye’s other stuff, but they’re showing up for these Sunday services. But they were saying, “but they’re not coming to church,” right? But they’re coming to these things. Can you … everything you’ve talked about and shared, what is it, then, that we can take away from what Kanye was able to do and connect with young adults in a way that the church has not? That he was creating, it seems like, at least in their mind, genuine experiences for them in a way that church does not. And that, instead of saying, you know, “we’re going to put him down,” what is it we can actually learn from him, in terms of what he was doing with these Sunday services at that time.
Reggie Blount: So, this is where I wish I could really quote scripture well. Because that same question was asked of Jesus. “So and so is out here saying this in your name.” “So and so is out here saying this in your name,” and Jesus’ answer is: “Wonderful.” Because God is being lifted up, essentially. And so, I think the better question that churches need to ask is: “What was it about that particular event that spoke to the spirit, spoke to the needs, the spiritual needs, of young people that we might learn from?”
And so, instead of the judging and the condemning, the question we need to ask is: “What was it about that, that spoke to those young people, that we can learn from? Not necessarily for us to replicate, but for us to recognize that there is a spiritual yearning there that Kanye’s pop of events spoke to, and how can we find ways to speak to that as well?
Doug Powe: Reggie, this has been great. I wish we could go on longer, but we need to bring this to an end. So, thank you for your insights and the continued work you’re doing with young adults.
Reggie Blount: Thank you, sir. Thanks for the invitation. Great conversation.
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Related Resources
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8 Strategies for Reaching and Developing Gen Z by Brandi Nicole Williams
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5 Turnoffs for Millennials Seeking a Church by Jeremy Steele
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Connecting with Young Adults through Online Ministry by Chris Wilterdink
- 50 Ways to Strengthen Ministry with Youth, a free Lewis Center resource
- New Approaches to Help Youth Form Lasting Faith featuring Brad Griffin — Podcast video | Podcast audio version | In-depth interview
- Youth Ministry by Any Other Name by Kenda Creasy Dean
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