No More Business as Usual: Changing Realities for Young Adult Ministry
Paul Jarzembowski
Exec. Dir., Natl. Catholic Young Adult Ministry Assoc.

Young adult ministry is a difficult outreach effort for any church, but it is one we dare not avoid. Unfortunately, too few congregations spend time or money on this essential mission of reaching men and women in their twenties and thirties. Reading through the essays of the Changing SEA Project has provided this young adult minister with a welcome oasis amid a sea of tasks and to do lists. It has allowed me to think beyond the everyday and see the bigger picture... Read More

Welcoming the Wave to Come: Ministry with Emerging Adults
Carol Howard Merritt
Western Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C.

ChangingSEA is not only a good acronym, but it is also an apt metaphor for what seems to be happening in our religious landscape right now. There are so many evolutions in our popular culture, social technology, and generational distinctions that church leaders can feel awash in change. Often times, in our congregational life, we realize that we are in the midst of a larger rhythm. Attendance patterns are different. Energy expands into other places. We can feel torn as we work with various generations, as we watch the tide fall and rise. As these shifts occur, we see the life cycle of churches come to an end... Read More

Four Central Themes for an Emerging Adult Ministry Program
Scot McKnight
Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies
North Park University, Chicago, Illinois

What the Church needs most when it comes to ministering to emerging adults is reliable data, and this collection of essays in the Changing SEA project contributes that sort of data. The studies, for instance, of Conrad Hackett, Casey Clevenger and Wendy Cadge, Penny Edgell, Jennifer Tanner, and Gerardo Marti provide solid footings for pastors who want to comprehend emerging adults. For too long “experts” in ministering to postmodern, emerging adults have made claims and offered ideas and proposed wholesale changes based on the slenderest of anecdotal evidence and the flimsiest of personal theories... Read More

Directions for Faith Formation with Emerging Adults
John Roberto
Editor, Lifelong Faith Journal

The fifteen essays in the Changing SEA project provide a substantive look at what research studies are telling us about the contemporary experience of emerging adults in America. The trends indicate less and less involvement of emerging adults in Sunday worship and congregational life, and declining affiliation with a religious tradition. Most congregations would readily admit that ministry and faith formation with emerging adults (18-29 years old) is one of their greatest challenges. To help congregations envision and design faith formation with emerging adults... Read More

Comments