blog rule change: i want to post some serious thoughts and reflections on here, so i'm making an amendment to the "no capital letters" rule. if i write in no capital letters, i'm just recording my casual thoughts. however, if you see proper punctuation, you know this is something i want to be taken more seriously. i want to start a series of articles, if you will, discussing the exodus of emerging adults from the church. it's a topic i have been very fascinated with ever since i heard chuck bomar speak at YS last year. being one of those emerging adults, i think i can offer some insight to the discussion, so i'm going to start a series of articles on here identifying this whole relatively new "emerging adult" phenomenon, and offer some ideas on how to get my peers back into some sort of worship setting.
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Part One: What is an "Emerging Adult?"
A relatively new phenomenon has occurred in developmental psychology in the past two decades. An entirely new age group has cropped up, cementing itself between the life-stages of adolescence and early adulthood (18-25). Some have described this group as simply a later version of adolescence, but the majority of scholars have termed this group as "Emerging Adults." Meanwhile, study after study has shown that the majority of adolescents in the church leave after high school graduation and, if they even come back to the church, don't come back until age 30. Why is this? I believe that the church has not stayed on the forefront of developmental psychology and is now having to understand, rather bluntly, that there is a whole group of young people that are being neglected. I have two objectives for this series: 1.) to identify just exactly who an emerging adult is and how they think, and 2.) to offer practical initiatives for the church in order to minister to this age group and bring them back into a worship environment. I should note that a lot of this information was first brought to my attention by Chuck Bomar, family pastor at Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA. He has an excellent website with a lot of resources for college ministry, you should check it out. So, who is an emerging adult?
1. An emerging adult thinks abstractly
This is really a fundamental understanding that needs to be addressed right away, as it has a huge effect on all cognitive aspects of emerging adults. The process of abstraction begins in adolescence as kids begin to think more and more in terms of theories rather than actual concrete reasoning. This process of abstraction, however, is not fully realized until the college years. College students are fully able now to articulate and understand the meanings behind why we do what we do, as they are constantly bombarded with abstract thought in college classes. This abstract thinking process shapes all decisions for the emerging adult. Emerging adults run far, far away from legalism. This is extremely important for the church to understand. We don't want to be told what and what not to do. Speaking in legalistic terms to an emerging adult ensures a loss of rapport between the two. Our response to "don't do that!" is why? We want to know the reasoning behind the actions of our faith. Because of our abstract thinking, we are no longer interested in solely actions, but rather the purpose of those actions. That is why, when meeting with an emerging adult, you do not ask them if they've sinned in the last week, or something akin to that notion. Instead, ask "How is your faith?" This gives them a chance to practice that process of abstraction and allows them to think through the large concept of faith and deliver an honest response. Take advantage of this abstraction tendency and use that as a discipleship tool! Speak in theories and complexities. Not only does this enhance the emerging adult's cognitive capacity, but it also communicates a sense that the emerging adult and the elder person are on the same plane, rather than feeling inferior. The biggest issue in the emerging adulthood stage is identity. Every emerging adult is trying to discover just who they are and what their role will be in this world. The language of this quest for identity is abstraction. I will elaborate on the identity issue at a later time, but realize that emerging adults are thinking, "What will my life look like?" and "What do others think of me?" Facilitate this journey by forcing the emerging adult to think through the highly abstract notion of faith.
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there you have it, the first part of my journey to try and communicate the process of how we, as emerging adults, think and act. this is designed to foster discussion, so please let me know what you think. i'll be back sometime in the near future to try and explain another part of this issue.
1. An emerging adult thinks abstractly
This is really a fundamental understanding that needs to be addressed right away, as it has a huge effect on all cognitive aspects of emerging adults. The process of abstraction begins in adolescence as kids begin to think more and more in terms of theories rather than actual concrete reasoning. This process of abstraction, however, is not fully realized until the college years. College students are fully able now to articulate and understand the meanings behind why we do what we do, as they are constantly bombarded with abstract thought in college classes. This abstract thinking process shapes all decisions for the emerging adult. Emerging adults run far, far away from legalism. This is extremely important for the church to understand. We don't want to be told what and what not to do. Speaking in legalistic terms to an emerging adult ensures a loss of rapport between the two. Our response to "don't do that!" is why? We want to know the reasoning behind the actions of our faith. Because of our abstract thinking, we are no longer interested in solely actions, but rather the purpose of those actions. That is why, when meeting with an emerging adult, you do not ask them if they've sinned in the last week, or something akin to that notion. Instead, ask "How is your faith?" This gives them a chance to practice that process of abstraction and allows them to think through the large concept of faith and deliver an honest response. Take advantage of this abstraction tendency and use that as a discipleship tool! Speak in theories and complexities. Not only does this enhance the emerging adult's cognitive capacity, but it also communicates a sense that the emerging adult and the elder person are on the same plane, rather than feeling inferior. The biggest issue in the emerging adulthood stage is identity. Every emerging adult is trying to discover just who they are and what their role will be in this world. The language of this quest for identity is abstraction. I will elaborate on the identity issue at a later time, but realize that emerging adults are thinking, "What will my life look like?" and "What do others think of me?" Facilitate this journey by forcing the emerging adult to think through the highly abstract notion of faith.
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there you have it, the first part of my journey to try and communicate the process of how we, as emerging adults, think and act. this is designed to foster discussion, so please let me know what you think. i'll be back sometime in the near future to try and explain another part of this issue.
1 comment:
Jeremy I am excited to read what you have to say about emerging adults and all that you might be reading or learning about it. Keep us posted on the internship too, we are really excited for you.
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