The Rising Generation

Our church board met last night at the Larson Lodge.

We invited a group of young adults to the meeting, provided pizza, and listened.

The focus of our conversation was “How can we help young adults to feel more included in the life, ministry and mission of Hayward Wesleyan Church?”

Key points drawn from the meeting are:

• Young adults desire and need mentoring relationships with older believers.
• Young adults want to be challenged rather than accommodated.
• Young believers want to go deeper in the Scripture, and the spiritual walk.
• Young adults are looking for “genuine” Christians, who walk the walk. A major component of this is relational.
• Young adults want to see healthy family relationships modeled.
• Many young adults will not go to church first. They need another connecting point where they can develop friendships in a non-threatening environment.
• It’s more important to do ministry WITH young adults than to create a ministry FOR them.

Our discussion was positive, powerful and enlightening. The board was deeply blessed by the depth of spiritual commitment demonstrated by the young people who participated and left encouraged that we are in the mission together.

Late last evening, reflecting on the meeting, I rejoiced and thanked the Lord for the rising generation. There is, indeed, hope for tomorrow, when we have godly young people who want to make a difference.