Looking for our Technology Workshop information from General Assembly 2007? Click here…
On Tuesday afternoon of General Assembly, I faced my all day blitz.
At 2 pm, I rushed over to room 110 to help with a discussion on the State of Young Adults in the church. It was a broad topic and a broad discussion that was had. We had Rev. Lee Sparks of REV Magazine open up the discussion with some great conversation about the different generations and the challenges the church will face incorporating them into their life. Then, an open forum followed, with a back and forth dialogue, input from Young Adult Commission members, and great questions. The energy was clearly there - there is a growing and urgent passion to reach young adults in our world today.
The consensus was complicated. On one hand, reaching young adults is about making simple connections and building relationship. Inviting someone to dinner after church — finding out what they are interested in — being open to who they are. On the other hand, established church will not meet everyone. We have to be willing to go where they are. We have to be willing to try new ideas. We have to create a culture that values their experience and input, which may be far different than older generational styles. We may even have to create church outside of our walls and blur the lines between who is in and who is out.
The second workshop I participated in was a Tech workshop that Jeff Champeau and I teamed up on. We had a good time, with another packed house, answering questions about computer equipment, software, security, video, newsletters, and more. The dialogue was great, with a lot of practical advice and shared suggestions for making our churches use technology as language. I even showed them some Facebook stuff in hopes of getting some folks interested in that online networking site as a way to reach out and connect with young people.
All in all, a busy, busy day… but it ended nice. I am so thankful that is over, and I look forward to seeing how the conversation continues.
Adam Harmon
July 28, 2007
I thought the Young Adult workshop was very helpful. Granted, I still get ticked off by the label “young adult.” I think that’s because I’m 33, which is a little old for “young adult,” and when I was a young adult I didn’t think the church was all that concerned about me. But those are my issues. Y’all did a fine job with the workshop.