Forming the whole person: vocation, leadership, and young

adultsBrian A.F. Beckstrom

Wartburg College Campus PastorInstructor, Religion and Leadership

Three Conversations

1) How have things changed culturally for young adults? 2) How has this affected the ways in which young adults

relate to faith and the church?3) How is God at work reshaping the church and its mission

to meet these new opportunities?

Biblical and Theological FramingForming the whole person: vocation, leadership, and young adults

Dwelling in the Word (1 Samuel 3:4-10)

Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Theological Assumptions

• The Triune God is relational (perichoretic) and these relationships are subject-subject rather than subject-object• The Triune God has a

mission (purpose) to heal and reconcile all creation to Godself.

Theological Assumptions

• Human beings are created in the image of God (imago dei) meaning they are created in the image of the Trinity (imago trinitas) • Therefore humans are created

for relationship, meaning, and purpose.

• The Triune God is at work in all of creation, not just inside our church buildings.

Conversation #1: Young adults and cultural change

Forming the whole person: vocation, leadership, and young adults

Young adult’s are not ruining the world

• “Basically, it's not that people born after 1980 are narcissists, it's that young people are narcissists, and they get over themselves as they get older. It's like doing a study of toddlers and declaring those born since 2010 are Generation Sociopath: Kids These Days Will Pull Your Hair, Pee On Walls, Throw Full Bowls of Cereal Without Even Thinking of the Consequences.” – Elspeth Reeve, The Atlantic

Disillusionment: What happened?

Young Adult Financial Realities

• 30 year olds today make about as much as in 1984• Rising levels of debt• Growing inequality

• Demise of career as a stable path • Will have 15-20 jobs in lifetime.• 48% millenials w/bachelors

degree work in jobs that don’t require one.

Other Characteristics

• Suspicious of institutions• Marrying and having kids

later• Live in a digital world with

all its attendant benefits and complications

Questions & Comments?

How have you seen cultural changes affecting the young adults in your life?

Conversation #1: Young Adults & Cultural Change

Conversation #2: Changing patterns of faith identity and participation among young adults

Forming the whole person: vocation, leadership, and young adults

Religiously Unaffiliated by Generation

Younger Millenials (b. 1990-1996)

Older Millenials (b. 1981-1989)

Generation X (b. 1965-1980)

Baby Boomers (b. 1946-1964)

Silent Generation

36%34%

23%

17%

11%

Worship Participation

Weekly Monthly Yearly

28%

16%

56%

27%

15%

58%

Younger Millenials Older Millenials

Increase in Mysticism

• % Americans who have had a spiritual or mystical experience in past year• 1962: 22%• 2014: 49%

Weekly sense of spiritual peace & well being

All None's Millenials

7% 7%

12%

% increase 2007-2014

New Question: Meaning & Purpose

Christian None's None's - Religion not important None's - Rel Important

59%

45%38%

58%

% Think about meaning/purpose weekly

What do the faith practices of young adults look like?

• Spiritual Tinkering“A tinkerer puts together a life from whatever skills, ideas, and resources that are readily at hand.” – Robert Wuthnow, After the Baby Boomers

Questions & Comments?

Do you see these changing patterns in the lives of young adults in your context?

How aware do you think the church is of these changing realities?

Conversation #2: Changing patterns of faith identity and participation among young adults

Conversation #3: How is God using vocation to reshape the future of the church?

Forming the whole person: vocation, leadership, and young adults

What do I mean by vocation?

• From latin vocare meaning voice• Involves the whole person

(not just career)• Is a life long process of

discovery (discernment)• Sometimes your vocation is

going to suck

Intersecting Purposes

• The amazing thing about this pattern of support and socialization is that it all comes to a halt about the time a young person reaches the age of twenty-one or twenty-two. After providing significant institutional support for the developmental tasks that occurred before then, we provide almost nothing for the developmental tasks that are accomplished when people are in their twenties and thirties. And, since more of those tasks are happening later, this is a huge problem. It means that younger adults are having to invent their own ways of making decisions and seeking support for those decisions. – Robert Wuthnow, “After the Baby Boomers”

If….

1. Vocation is one of the primary theological insights of our church…

2. And…Young adults lack support for their vocational discernment once their education is over…

3. And…The church has almost no connection with young adults…

4.Then why the hell aren’t we doing anything to support young adults in their vocational journeys!?

Turning vocation and faith on their heads

• Typical pattern… • Faith > Vocation

• What if…• Vocation > Faith

• Then…• Equipping the saints to accompany

others in their vocational and spiritual journey’s becomes one of the church’s primary purposes.

Revisiting Theological Assumptions

• Trinitarian pattern of relationship; perichoresis• Subject to subject• Accompaniment

Guiding principles

• Recognize that young adults are in a transient period of their lives• Don’t expect them to

become “members” like in the old days• Accompany them because

it’s what God is calling the church to do, not to save it

DiscussionHow do you see God at work reshaping the future of the church through

vocational exploration?