Young adults & giving:
Text by Adam J. Copeland Photos by Alan Klehr
T
his isn’t the article I set out to write. Originally, I imagined an article that fi rst examined the
particularities of young adults today. T en I hoped to report on dozens of congregations that have modifi ed their approach to stewardship in response to changing young adult giving habits. To enact this plan, I even worked with T e Lutheran to ask on Facebook for congregations to share their success stories. We received zero responses. It’s safe to say, this article found
me, not the other way around. Over several months as I spoke with lead- ers around the church, I discovered more complexities about young adults, fi nancial giving and the church than I ever expected. T e fi rst complication relates to
From myths to ministry
16
www.thelutheran.org
the very concept of “young adults” in the church these days. You’ve probably heard the stereotypes about the millennial generation, those born between approximately 1980 and 2000. According to the headlines, we (I’m 32) all live in our parents’ basements, have mountains of student loans, never get married and require constant positive feed- back in the workplace. Oh, and I forgot the bad news:
we’re also self-centered, obsessed with technology to the point of forgoing relationships with actual people and never go to church. But, wait a second, these stereo-
We in the church can do better than
describe all young adults as believing, thinking or acting the same.
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