How can you better engage young adults today? In this episode we speak with Emily Peck-McClain, Visiting Professor of Christian Formation and Young Adult Ministry at Wesley Theological Seminary, about ways congregations can connect with young adults more effectively.

Transcript

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How can you better engage young adults today? In this episode we speak with Emily Peck-McClain, Visiting Professor of Christian Formation and Young Adult Ministry at Wesley Theological Seminary, about ways congregations can connect with young adults more effectively.

Intro: How can you better engage young adults today? In this episode Lewis Center Director F. Douglas Powe, Jr., speaks with Rev. Dr. Emily Peck-McClain, Visiting Professor of Christian Formation and Young Adult Ministry at Wesley Theological Seminary, about young adult ministry. They discuss how congregations can effectively connect with young adults.

Doug Powe: Welcome to Leading Ideas Talks, a podcast featuring thought leaders and innovative practitioners. I am Doug Powe, the director of the Lewis Center and your host for this talk. Joining me is Reverend Dr. Peck-McClain, visiting professor of Christian formation and young adult ministry. Our focus for this podcast is young adult ministry. I just want to start off by asking you a question that I know many of our listeners struggle with. So how do you define young adult ministry?

Emily Peck-McClain: Well, I guess that begins with how you define young adults. And then how you define ministry. So you’ve got two different terms that you’re working with. Young adults can be anything. The young adult literature is what the church calls youth. So that terminology can be confusing.

Doug: So, I could be a young adult even though I’m over the age of 40, we won’t give my actual age.

Emily: Right. Sure. Yeah. It can’t really be anything. But the point is that the term is a little bit nebulous. So, churches define it in different ways. The United Methodist Church defines it as 35 and under. I am a part of a young clergy women’s group and that defines it as under 40. I think, probably, if you’re under 40, you can qualify. If you’re over 40, sorry Doug, you might not be a young adult. Though in your church you could be because a lot of our churches have a lot of older folks in them and it’s the “if you’re under 60, you’re considered young.” So there you go, nebulous.

Doug: Yes. So, using what you just said, do you think we probably should be thinking probably under 35? Under 40 for young adults? And if that’s the case, why do you think those parameters are helpful?

Emily: Generally, if we’re talking generational theory, young adults tend to be millennials. So these are folks who are graduating from college, and the oldest are me. I’m the oldest millennial that there is. But, that’s also a wide range of ages. So a lot happens in life from early 20s to late 30s. Again, I won’t give my actual age. But that’s a challenge for churches. Because if you’re trying to fulfil the needs of and welcome the gift of young adults, you’re talking about people who are just out of college and they’re on their own for the first time. And they’re getting their first jobs. Or they’re in internships that might not even pay. And you’re talking about people who might be ready to start families and who might be married. So even that age