When we asked them, most had a long history with church, but they were simply tired of their previous congregation’s direction or style. So they had an inherent trust in the system of organized religion; they just wanted something new.
For young adults, the idea of participating in worship was a major commitment. After all, they either didn’t know any of the songs and rituals, or they represented a host of negative feelings from their past. To start there for them would be a setup for failure.
So we had coffee — a lot of coffee. We invited people over for dinner or took them out for a beer. We chatted with younger folks through Facebook, added them to an email list apprising them of upcoming social and service-oriented events we were planning.
Basically, we just made ourselves available to them as friends first, allowing a more three-dimensional relationship to develop so that they could come to trust that we weren’t the same breed as the religious folks they had known in the past or from the media.
Over time, some have approached us with questions about theology and Scripture. This inevitably leads to talks about how our faith and social values are put into action. Though we may vary in our passions and personal values, we can almost all agree on two things:
- The world is filled with brokenness, and
- We’re called to help heal the brokenness.
The notion of evangelism has gotten a bad rap in the last few decades, hearkening images of the preacher with a bullhorn on the corner, or the pearly-white-toothed pastor in a polyester suit, knocking on your door at some ridiculous hour on Saturday to “tell you about Jesus.” If that’s what evangelism means, most people want no part of it.
But everyone has a story to tell, and everyone wants to be heard.
