Young, Restless, Yet Not Christian Reformed
There was a good article in our last denominational magazine called “Where Did Our Young Adults Go?” In it, they talked about the fact that the Christian Reformed denomination don’t have many young adults, which is defined as people in their 20’s and 30’s. The article also has some thoughts from people who grew up in a CRC church but have chosen not to attend one now that they are adults.
What the article doesn’t mention is that Reformed theology is growing in Christians in that age group. The question I have is why is the CRC denomination struggling with getting members in that age group while denominations like the Presbyterian Church in America is growing?
I think the truth can be found in what the former members said in the article. Instead of focusing on reaching out, the CRC seems to be pre-occupied with itself instead of thinking outside of it’s boundaries. It is asking?”Why are we struggling with this?” instead of “How can we reach out?” A similar question, but not quite the same thing.
But what do I know? My church is seeing a lot of young adults being attracted to our church. Not because we have a lot of programs for them, but because they are accepted and we find a place for them. If they have musical talents, they sing or play on a Sunday. If they want to work with our youth group, then we let them. I’m not saying that we are perfect at it, but suddenly, without trying, the church has a lot of people in their late 20’s and in their 30’s (and I’m one of them!)
What are we doing that other CRC churches aren’t?