During our five-year study, we witnessed constant negotiations be- tween young adult innovation teams and the larger congregational leadership structure. Those in senior leadership roles often struggled while learning how to engage with young adult leaders or leadership teams. Often, pastors or other senior leaders felt that their roles were unclear when it came to supporting young adult leaders. Should they have a hand in decision-making, or should they leave it all in the young adults’ hands? Do they attend young adult events, providing hands-on support, or do they maintain some distance and simply act as consultants when their young adult leaders look for advice? These questions were not unique to new young adult ministries; long-established and fledgling programs alike dealt with these questions.
The Role of Pastoral Commitment in Young Adult Ministries
A common question for churches working to amplify young adult voices is about how much time the pastors should allocate to those ministries. Often pastoral attention is recognized as the most valuable possession a church has to offer both its members and the community outside of the building. The question of whether to hire an additional staff person to lead a new ministry and the return on investment of that decision is a major consideration.
Finding the Right Pastoral Commitment Balance Between Involvement and Independence
Many churches choose either close oversight verging on micro- management or, at the other end of the spectrum, distant oversight verging on abandonment. However, just as in parenting, employee supervision, and many similar tasks that require intergenerational interaction, the best course often lies somewhere in between. The complexity is increased by not just the quantity of oversight, but also the quality of it. There is a difference between the involvement of an as- sociate pastor or elder and that of the senior or lead pastor, especially as the size of the church and various demands on senior leaders’ time grow. Our colleagues doing this work with predominantly Lutheran congregations in the Twin Cities through Augsburg University put it best when they said that pastors can be one of the biggest drivers to successfully elevating the stories of young adults in their congregation by being actively involved or mercifully absent from the process. On the other hand, they can be the biggest obstacles by being overly con- trolling of the processes, or by being unwilling or unable to remove obstacles for the group because of their lack of investment.
With so many possible approaches and outcomes just from the involvement, or lack thereof, by the senior pastor, one can imagine how infinitely more complicated it gets with each additional person who is asked or expected to be involved and pull a portion of the load.
Despite the challenges of stewarding fruitful young adult ministries, there are many tactics that have worked well for churches.
Building Pastoral Commitment Through Trust and Mentorship in Young Adult Leadership
At one of the churches with which we partnered three young adults were looking to create an intentional faith-based community for their age group. The two head pastors invited these young adults over for dinner to discuss their ideas for the group, serving them food and listening intently. The pastors initially wanted to provide direction to this young adult team, but after listening, they stepped back and asked how they could offer support and be most helpful. The young adult leaders wanted their pastors’ advice and support, but they really wanted to steer the ship on their own. The pastors respected that wish, and the relationship that formed between them became one of mentorship and mutual respect rather than one of hierarchy and power. With mentorship and shared power as the foundation of the interaction between church leadership and young adult ministry leadership, the group flourished.
This story taught us that young adult ministries can exist within churches while still being their own entities. For a young adult group to be successful, establishing good rapport and a high level of trust between the two leadership groups is vital to reaching the greatest possible number of young adults.
Strengthening the Partnership: Pastoral Commitment and Young Adult Leaders
A strong partnership between senior church leaders and young adult leadership is important, but al- lowing the young adults to own their ministries provides space that fosters growth and love for the young adults in their local communities, which often leads the young adults to become more involved in their churches on Sundays. Some mentioned leading worship or preaching at church, feeling confident enough to do so because they knew their young adult group friends would be cheering them on from the front pews.
Allowing young adults to really share ownership of the decisions made within their young adult communities is important. There seems to be a fine balance when considering the degree of involvement the congregation assumes in a resident young adult ministry. Some pastors and church leadership teams met often with the young adult leadership groups. This was successful so long as the church leaders gave the young adult leadership teams the final say in determining which direction to move. Support from the church leadership was valuable and built a sense of confidence in the young adult leaders, but too much involvement was not as beneficial. Young adults felt more secure about owning their decisions when they felt support from the church even if their ideas failed.
