Not a Hopeless Case

Engaging young adults in the local church is not as hopeless a case as statistics might have us believe, but young adults are asking six important questions about the role of the Church in their lives in 21st century culture---questions that could radically transform the Church for the good of all.

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Is America the next missionary graveyard? Or is it ripe for spiritual revolution? The statistics seem grim. Every year, the decline of Christianity continues at a rapid pace, especially among young adults. Churches across the country are closing their doors, dying, or are being "adopted" by nearby larger churches. What is the story church leaders hear? We've lost the next generation.

But this decline in religious affiliation has not made us less spiritual. Young adults are still asking questions that only faith (or religion) can fully answer. Questions are like seeds buried in the rich, dark soil of our hearts. Nurtured with oxygen and water, they unfold into that which they were meant to become. Absent these conditions, they wither in the dark. Those most resistant to Christianity are those whose questions did not receive oxygen in their faith communities while they were children and teenagers.

Not a Hopeless Case is the story of questions, the questions of young adults about faith and spirituality--young adults who are lost and want to be found--and the questions of pastors who seek to find them.