What is it about religion and church that draws young adults in and keeps them coming back? We take a look at the reasons why the youth are an integral part of the church and the characteristics that attract young adults to church. Following these characteristics, as well as our tips to make church more young-adult-friendly to successfully integrate that generation into the church life – as we do at Grace Church Plano. 

Why should a young adult join a church?
 
1. It will teach them to be passionate about the church.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to have the best lights or entertainment to keep young adults interested in church life. What you need is to show them that a congregation has a passion for church and Jesus. By joining a church that has a passion for the word of God, and good leadership (as opposed to stage sets and leaders mainly based on entertainment), they will also experience this passion and want to continue to serve the church’s mission.

2. To learn more about Jesus
Talking about Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the church will help to teach young adults more about Jesus and church life. Sermons that center around Jesus gain more interest with young adults and the more they learn, the more they will want to participate in the church and talk about church life.

3. Leads to healthier activity
Introducing the youth to a church at a young age will lead to better and healthier habits, especially if they are originally from a bad part of town. Church life can give them more activities to focus on (such as Sunday services, activities centered around worshipping Jesus, etc.). These activities can keep them occupied and focused on making positive contributions to society. Reaching young adults with the word of Jesus can help prevent them from turning into a life of crime.

4. They can spread the word
By taking a risk on young adults and reaching out to them with the church, you are teaching them about church life. Young adults and the youth are focused on social media and the digital age. If they are impressed with your church, priest, or sermon, they will likely share the message with friends and family on their social media, as well as many other followers. What this does is encourage more young adults to join a church. It can also bump up marketing and word for your church activities if you require and welcome future members.

5. You can teach them valuable skills
Churches can teach so much to the youth in addition to the word of Jesus. The elderly can teach them values and their traditions. Churches are full of older adults and successful businessmen who they can talk to who can teach them valuable skills about life, business, and school. Churches can provide young adults with mentoring to help them to avoid dropping out of school or going into debt.

How to make church more young-adult-friendly?
Sometimes it is not enough to create a ministry with the right heart and mind. Modern church life takes hard work and sometimes good marketing of your church values. If you work hard and are seeing less attendance, especially by the younger generation, here are some tips.
 
Align the church with today’s culture. 
Engage with the youth of today and don’t be afraid to use social media channels to help spread the vision of the church and its mission. Consult marketing agencies for a content creation strategy that works best to spread your passion and mission to others.
 
Be clear about your vision and purpose
Have a clear vision of what your church wants to accomplish and how you are going to achieve this. Set your mission statement and put this up on your website or pamphlets. Honesty and consistent transparency will get you faithful, younger church members.
 
Try a marketing strategy 
Marketing is important for any business or corporation and this is no different for faith-based organizations either. A market strategy will help you to get the word out about your Sunday services. It is therefore essential that you use good marketing channels (and companies if needed). With good communication channels, you can gain potential congregation members, and/or let existing knowledge about the church schedule and activities planned for the week.
 
Plan young-adult-based programs
To attract younger adults, teenagers, or millennials, you should plan activities based solely on these young adult groups. The activities can include worship service, bible studies practice, donation drives, etc. Young-adult-based programs will also help young people to form friendships within the church and lifelong relationships. 

Ensure You Have Good Leadership
A church needs to have good leadership, good sermons, and good people who are dedicated to helping the church. In addition to these factors, leaders and members need to be on board with assisting young people and helping to incorporate younger adults into the church. Inter-generational churches have great leadership centered on bringing all generations together and encouraging members to form intergenerational relationships committed to worshipping God.
 
Seek Support
They say it takes a village to raise a child. To teach a child faith is no different as it takes a group of members coming together. Seek support from the congregation, community members, and youth leaders that are willing to help out the church with youth-based activities. Working together can help spread the word of the church, its mission and also convince more younger members to give the church life a try.
 
Get Enough Funding
Church young adult activities don’t happen overnight and it takes funds to arrange for these activities. Ensure you receive enough funding before starting young adult programs and youth-based events. Ask church members for help if needed, pledge for donations, or if needed, arrange activities in public areas such as planning sporting activities at beaches or parks. 

How does Grace Church Plano incorporate the Young Adults into Church?
Grace Church Plano has certain characteristics to not only attract young people to church life but to help to keep younger members faithful to Jesus and HIS church. As a multi-generational church, we have a diverse team and congregational members of all ages and walks of life. Our team works together to ensure that all members, old generation and young, experience the grace of Jesus and his blessings.
 
Like all faithful churches, we encourage visitors and active participation in the church. Youth and younger members are more than welcome to join in a service and get a feel for our church. With so many beautiful sermons, activities, and hymns, they often decide to stay. We also have opportunities for our students to serve in different ministries around the church, including ours, during our Family Services.

8 Characteristics that Attract Young Adults to Church:
As we explained in this article, it is important to incorporate younger adults, teenagers, and kids into church life, and to make the church more youth-friendly for them. 8 common characteristics attract young adults to church. You need to ensure that your church and/or members follow these traits as these are important factors that younger members look for when choosing a church. We at Grace Plano Church follow these traits and consistently encourage the youth and younger adults to seek out Jesus. 

Always be Sincere
Young people don’t appreciate insincerity. Honestly is important to them, especially for teenagers who are from bad neighborhoods or have a bad family upbringing. These kids need to know they can trust you and you need to show them that they can trust God. Churches who show sincerity in their faith and intentions are more likely to attract teenagers and reduce church dropouts. Ensure your congregation has a good reputation for being genuine and loving. Encourage congregational members to show love and respect towards younger generations. Be truthful in your words and actions and you’ll gain their trust and respect.
 
Avoid Being Hypocritical
Hypocrisy is one of the reasons why the younger generation tends to drop out of the church. It is hard to follow someone who does not practice what they preach. Your church, therefore, needs to consistently follow good Christian values. Sometimes it may not be the church itself, but rather the hypocrisy of a member or two making a simple mistake or not acting in accordance with church values. It is important to prevent this behavior from occurring by reminding church members about following good values, but also reassuring the youth that everyone makes mistakes and showing them that the church and congregation have more love than hypocrisy.
 
Be Authentic 
Young adults appreciate an authentic church. The generation considers honesty and authenticity as important features and your church needs to follow these standards. It may not always be easy for church members to follow the Bible, especially in circumstances when negative and unpredictable life events occur. Nobody is perfect but young people are not seeking perfection. They know that everyone has bad days and nobody is perfect, including themselves. Showing them that the church remains faithful to Christianity and members strive to be better Christians every day is better than trying to be perfect. After all, we are all human.
 
Be Supportive 
A church needs to support the next generation and show them that they can offer them support during difficult times. It is best to guide younger members, rather than be disapproving of their choices. It is the modern world and we need to show support over their choices when it comes to school, marriage, or career aspirations. Of course, not all of their decisions will match Scripture but churches need to show support while encouraging the youth to follow Christianity. Speaking to them and listening to them will help to show them support, rather than being dismissive of the youth and the choices they make.
 
Be Forgiving 
Forgiveness is essential to promote good Christian values and faith in God. As we previously mentioned, judgment is not something that the Lord put on this earth for. Humans have sinned and will continue to sin at some point but it is the church’s responsibility to forgive them and teach them how to be better Christians. Young adults want to know that their church will do this. They seek a forgiving church, rather than a harsh one.

It is best to be encouraging towards Christian values and show forgiveness than to inflict hate or punishment for simple wrongdoing or bad values.
 
Inspire Young Adults
Churches need to be inspirational to attract and retain young adults. Young adults (especially younger kids and children) are at a critical time of their life where they require guidance and motivation the most to become responsible young adults. Sermons need to include inspirational stories and examples of good Christian behavior displayed in society. Activities for the youth should also be inspiring and uplifting. The idea is to raise their spirits and keep them interested in church life. Good churches encourage all members to interact and this leads to senior members inspiring the youth through stories and examples of their hard work ethic.
 
Do Not Judge
Young adults don’t want to be in churches that are judgemental and rude. Churches should resist judging and criticism as we are here to save the world, not judge. Healthy Churches do not judge as the only judgment should come from the Lord. HE is fairer than us and far more equipped to do the judging. Good churches know that we are here to serve the Lord and Savior and help his disciples to find their way. We must strive to show love and respect at all times.
 
Be Welcoming
Entering a new church or Christianity service can be overwhelming at first. Young adults might know who to sit by, how to interact with members, and how to participate in church activities. They will appreciate a warm welcome and guidance when attending a new church. First impressions matter and a church should welcome them with open arms. It will help if youth leaders and ministers/priests personally greet the younger adults and introduce them to the congregation. Someone should be assigned to help the youth find their way by letting them know the schedule for church and youth activities and being there for them should they need help.

For more information on Grace Church Plano’s young adults and youth-based programs, contact us today!