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Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them

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In their new book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and The Churches That Reach Them, Ed Stetzer, Richie Stanley, and Jason Hayes provide a comprehensive analysis of who the eighteen-to-twenty-somethings are and what churches are doing to reach them.

Ed outlines the purpose of the book by saying -

"This is a book about who the younger unchurched are and how to reach them. Yes, that may be a little old school. Many authors and speakers want to focus on fascinating and important questions like what is wrong with our belief system, how can we do this differently, and what will the future look like for churches? I have asked questions like that myself, and I will do more of that in my next book. But, in this book, Richie, Jason, and I are asking one simple question: Who are the young unchurched and how can they be reached with the good news of Jesus Christ? (OK, that's two questions.) " Lost and Found, p. 3.

And, if you think you know everything about this group, think again. They are amazingly spiritual, open to talking about spiritual matters, bugged by Christians, think about eternity, believe in God, sort of believe Jesus is special, and want to make a difference.

And, just to get you going here, a majority of younger adults wouldn't like it if your church doesn't ordain women, or doesn't welcome homosexuals. And you thought this was going to be easy, didn't you? But the authors give you some ways to address the gender and sexuality issues with this generation.

Based on three large surveys of 1,000 18-29 year olds selected intentionally to reflect the diversity of their generation, the authors are quick to state that there is no one profile that embodies all 18-29 year olds. Respondents included whites, African-Americans, and Hispanics in proportions consistent with the greater U. S. population.

The book divides into three main sections:

1. Polling. This is the data and rationale of the survey including who they are, what they believe, and how they feel about God, church, religion, and Christians.
2. Listening. Four characteristics of this group emerged as the authors surveyed and talked with them. Young unchurched adults want community, depth, responsibility, and connection. More on these later.
3. Reaching. This is the longest section of the book, and spotlights real churches who are effectively reaching significant numbers of young unchurched adults. Surprisingly, the authors discovered that the young unchurched attended both alternative churches with really cool names, and more traditional First Church-types that blended generations in nurturing, mentoring, and serving connections.

The book is crammed with statistics, examples, characteristics, and stories about the young unchurched. Several times I found my stereotyped assumptions of this group exploded by solid research. For instance, a higher percentage of adults under-30 believe there is a God, than adults over-30. And, those under-30 exceed their older counterparts in spirituality and openness to spiritual things.

Not surprisingly, the young unchurched are not all unchurched for the same reason. The book helpfully categorizes the younger unchurched into four groups:

1. Always unchurched. (Never involved)
2. De-churched. (Attended as a child)
3. Friendly unchurched. (Not hostile or angry at the church)
4. Hostile unchurched. (What it sounds like)

Those categories create a starting point in building relationships with younger adults who are unchurched. They are not all alike and a cookie-cutter approach will not be effective. Actually, programs are less effective because this group, regardless of their unchurched orientation, is seeking relationships.

And it is the relational aspect of the book that is most encouraging to me as a small church pastor. Reaching young adults is not about having a rock band (although some churches do); or about alternative worship (although some churches do that, too). Instead this generational group seeks relationship, community, and even cross-generational connections. As a matter of fact, the authors discovered that the majority of churches effectively reaching younger unchurched adults were doing so in a cross-generational context.

Lost and Found is not a how-to book for reaching young adults. It is rather a here's-what book -- here's what this generation is, here's what they want, and here's what churches are doing to reach them. Stetzer says they intentionally titled the book, Lost and Found in order to showcase churches that are finding these lost-to-the-church young adults, and finding them effectively.

If you want to gain some eye-opening insight into the world of 18-29 year olds, get some handles on who they are, and read stories of churches reaching them, Lost and Found is the book you need. Buy it, read it, talk about it; but better still, talk to some young unchurched adults yourself. Learn some basics from the book, then have coffee with a college student home on break, or a young married couple just starting out, or young adult in their first post-college job. Lost and Found can give you the background you need to start those conversations with young adults in your community. I imagine that's what Ed, and Richie, and Jason would really like to have happen.

These guys get it. This isn't some magical formula on how to reach 20-somethings. It gives stats for a broad view on beliefs, but one gets a deep look inside people through the numerous interviews and notes used throughout the book. If you desire to reach 20-somethings today, this book is a great place to start.

Lost and Found explores what people aged 20-29, a group that is living life apart from church, believe and how churches can reach them. The book splits into three parts: Polling, Listening, and Reaching.

As a member of this age group, I thought their polling results were accurate albeit surprising. Extensive polling of hundreds of people revealed that most 20-somethings believe in the God of the Bible (over 75% I believe), believe Jesus died and rose again (roughly 65%), but believe that all gods are the same (some 90%).

The Listening part showed key "markers" of what people were looking for. The four listed were: Community, Depth (and Content), Responsibility, and Cross-Generational Connection. Immediately made sense to me and gave better insight to as why Mars Hill and Acts 29 connect so well with this generation and myself. This section really resonated with me.

The Reaching part gives examples of the churches who are doing this. As Stetzer states in the intro, they're not going to give you a magical formula to make this work. They're giving examples and ideas from people who are doing this.

Also included is a fictional story that weaves in at the end of chapters of composite characters. Thought it was a fun part of the book and was glad it didn't end with a happy ending. It just showed part of the journey.

As a guy who loves reading Ed's blog and has a great appreciation for his experience (planted churches in 3 cities, revived 2 dying churches, missiologist, statistician) and his heart (church planting here and abroad across all denominations and networks), I am obviously biased. But this is a great book for those who desire to see this generation of people reached.

I found that this book did a great job of showing several ways that the church can connect with the unchurched. I saw Jason and Ed at the Threads Conference at The Church at Battle Creek last year and found them to be very knowledgeable about the unchurched and the churches that were reaching them. The last half of the book dealt more with the practical implications of what you could actually do to connect with the unchurched. They give a few good examples of churches that are reaching out, but I would have enjoyed hearing more.

So why should you buy the book? You should get this book to better understand the unchurched. The team has done some great research here that will help you as you move forward. You should get this book to find insights into how churches are reaching the unchurched. Stop sitting in staff meetings trying to reinvent the wheel. You need to find the right mix for your specific church and your community, but I believe this book provides some core elements that you will need to reach out.

Written in three parts, the first section looks at who the younger unchurched are and deals almost exclusively with a series of statistics. The second part examines the ministry needs of young adults and is more geared to anecdotal evidence from one-on-one interviews. The final section gives direction on how to reach young adults by profiling different churches that are experiencing success.

I was impressed by a few misconceptions that this book addressed. First, according to the research, the "sky is not falling" when it comes to the church and the younger generation. Church attendance among this age group has actually been on the increase since 2000. Another misconception was the importance of a contemporary musical style. When asked "What Can Churches Do?" only 31% of young adults agreed that "If music at church sounded similar to my favorite type of music, I would be more likely to attend." Three answers received greater agreement including presenting truth in an understandable and relatable way (63%), being cared about as a person (58%), and being willing to join a small group to learn more about the Bible and Jesus (46%). The final surprising insight was 91% agreed that they had "at least one close friend who considers himself or herself a Christian." This leads me to believe that as Christians, we can have a greater impact and influence than we really think.

Apart from presenting the raw data, the authors use two additional tools to help the reader digest the material. The first is a fictionalized account of a group of young adults and their faith journey. Each one represents one of the four generalized types of unchurch young adults: the always unchurched, the de-churched, the friendly unchurched, and the hostile unchurched. While I found these descriptions helpful, the fictional narrative was scattered and didn't do much to draw me in. Fortunately, it is more of "another way to say the same thing" and is not central to understanding the principles of the book. The other tool that the authors include is a "wrap-up" of each of the three major parts, giving you bullet point synopses of the major points. This was quite helpful and especially helped to re-focus the most important ideas after working through 50 or 60 pages of statistics.

The second section is entitled, "Listening" and is the result less of statistical analysis and more on one-on-one interviews. The fruit of these interviews led to four major "markers," to use an older church growth term, "felt-needs" of this generation. The four markers are community, depth, responsibility, and connection. I was expecting community and responsibility. Responsibility emphasized the need to take action on social issues - being socially responsible (i.e., with the environment, with the poor, Darfur, etc.). I was not expecting to see depth, though it was exciting to see it as a marker, as part of the popular church growth mantra has to do with keeping sermons simple and surface-level. I was also not expecting to see connection--connection being cross-generational ministry. This is something that has influenced my philosophy of ministry since my Taylor days-though when one thinks of reaching young adults, mixing them with older adults has often felt more like an idealistic principal more than one that might actually be attainable.

This section also starts to give some direction on how to reach young adults in these areas. In the chapter talking about community, several bullet points are listed in reference to using technology to help reach young adults in this area. I try to be up on technology, and in particular, how to leverage technology for the advancement of the church. The first few suggestions I was very familiar with: start a blog, have a private community for the church family, text prayer requests, be on facebook and myspace, and podcast your messages. The last two pushed me: put text message moments in your sermons, and have people instant message questions for discussion during the service. I think the authors are going in the right direction as communication and mobile phones are so integrated in the lives of the young adult generation. In most churches I've been something flashes on the screen to remind attendees to turn off their cellphones during the service--how awesome to totally turn that on its head and use the cellphone for a kingdom advantage!

The third and final section could be renamed, "9 Effective Habits of Highly Successful Churches Who Reach the Younger Unchurched." These nine habits include creating deeper community, making a difference through service, experiencing worship, conversing the content, leveraging technology, building cross-generational relationships, moving toward authenticity, leading by transparency, and leading by team. Instead of giving specific application points--i.e., giving you the "One" way to reach young adults--this book gives you a diversity of examples from churches across all across the country. Some churches you might have heard of, others you probably haven't.

In Lost and Found Stetzer, Stanley, and Hayes, definitely contribute to the Church, as resources in this area are few-and because of the nature of something called time--call for a fresh look with each generation. They do not give you a step-by-step guide on how to reach the younger unchurched. They don't give you the blueprint. They don't do the thinking for you. They give you the situation and point you in the right direction. Reaching the younger unchurched is not going to happen by simply reading this book or by duplicating someone's methodology.

I was looking forward to the release of this book and would definitely recommend it to pastors as well as the young adult Sunday School teacher. The question for most will be, how much change without doctrinal compromise am I willing to make in order to reach the next generation with the Gospel?

"Lost and Found" is a good read for anyone wanting to learn more about:

1. What the unchurched younger generation (around 20-29 years of age) are looking for in a church.
2. What churches can do to reach them.
3. Examples of what churches are doing to reach out to them.
4. Why the unchurched are unchurched.

The book is broken down into 3 main areas:

1. Polling the unchurched younger generation and why they are not attending church (hint: largely because of what they see as the fair number of hypocrites in the church who are no different than those who do not go to church). The polling data also strongly suggests that the unchurched are extremely interested in spiritual matters but not in organized religion.

2. What the church can do to reach this generation:

A. Creating community (unchurched are really big on developing
relationships with others), creating depth in relationships (far
beyond discussions about the weather and sports).

B. Responsibility (the unchurched actually want to be challenged on
their religious beliefs and want to learn more about the Bible.
Unfortunately, too many churches are long on "feel good" content and
not enough on the Bible).

C. Cross-Generational Connection: The younger unchurched
generation would like to have older people disciple and tell them
more about spiritual matters. They have a willingness to learn.

3. Specific examples of what some churches are doing to reach out to the younger unchurched generation.

I agree with many of the authors' findings and conclusions:

1. One statement really hit home with me - "The self-serving generation of baby boomers" because I am one myself. The baby boomers, born around 1946-1964 (my wife and I are on the tail end) were described as being more concerned about having their own needs met. Our generation was born to parents who belonged to an earlier generation that believed in self-sacrifice and helping others. Since they sacrificed much so our baby boomer generation would prosper, that should not be that surprising to us. Quite frankly, our baby boomer generation does seem to be quite self-centered and these are the people who now hold many leadership positions in the church. The younger generation sees this self-centeredness and is put off by it.

2. The younger generation is very interested in spiritual matters - At a local community college I serve as an adjunct faculty. Typically I teach an Introduction to Old Testament class during the fall semesters and and Introduction to New Testament class during the spring semesters. Many of my students fall within the 20-29 year old range. I am scheduled to teach an Introduction to Old Testament class for the Fall 2009 semester. The semester does not start for another month and already the class is already closed! People are desparately seeking answers. I have only one word to say to those who believe younger people are not interested in spiritual matters: "Baloney!".

3. If the baby boomers can get out of their self-centeredness and reach out to the younger generation, we can be a valuable means of reaching them with the Gospel.

4. Churches that reach out to the younger generation will grow and prosper. Those that focus inward will wither up and die on the vine.

A great read for anyone wanting to know more the younger generation.

Read, enjoy, and be challenged. Highly recommended!

Lifeway did extensive research into those young people .. generally 18-29 years old .. who were unchurched. That includes both (A) those who'd never regularly been in church, referred to as unchurched and (B) those who'd previously had some church connection, at some time, referred to dechurched.

Occasionally, data from similar people over 30 are thrown into the mix, to draw contrasts and/or conclusions as respects the factors being analyzed.

The last half of the book is a narrative display, revealing what many churches around the country (churches which have found success in reaching those young people) are doing to reach the subjects of the Lifeway research. And I might add that the information, the churches, the problems and the solutions were unrelated to the SBC, other than the occasional reference to compare and/or contrast the needs of the research subjects, to common SBC practice.

The problems and the opportunities are universal, not denominational.

As to the book, as reading material, it is fascinating. I've met Ed Stetzer several times, and had the opportunity to sit in the lower level lounge of one of the Ridgecrest Dorm buildings a year or so ago, and chat for an hour or two, along with several other pastors. I respect Ed immensely (he remembers my name when we meet, among other things), and it helps to read the book "in his voice". Hey .. I like the way he speaks.

I do not know Richie Stanley, who is with NAMB in Alpharetta, GA, nor do I know Jason Hayes, who's with Lifeway. But the way the book comes together, the way the information has been melded together, it's an easy read, and hard to put down.

Let me be honest ... yes it was easy to put down, in one sense. There were so many "wow moments" in it that I had to stop every few pages and ponder what I'd read.

I will not be analyzing the data and showing you a roster of things the book concludes churches need to do, to reach the younger unchurched people. There's simply too much revealed in Lost And Found to do that, without writing another book. But I can reveal a few highlights:

The young people surveyed..

* desire to connect with others, be involved in community, and be involved in a cause greater than themselves.
* enjoy, and profit from, interacting with other generations.
* desire relationships with others, including those involving the spiritual aspect of life.
* see churches as being full of hypocrites.
* are willing to talk about Spiritual things, but not to "the church"

The churches which are reaching this group of young adults are the ones who have realized those things, and have adopted models different from the usual "Come Be Like Us And Do It Our Way" outreach programs which seem too common in the churches with which I am familiar.

Since the book deals with a "rifle-bore" group, a very specific one, who do I think ought to read Lost And Found? That's easy.

Everybody.

Well, not quite. Here are the folks for whom I think this book would be a spiritually-profitable read:

* Pastors. You have you hand on the pulse, and the tiller, of your church.
* Those involved in outreach. If you're going to talk to them, you need to know what they're about.
* Teachers. Of all ages. I mean it. ALL ages.
* Church staff. If one of the subject group stumbles into your church, you need to know what not to say.
* Anyone else who is active and involved in the work of the church.


Let me cite two examples of conclusions I reached while reading the book .. you know, those "wow moments" .. that might demonstrate why I think Lost And Found has wide applicability in the church:

FIRST: One of the sets of data set forth is the subject group's beliefs about God. That He exists, that there's only one of Him, and that His existence does or would impact how we live our lives. The "wow moment" here came with the revelation that us white Americans were substantially less likely to believe those things than Hispanics, or Afro-Americans. The difference was startling!

Why is this significant to a teacher of 40-somethings, or of Middle Schoolers? Simple. We've all said for years that prosperity and materialism can come between us and God. But I've never seen anything to back that up. Never.

This does. Since I don't believe differences in faith, of that sort, are in any way racial, the only other factor to which I can attribute it is Socio-Economic. Particularly where the African-American group is concerned.

Like I said, a "wow moment". I'll have teeth in my teaching, when the subject of materialism next arises.

SECOND:The dechurched young people had a much stronger identity with a denomination than did the unchurched. It might only be the "church they weren't going to", but that denomination did represent something in their mind .. good or bad. And that got me to thinking:

When we have Vacation Bible School, we always announce, afterwards, how many "decisions" were made. I applaud decisions, but the part we may lose sight of is the effect of the exposure, of those children, to spiritual things in the church, during VBS. The higher level of identifying with a denomination, among those young people with prior church experience, tells me that something stuck with them. Something positive, or they wouldn't express that positive identification.

So .. the greater benefit to VBS may be the seeds which are planted, and the identification with that church, with that denomination, which sticks with those children, clear into their twenties.

One other thing of note is that, woven all through the book, is the "Lost and Found Story", a story about four young people, who represent the attitudes and the types represented in the study. It puts "mental flesh" to varying characteristics and positions of the Young people included in the study. "The Story" is immensely helpful in adding reality to what might have become tedious recitation of statistics (which, due in no small part to "The Story", this book never did).

There's more. There's a lot more. But I'll leave it at this: my wife said a long time ago, that we should read the Bible until God stops us. One verse, one page, one chapter; when we run into something God wants us to ponder, then stop and ponder. That happened to me literally hundreds of times in Lost And Found. I finished the book much the better for having read .. make that studied .. it.

You will, too.

It's no secret that young adults are unplugging or never getting plugged into to a local church. LOST AND FOUND tackles this trend head-on to uncover the disconnect between them and the church.

The book is divided into three sections: the first examines who the unchurched population really is along with what they believe and think about spiritual issues; the second offers an analysis of ministry needs for the unchurched; and the third highlights churches that are reaching young adults and effectively engaging the emerging culture. Much of the data comes from three different research projects sponsored by the North American Mission Board and LifeWay Research.

One of the most interesting ideas Ed Stetzer, Richie Stanley and Jason Hayes explore is that the unchurched are not a homogeneous group. They are diverse in their experiences and beliefs. The authors uncovered four types of unchurchd young adults: always unchurched (never been involved); de-churched (attended as a child); friendly unchurched (not particularly angry at the church); and hostile unchurched (angry at the church or have had negative experiences with the church).

Much of the research shows that while the unchurched acknowledge that God, or a higher supreme being, exists (81%), the majority also believe that the God of the Bible is no different from other gods or spiritual beings of varied world religions (58%). When it comes to churches reaching the unchurched, the research exposes that what leaders sometimes think the unchurched want versus what they really want are two different issues. For example, only 31% of respondents said they would attend a church if the music was similar to their personal tastes, and only 46% would be willing to join a small group to learn more about the Bible and Jesus. But 63% would want to attend a church that presented the truth in an understandable way that related to their life.

One of the refreshing things about LOST AND FOUND is what it does not do. The authors do not get distracted by trying to dive into a myriad of sidelining issues regarding what's wrong with the church or our belief system, nor do they try to paint a picture of what the church will look like in 50 years. Instead, the material remains unapologetically focused on two questions: Who are the young unchurched? And how can they be reached with the Good News of Jesus?

To this end, Stetzer, Stanley and Hayes explore nine common characteristics of churches who are successfully reaching the young unchurched. These congregations are intentional about creating a deeper community and making a difference through service. They create an atmosphere where young adults can experience worship and draw attendees with a conversational teaching style. Successful churches are not buying into the myth that young adults only want to hang out with themselves, and they're intentional about building cross-generational relationships. They're also not afraid to leverage technology, move toward authenticity, lead with transparency, or develop a team approach to leadership.

LOST AND FOUND is a good resource for those trying to reach the next generation and understand how they think.

--- Reviewed by Margaret Oines

Churches are beginning to wake up to the fact that our congregations are missing large numbers of young people. The "missing generation" includes young people who have either "dropped out" of church or who have never had a church background at all.

What to do? How can churches reach 20-somethings? Some books focus on reclaiming the "drop-outs" - those who once were in church, but have since left. Essential Church, by Thom and Sam Rainer, is a book that focuses on reclaiming what we have lost.

Ed Stetzer's new book puts forth a vision that is more expansive. Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them (Broadman & Holman, 2009) focuses on churches that are seeing success in reaching the younger unchurched from across the spectrum - including those without any Christian background whatsoever.

Co-written with Jason Hayes and RIchie Stanley, Lost and Found sets forth an optimistic tone:

"This book is not entitled Lost and We Just Wanted to Tell You (and it's the Church's fault by the way). We're calling it Lost and Found because that we want you to know that young adults are being found - effectively engaged in their culture, coming to faith in Christ, and being incorporated into congregational life." (1)

Stetzer focuses on this question: "Who are the young unchurched and how can they be reached with the good news of Jesus Christ?" By simplifying the question, the authors are able to move past all the debates about church growth methodology and discussions about style. In fact, they are unapologetic in their focus on discipleship results:

"A movement may be emerging, contemporary, reformed, or whatever, but if it fails to produce new followers of Jesus Christ, it is only a fascinating and engaging dead end." (3)

Lost and Found is indeed about church growth, but Stetzer's brand is what I like to call church growth with brakes. He remains tethered to Scripture and the centrality of the gospel. There is no sense in watering down the gospel in order to gather a crowd. But neither is there any sense in clinging to methods or traditions that distract people from the centrality of the gospel and our commission to evangelize.

The first part of the book describes the younger unchurched (their assumptions, opinions, values, and convictions). Introducing us to the younger generation is Stetzer's way of preparing us to be "good missionaries" - people who understand the context in which we live and who have a passion for reaching the lost where they are.

I admit that statistics don't do much for me. And part 1 contains plenty of stastics that make my eyes glaze over. Thankfully, the authors continually incorporate summaries to help along readers like me. By transforming the statistics into concrete examples, the authors make the data easy to comprehend.

Part 2 lists four markers that are common to young adult concerns:

Community
Depth
Responsibility
Connection
Part 3 shows how churches are reaching young adults, by taking the markers listed above and fleshing them out in practical ways. The authors come up with nine characteristics common to churches that are reaching young adults:

Creating deeper community
Making a difference through service
Experiencing worship
Conversing the content
Leveraging technology
Building cross-generational relationships
Moving toward authenticity
Leading by transparency
Leading by team.
Lost and Found gives me hope for the next generation. God continues to seek and save the lost, even among this "missing" generation. We are not a lost cause.

Stetzer's analysis is not particularly innovative, and that's a good thing. Instead, he marshalls the polling and statistics in support of his call for churches to go back to the basics of the Christian faith. Lost and Found challenges the status quo. But the book is also encouraging. The authors strike an optimistic chord regarding the future.

The call to witness to the truth of the gospel goes out to every generation, young or old, churched or unchurched, missing or present. Whatever the context, our task remains the same. And Lost and Found makes me want to take part in God's mission with greater passion.

"Lost and Found" by Stetzer, Stanley and Hayes is an extremely informative and eye-opening book that is a must-read for church leaders. I fell so behind already trying to figure out Gen X and 30 year olds and now am finding that 20-somethings are truly a different breed. In some ways they are further from the gospel and not likely to be involved in church, but in other ways are more spiritually minded and receptive to talking about Christianity than I ever would have imagined. This book covers some very important research that really challenges us to think about how we can share the good news with young adults today.

There are a number of statistics in the book, but that's not what it's about. The authors go beyond the numbers and come up with the core values that are essential to consider in building relationships with young adults - the desire for authentic community, a desire for depth which hates pat answers, a great sense of responsibility on both local and global levels, and a real desire to make cross-generational connections. The last half of the book then looks at a survey of churches that are actually effective in reaching young adults and describes nine characteristics which these churches have in common. (Not surprisingly, they address the core values of young adults in a powerful way.)

Along with the statistics and the missiological insight is a back story interwoven in the text, and I love the advice one of the characters gives - "Listen, God has put you on earth for two reasons - to glorify Him and to make His name known. You really don't have the luxury to dislike people. To dislike them means you are judging them. To judge them means you are forfeiting an opportunity to share the gospel with them." Powerful insights, well written, and inspiring.

I've recently read four excellent books on the topic of missiology specifically related to the culture we live in, how to understand it and how to speak to it: Breaking The Missional Code, They Like Jesus but Not The Church, Unchristian, and most recently Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them.

Several things strike me about these books.

1. They are all written based on a healthy mixture of good data (research!) and objective, Spirit-led observation of reality around them, through relationship with those that are being written about.
2. They all provide biblically-based principals, rather than faddish methodologies, based on analysis of this research and observation.
3. They all come to approximately the same conclusions.

I feel that we would do well to listen up, especially since these books come from three different organizations from three different "corners of the church" (Barna Research Group, a large church in California, and LifeWay research), and therefore aren't simply creating an echo chamber of thought.

Of the four, I found this book to be the easiest to digest, with the most recent data, clearly stated methodologies and goals, with to-the-point analysis at the end of each chapter.

The book is an engaging read. A well structured balance of research based data, personal interview, and an engaging "true story" narrative that glues the concepts together with practical advice.

The book's introduction speaks well to its purpose:

Much has been written and said about younger adults and their view of church. You don't need a lot of research to tell you what you already know...

...this is not a prescripbe book with magical answers to the problems plaguing churches devoid of young adults. Each church we profile, like yours, is unique in setting, ministry, and calling...

...in this book [the authors] are asking one simple question: Who are the yong unchruched and how can they be reached with the good news of Jesus Christ? (OK, that's two questions)...

...We realize you do not need another book of statistics. But what we do need is something to help all of us engage an increasingly lost generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need tools that will help us seek and save those of this generation who are lost. As you read, our prayer is that you will be challenged to take action, so that the lost may be found.

After reading the book, it occurred to me that some churches DO need a book of statistics. It seems that even in our intuitive knowledge of the problem that Christianity is considered hypocritically judgmental, and concerned more with it's own organization than with people, we do little to help this situation, probably because we don't fully understand the problem.

We bristle at critiques that call us judgmental and hypocritical, saying that we're simply pointing out sin. We hide behind verses that tell us that the world is going to hate us.

We fail to realize that for some people that God brings into our sphere of influence, we are called to help heal years of hurt from past religious institutions.

We fail to acknowledge that some people simply aren't going to come to our church, no matter how cool our music is, how "casual" and "lingo free" we try to be, or how many "bring a friend to church sundays" we organize and exhort our people to.

The fact is that Jesus called us to go out among the lost.

I was shocked at the statistics that showed how little of a difference the "young unchurched" reported the style of music or service made in their decision to check out a church or not.

What matter to them are deep relationships and authentic community where it is safe to ask the hard questions without being told to "just have faith". Along with people who actually care enough about the community they are in to get involved in it, rather than simply protest it, picket it, bemoan it's fallenness, or simply huddle up an ignore it.

Read this book.