I feel that our church is facing a crisis. As the baby boomers get older and begin to retire, our churches are facing a dearth in members and leadership. To remedy this, we are in need of a serious shift in our current attitudes. Rather than planning programs for specific groups, we need to adopt a model of the entire church welcoming new members and incorporating them into our corporate life. Whether that means alternative worship, intergenerational events, pastoral care, or focused evangelism depends on the church. All around, though, what we need are very purposeful systems of inviting, welcoming, and incorporating young adults (or anyone!) into the life of the parish. If our desire is for people to build relationships with the Lord, we must first engage them and build a relationship of our own with them.
We must think about what it means to have an attitude of radical hospitality. It is when we lose ourselves in serving others that we can find God.
