One of the things I love most about my role as associate pastor is getting to watch people grow. There is something especially meaningful about watching young adults come into their own as the people God created them to be.
For so many young adults, this is a season of firsts. First apartments. First jobs. First big decisions made on their own. New friendships and relationships. Figuring out what kind of work feels meaningful and what kind of life they want to build. There is a lot of excitement, but there can also be a lot of uncertainty. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, many young adults begin to ask big faith questions.
What do I actually believe? Why do I believe it? Is this faith really mine? What happens when I have questions? Where is God in all of this?
I don’t think those questions are something we should be afraid of. In fact, I think they can be some of the most faithful questions we ever ask. There is a difference between having a faith that has been handed to us and having a faith that we have wrestled with, questioned, explored, and finally begun to claim as our own. Sometimes we have to take our faith apart a little before we can discover what is truly at its heart.
That is why I am so grateful for our young adult ministry. Our young adults don’t need us to have all the answers. They don’t need us to tell them what they are supposed to believe. What they need, and what I hope we have to offer, is companionship.
They need a church willing to sit with their questions. A church where doubt isn’t treated as failure and curiosity isn’t something to outgrow. A church where they can come exactly as they are, bringing their whole selves, and know that they are loved. They need us to walk alongside them as they figure out adulthood and faith at the same time. And you remember, that can be quite a lot to navigate!
One of the great gifts of an intergenerational church like ours is that we get to do this thing called life together. We have something to learn from our young adults, just as they have something to learn from us. We don’t have to have every answer. We simply have to keep showing up for one another.
Because, if we’re really honest, none of us ever completely “come into our own.” We are all still becoming. Still asking questions. Still discovering who God is and who God is calling us to be. What a gift it is to do that together!
In love,
Pastor Mary