Moments of Return

Ryan’s off getting married this weekend and has left me in charge of posting to the blog. In honor of Ryan’s upcoming nuptials I want to toss out a comment from a section of a book I read a month or so ago about young adults and the times, places, and events when they may most likely (re)connect with churches.

In a previous post I've referenced Googling God: The Religious Landscape of People in their 20’s and 30’s by Mike Haye’s. In the book Hayes lifts up the work of Father John Cusick and Katherine DeVries of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Young Adult Ministry Office. Cusick and DeVries identify five “Moments of Return” in the lives of young adults that churches need to be aware of. They include: Marriage, Baptism, Moments of Sickness, Death, and Personal Decision/Changes in Life (such as a change in career or lifestyle choices).

These are times when young adults are likely to be inside church building, among the church community or open to the ministry of the church. Churches, Hayes says, need to be intention about how they relate to young adults in these times when they connect with the church.

I think Haye’s is onto something important. I’m wondering if there are other “Moments of Return” that we need to be aware of for young adults besides these five. I’m wondering if we see these as important times of ministry outreach or if we see many of them as intrusions into the life of the church. And I’m wondering if there are specific ways that any of you engage in ministry with young adults during moments of return.