EMQ » April–June 2021 » Volume 57 Issue 2
By Beth Severson
InterVarsity Press, 2020
256 pages
US$17.99
Reviewed by Cory Seibel (PhD, University of Pretoria), a pastor at Central Baptist Church and adjunct professor at Taylor Seminary in Edmonton, Alberta.
This book challenges much of what we assume to know about reaching contemporary young adults. Severson begins by acknowledging, as countless authors before her have done, that today’s churches are losing more young adults than they are gaining. From there, however, her account departs dramatically from the prevailing narrative.
Severson devotes this book to introducing readers to “bright spot churches” that have a track record of effectively reaching unchurched young adults. While she recognizes that only a “small minority” of young adults seem to be growing in faith (2), she believes that examining the churches that are reaching today’s young adults can help us in understanding how to engage them.
While bright spot churches are not common, Severson assures us that they do exist and that they are helping to write a new narrative about young adults’ experience of Christ and his church. In her research, Severson discovered that these churches tend to exhibit several key attitudes, patterns, and practices. They also have developed similar pathways for young adults to journey toward faith.
Severson found getting connected with the church to be a crucial early step in young adults’ journey of faith. This commonly involves attending Sunday worship at the invitation of a friend. From there, young adults progress along a path that includes experiences of Christian community, opportunities to serve, mentoring relationships, and leadership development. In the final analysis, Severson identified five key practices of bright spot churches: initiating, inviting, including, involving, and investing. Much of this book is devoted to unpacking these five practices and to exploring their significance in reaching and discipling young adults.
For readers who assume that unchurched young people are unwilling to darken the doorsteps of the church, Severson’s findings may be surprising. Some of what she reports may sound faintly familiar to those conversant with the church growth literature of the 1980s and 1990s. Nonetheless, Severson insists that her findings are not merely a rehashing of old ideas but rather provide the basis for a new theory of church growth. This is not an unreasonable claim.
The author provides an insightful discussion of emerging adulthood as a life stage and how this interrelates with young adults’ faith journeys. She invites readers to re-evaluate conventional assumptions about friendship evangelism and helps pastors to grasp the crucial role that they can play in supporting young adults as they journey toward Christ. Some readers may be intrigued by what she reveals about the efficacy of intergenerational community, as well.
Severson provides an informative examination of the interplay of believing, belonging, and behaving in young adults’ journeys toward faith. She names the key tensions bright spot churches inevitably face and describes how they navigate today’s most pressing social issues.
Severson believes that other churches can adopt the practices she describes. She concludes each chapter with discussion questions and action steps designed to help them get started. Readers of Not Done Yet may very well be inspired with fresh imagination about what is possible within their own churches.
For Further Reading
Kinneman, David. Faith for Exiles: 5 Ways for a New Generation to Follow Jesus in Digital Babylon. Baker Books, 2019.
Richardson, Rick. You Found Me: New Research on How Unchurched Nones, Millennials, and Irreligious are Surprisingly Open to Christian Faith. InterVarsity Press, 2019.
