A New Dawn: How Young Adults are Awakening the Church
As two young adults from Oklahoma, we weren’t sure what to expect when we stepped onto the campus of Asbury University last week to participate in the Awakening Project. We were meeting with other young adults who were hungry to share the love of Jesus, and the organizers ensured that there would be dynamic teaching, powerful worship, and a chance to have hands-on and collaborative teachings and approaches to work on ministry skills.
What we experienced was a special hunger that is happening among the young people in the world—a deep desire to know Christ in a way that allows for growth, friendship, and awakening. David Thomas, author at Seedbed, often says, “Awakening happens at the pace of friendship.”
Gathering together with people from all over the world can often be intimidating—especially when you are an introvert—and yet the Awakening Project made space for students and leaders to be placed in unique opportunities to form multi-generational friendships and engage in conversations that would not take place otherwise.
From intentional small groups (to build community with people we did not know prior to the conference) to worship, home groups (i.e., the group we came with: young adults from Lee University, Cornerstone Church, Ardmore First Methodist, etc.) to lots of food and laughter in vehicles and in the dorm room, it was very special and inspiring to be with like-minded people who have the same deep desire in leadership, worship, and holy conversations. God truly put me personally (Kendall) in some powerful conversations, specific rooms, and specific chairs to meet people where unexpected and impactful conversations took place and forever friendships were formed. These moments helped us realize that community happens outside of Sunday mornings. Sunday mornings are not enough for us to shape disciples who want change in the world. We have to think about how important it is to create space in the church for deeper conversations to happen. There is a great need for both young and old to engage in deeper theological conversations.
The Awakening Project included sessions and breakouts that provided intentional conversations around mental health, body positivity, spiritual gifts, Lectio Divina, missioning and leadership (inside and outside the church), the value of personal relationships, evangelism, deep dives into personal faith questions, and the marketplace.
While this was the fourth year of the Awakening Project, it all started with friendships and a deep love for the younger generations that has now grown and impacted hundreds of young adults and those who love them. This continues to be the identity and value of every part of the Awakening Project.
The speakers were actively involved in a variety of ministries—in the marketplace, churches, church plants, and college ministries—yet they shared a common message: Jesus is the center of everything. If this is true, then we need to prepare our hearts to share these messages with each young adult. We must be prepared for where God can meet us and not outpace what we do with God. We must not move ahead or progress faster than what God is doing. We must stop focusing on our own plans more than God’s, and ensure that we are nurturing and deepening our relationship with God. Nurturing and deepening our relationship means that we are to contend with Christ in prayer and healing, living a life that is both sacrificial and adventurous. With Christ at the center, our selfishness is placed aside and our focus is on the cross.
We had a unique opportunity to visit Cane Ridge, Kentucky, and learn about the revival that took place there in 1801. The Cane Ridge Revival was a large camp meeting that is widely known as one of the early events in the Second Great Awakening, which led to many other smaller camp meetings all over the frontier. We also heard the story of the revival on the Scottish Isle of Lewis in the 1940’s and the challenging prayer of “Your honor is at stake, Lord” and “Breaking the sound barrier for God.” Breaking the sound barrier for God refers to our lifting of our voices in unison, not caring what the person next to us is doing or saying. The stigma of the church prayer is that we are an audience and the prayer is to be done quietly and in our minds. Breaking the sound barrier for God simply means that we are changing the stigma and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and not worry about what is happening around us, being fully focused on what God is doing through each person. (For more on the Lewis Revival, see Colin Peckham’s Sounds from Heaven.)
Gathering in the spaces of revival like Cane Ridge—as well as Hughes Auditorium where the 1970 revival and 2023 Outpouring took place—allowed for encouragement and understanding of these events as catalysts for our current state of Christianity. Since the pandemic, we have seen a decrease of in-person gatherings, lack of intentional gatherings beyond Sunday mornings, and in the United States a decrease in the younger generations attending worship. It provided a clear message as to where the Church needs to go next. Our young people are ready for awakening.
In Gen. 1:28, God gives a plan for increasing the physical presence of humanity on Earth: be fruitful, multiply, and fill the Earth. But spiritually, similar ideas can be helpful in thinking about how God wants to multiply the church. In order for the church to be fruitful, the following efforts can create a welcoming and inclusive environment where young adults feel valued, supported and connected. Within the church it could look like this:
Provide mentorship and guidance through one-on-one conversations, helping young adults to navigate their faith journey and providing spiritual support and encouragement.
Create opportunities for community and fellowship outside of Sunday mornings: small groups, bands, service and outreach opportunities, game nights, potlucks, outdoor outings, mission trips, and prayer gatherings. These create a sense of belonging that helps young adults feel connected and supported in their spiritual growth and life.
Provide opportunities for multi-generational friendships: host gatherings for all ages that facilitate holy conversations. Encourage discipleship and mentorship relationships among the multi-generational friendships.
Model authenticity and vulnerability; share the struggles and victories that come with walking by faith and with Christ.
Involve young adults in decision-making. Give young adults a voice and sense of ownership within the church community, which will help foster a deeper sense of belonging and investment.
Throughout our time at the Awakening Project in Wilmore, we heard testimonies about chains being broken, the Lord giving renewed visions for ministries, and the Lord giving vision to those who are embarking on new ministry projects, as well as renewing old ministries. Lives were radically changed throughout our time of prayer, worship, and ministry together. This is unlike any other experience. The Spirit of the Lord fell afresh at Awakening Project. God is awakening the young people in our churches. There is hope for the world through what God is doing in these young people (and those who care deeply about them, i.e., pastors, families, campus ministers, professors, and other leaders who share a common love of young adults).
Overall, my (Kendall’s) experience there helped me to realize what kind of leader I could be in my college community of Oklahoma State University. As a society, we have come to view leadership only as the most powerful and loudest; Christ, however, was a leader who empowered others to be the best version of themselves. I believe that the Holy Spirit is leading me to become a leader in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in a new way. The Spirit placed on my heart a vision to start a small Spirit-led group for students looking to deepen their relationship with God and other Christians. While there are many good churches/campus ministries and good Bible studies, this group would be more than that. It would be a place for students who want to go deeper into the Word and have a group of supporters to help push them to do more with their faith. While there is a lot of work to be done to get this group started, I believe that the Lord will provide and lead it where it needs to go. My push to start this would not have happened if I did not attend this conference, where I was pushed outside of my comfort zone by the Spirit in a safe space surrounded by new and old friends who prayed for me. It is my hope to continue being an active part of the Awakening Project and find other friends to bring with me to help sow the next great awakening!
As a Young Adult Pastor (Kira) my experience at the Awakening Project was one that was undeniably beautiful. Walking into the Awakening Project, I knew a handful of people who had attended previously and were attending again this year. They described the conference as “a place of great safety and ministry for the young.” As a pastor, but also as a young adult myself and parent to a young adult, my anticipation for what the Lord was going to do during my time at Awakening Project was very high. God gave me very specific words for our ministry at Ardmore First Methodist, where we are still in the beginning stages of starting our Young Adult Ministry. The Lord gave great vision and confirmation and a plan to engage the next generation in our community in a way that has never been done. We are going to walk alongside Kendall in starting a small, intimate gathering of worship and prayer that will start on her college campus, and we will begin praying about other campuses where we have students and begin walking beside them in leading a similar intimate gathering of worship and prayer. In our own community, we will begin strategically aligning people who are in the older generation to disciple and walk alongside our younger college-age generation through mentorship, coffee conversations, and gatherings. To facilitate this, we will begin a prayer-and-pairing process that will allow for those multi-generational relationships to take place authentically.
As we continue to lean into what God is doing in the lives of young adults, we must remember that our young people do not want easy. They are already active in Scripture, and they want more—young people are hungry! As the Church, we must foster the opportunity for leadership and learning through creating welcoming environments, offering relevant and engaging programing outside of Sunday mornings, providing opportunities for both leadership and service, creating spaces for open dialogue, and lastly, fostering mentorship and discipleship relationships.
Kira Calhoun-Wilson is the Young Adult/Care Pastor at Ardmore First Methodist Church in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
Kendall Hays is a Senior Natural Resource Ecology and Management Major at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma.