Fewer young adults are making church a priority. There’s a risk that the generation now in their twenties will build their lives without a connection to Jesus through a local, brick-and-mortar body of believers.

And that doesn’t speak well for the future of the church.

But there’s hope, according to the Billy Graham Center’s Mary Lederleitner.

“I think what fuels my hope is I meet a lot of people who really . . . do care about the next generation,” she says.

Lederleitner manages both the Church Evangelism Institute and the Research Institute that are part of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.  

“With young adults, I’m finding that if they can land in a faith community, they do keep growing, they do give back financially,” she says. “They’re our next generation of leaders.”

In our recorded conversation, Lederleitner talks about ways churches can be inviting places for young adults, even if there aren’t a lot of 20-somethings currently in the church.

“You don’t have to get it all right. People can tell when they’re loved and wanted, and people can tell when they’re not loved and when they’re not wanted,” she says. “And love does bring the best out of us and it helps us to change and grow and mature.”

Read the article that inspired this conversation.

Read about Mary Lederleitner.

Learn about the work of The Billy Graham Center.