A Church Full of Young People By Rev. Tim Pauls
H I G H E R
T H I N G S __ 22
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 1 Peter 5:8–9
I
have some new friends—a family that started visiting our congregation several months ago, whom I’ve been visiting regularly with the Small Catechism since.We’ve had many discussions about many different things. As we were discussing church one day, the adult daughter said,“Pastor, I have a question for you: where are all the young people?” Where, indeed. We’ve got some great youth, but they’re not exactly a huge chunk of the congregation. When this family moved to Boise, they left behind a congregation full of youth. Curious, I asked them to tell me more, trying to find out what might fill the pews with youth. I’m always curious. (You might be too: after all, if you’re reading this, there’s an unfortunately strong possibility that you’re in a very small youth group. Shoot, you might be the youth group.)
