Does it feel like everything around you is changing?
Your church is growing older and you wish there was more energy and vitality.
Your church doesn’t have the young people it once did, and you don’t know what has changed and why your church isn’t connecting anymore.
The pandemic has changed the way you have always done church, and you don’t know where to go next.
Your church’s momentum has stalled out and you feel stuck.
You keep trying things, but don’t really know if you are doing the right things.
Your church is in a community, but isn’t connecting with the community, especially with the young people.
You want to see your church becoming the living, breathing, expression of Jesus to the world.
You are not alone. All churches are wrestling with these same questions, hopes, and dreams.
Introducing the the Growing Together Cohort, sponsored by the North Pacific Union.
This 12-month digital learning journey will help unleash the potential of today’s young people, while building a thriving community for all generations.
The cohort uses the the six core commitments from the Fuller Youth Institute’s Growing Young research, and applies them the Seventh-day Adventist Church context. Resulting in an incredible learning and growth experience, that will transform leaders, churches, and communities. This is the best research available, packaged in a robust learning journey for cultural change.
What do I get when I join a cohort?
3 days of digital summits taught my the best ministry experts available.
Regular webinar training on topics that really matter to your church.
12 months of personalized coaching.
Ground breaking ministry assessment tools.
Access to an exclusive community of Seventh-day Adventist Churches and leaders who all want to learn and grow.
Long-term access to video, webinar, and audio recordings, to share with your team
12 month learning journey with personalized coaching: $895, the final deadline to register for the 2019 Growing Together Cohort is:
December 31st.
Welcome webinar happens on Tuesday October 6 at 12:00pm (PDT)
Reality, Research, and Hope
Churches across the country are both shrinking and aging as more young people disengage. However, there are scores of congregations that are bucking this trend and developing cultures that welcome, empower, and engage teenagers and young adults.
The Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) has conducted groundbreaking research with over 250 of these leading congregations to learn what they do right. Based on this study of a diverse group of churches, six essential strategies have been discovered that any church can use to better involve and retain young people. What’s more, when these innovative churches engage younger generations, it breathes life and vitality into the whole church.
Through North Pacific Union Growing Young Cohort, we want to help you sort through the numerous strategies you could try and instead focus on what’s most essential in helping young people discover and love your church. This advanced cohort training model invites your team to journey with like-minded Seventh-day Adventist churches for one year, learning from the best research available, to help your church create a customized and strategic approach to building a thriving community for all generations, while growing younger.
Please watch the video below for a glimpse of the cohort vision and process, and see how these 45 Seventh-day Adventist Churches grew younger together in 2019.
What are the Growing Young Six Commitments?
Proven principals for unleashing the passion of all generations.
Unlock key-chain leadership: Instead of centralizing authority, empower others—especially young people.
Empathize with today’s young people: Instead of judging or criticizing, step into the shoes of this generation.
Take Jesus’ message seriously: Instead of asserting formulaic gospel claims, welcome young people into a Jesus-centered way of life.
Fuel a warm community: Instead of focusing on cool worship or programs, aim for warm peer and inter-generational friendships.
Prioritize young people (and families) everywhere: Instead of giving lip service to how much young people matter, look for creative ways to tangibly support, resource, and involve them in all facets of your congregation.
Be the best neighbors: Instead of condemning the world outside your walls, enable young people to neighbor well locally and globally.
2020-2021 Cohort Timeline
Growing Young Cohort Year One:
October - Welcome/Introduction Webinar October 6th @ 12:00pm (Pacific)
October 31/November 1 - Summit #1 9:00am-2:00pm (Pacific)
November - Webinar #2
December - Coaching Call #1 (One-on-one call)
January - Webinar #3
February - Coachinar #1 (Group Call w/ 3-4 Churches)
March - Summit #2
April - Webinar #4
May - Coaching Call #2 (One-on-one call)
June - Coachinar #2 (Group Call w/ 3-4 Churches)
July - Churches work on transformation plans
August - Final Webinar #5
What are Seventh-day Adventist leaders and churches saying?
“The six Growing Young strategies engage church leaders with their young people and strengthen congregations to reach their communities for Jesus. Get the book. Read the concepts. Empower your church.”
-Dr. Tracy Wood, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists Youth Director
“The churches involved in Growing Young in Washington Conference are being revitalized as they intentionally focus on inter-generational ministry. Attendance is growing and spirituality is on the rise at these churches.”
- Doug Bing, Washington Conference President
“The lifeblood of a vibrant church (or organization) is an inter-generational community—people of all ages sharing life, worshiping God and serving in ministry together. Such a community, like a family system, seeks to fully engage all and intentionally equips and raises up new leaders from the next generations. This is the purpose of the Growing Young initiative, and when you invest in Next-Gen leaders it makes the church healthier today.”
- Dan Linrud, Oregon Conference President
“At the heart Growing Young is a learning journey for cultural change, breathing life, and vitality into the local church, while uniting all generations together for the cause of Christ”
-Benjamin Lundquist, Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Young Adult Director & North American Division Young Adult Ministries Coordinator
“I’m extremely pleased, this initiative is bringing to the table the latest research and scholarship, along with motivated local church leadership and small group dynamics to help churches look at themselves in the mirror, ask honest questions, and find honest answers.”
- John Freedman, North Pacific Union President
“The ‘journey with’ mindset of the cohort process is where the profound and lasting transformation occurs. Intentional commitments need to be nurtured for generations to grow together. In my mind, the Adventist North West Growing Young Cohort affords a wondrous journey for all churches who engage it.”
-A. Allan Martin, PhD, Teaching Pastor, Younger Generation Church
Quotes from 2019 cohort churches:
“I appreciate all the coaching calls and webinars, they are of great value. I love hearing stories of what is working from other church teams.”
“I feel enlightened and better equipped to launch a sustainable youth/YA ministry effort at my church, and set God-sized goals.”
“Our church was challenged to let go of all excuses, trust God, and build a better/healthier new chapter for the SDA Church.”
“I believe this is pioneering a new way to implement change within our church, and it’s actually working”
“This event really helped to crystallize our vision and plans moving forward.”
“Thank you for this intentional process, it works.”