Why Young Adults?
If you follow us on social media then you may have spotted our announcement about the launch of Onelife Young Adults. Helen and Becky shared how we’re extending our work to include young adults – and rather than limiting this work to our School of Leadership alumni, we’re opening it up to everyone!
Why are we extending the Onelife age range?
Firstly, and very simply, we feel God is calling us to. We’ve had a real sense that God has been saying we need to expand our vision to include more people. We weren’t sure what that was going to look like but as we initially launched the School of Leadership Alumni Network in September 2019 we felt a real sense of movement and excitement.
God has also put a burden on our hearts to see those young adults who are already in the workplace encouraged and equipped to be distinct Christian leaders wherever they are.
Secondly, we feel there is a need for it in today’s cultural climate. We’ve been working with young people and students for the past 10 years. We’ve encouraged them in their faith and their leadership journey, through discipleship and character development. During this time we’ve consistently noticed people from outside of our official 14-22 age bracket engaging with the work of Onelife. From the 28-year-old who sneaked onto to School of Leadership, the 13-year-old who came to one of our conferences or the group of adult Alpha leaders in South America who used our Onelife Sessions training – we’ve seen our material and vision inspire and equip those who are beyond our age range.
We’re now seeing people who have been through our core programmes and are now in the workplace trying to work out how to live out the call to be characterful, godly leaders in every sphere of society. There’s also those who are seeking to do this who may not have come into contact with Onelife before. We want to be able to champion, equip and encourage these leaders and see God’s kingdom come and our nation transformed.
Research into millennial and generation Z faith has shown how, for young adults today, the journey of faith discovery and growth is profoundly different from any generation that has come before. The statistics don’t always inspire hope – but we know that God is at work, and that gives us something much bigger to place our hope in!
Dr Ruth Perrin, a leading researcher of millennial faith at Durham University, highlights how, for a whole host of socio-economic and cultural reasons, young adults today take longer to decide whether to have a personal faith than ever before.
As John C Maxwell says, when there is good leadership, people flourish. We want to come alongside young adults who are already leading and will be in the years to come. We want to provide tools to equip and inspire leadership with integrity for the long haul. Don’t miss out!
Our next Onelife Young Adults event is on Saturday 7 December. Find out more here.