The purpose of this book project is to amplify the voices of young adults as they articulate their hopes, dreams, concerns, and frustrations to the church. This is not a book about young adults. Nor is this a book about how to attract young adults back to church. Rather, it is a book that offers the wisdom of young adults to the church as it discerns its next most faithful steps in these emerging times.
The most important insight we have gained from our five years of learning and experimenting at the intersections of church, neighborhood, and young adults is an affirmation of a hunch we had at the beginning of the project. Young adults are not interested in being a target market. They (we) would rather the church be deeply engaged in its context around issues that are threatening our neighbors’ well-being.
We have discovered many young adults are actively seeking to live out a public faith and have vision, insight, passion, and wisdom that the church needs to hear. We are endeavoring on a book project that seeks to amplify these voices through a gathering to distill key themes and then select Young Adult authors, and scholar co-authors will write chapters about each theme, culminating in a book!
Project Updates
- November 2023 | Writers Retreat at Mt. Olivet Retreat Center. Blog recap.
- October 2023 | Second Drafts Submitted! Read reflections on the process by Amar Peterman and Abby Grifno.
- March 2023 | Writers Retreat in Montreat, North Carolina
- January – February 2023 | Authors selected! Check out our blog post about the young adult authors.
- November 22 | The Threshold: Book Envisioning Event: Recap
Writing Process
The Threshold: Book Envisioning Event
In early November, a diverse community of fifty young adults gathered Augsburg University in Minneapolis, MN. Together, through small group, large group conversation, and individual reflection we shared our deepest held concerns, hopes, and dreams for God’s church. From those conversations, we distilled [#] of key themes that Young Adults want the church to know as it moves from the present moment, into the future. Each of those themes will be a chapter of a book. The event was co-facilitated by Rozella Haydée White and Jeremy Myers, PhD. Our time together followed the structure of an Ignatius Awareness Examen.
Author Selection Process
The Riverside Innovation Hub received an abundance of applications for young adult authors. Our review team was deeply moved by the richness of the writing, stories and challenging questions communicated through the applications. The eleven selected young adult authors were paired with a thought leader for each of the chapter themes.
Writing Year:
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- First Writing Retreat: March 17 – 20, 2023
- First Draft Writing Period: March 2023 – May 2023.
- Feedback on First Draft: May 2023 – July 2023.
- Second Draft Writing Period: July 2023 – October 2023
- Feedback on Second Draft: October 2023 – November 2023
- Second Writing Retreat: November 10 – 13, 2023
- Final Draft Writing Period: December 2023 – Feb 2023
- Editing & Revision: Winter 2024
Published Book
The Augsburg staff will work to edit, promote, and publish the book through a reputable publisher, stay tuned to learn more!
If you’d like to receive occasional updates about this project, join our mailing list: Join our Mailing List.
Questions? Curious to learn more?
Contact Kristina Fruge at frugek@augsburg.edu