At Threads, our goal is to minister directly to young adults and partner with leaders who are seeking to do the same. In order to do this effectively, it’s important for us to actually understand who young adults are. We need to know how they think and what they believe. It’s our desire to accurately capture the voice of this generation so we can better minister to them. Drawing from our own opinions alone simply isn’t enough. Instead, we are committed to crossing every “T” and dotting every “I” to gain a correct snapshot of this demographic. From the very beginning of our work, we’ve been committed to listening more than we talk. A desire to learn remains at the core of who we are and what we’re trying to do.
As an expression of this commitment, quality research has always been central to the decisions we make and the resources we provide. Quite simply, research has driven our work as opposed to the other way around. We didn’t start an initiative and then do research to support what we started. Our research wasn’t retrofitted into our message. Rather, our message is formed by our research. For accuracy, we’re examining young adults with different backgrounds and contexts. This moves us across geographical, socio-economical, and racial boundaries. We’ve heard from the unchurched and churched. We’re also listening closely to those of you who are working hard to connect with young adults in your church, community, or campus.
All this to say, we need to continue learning. Plus, we certainly want to keep the dialogue going as we journey in this together. We’ve recently created a page that introduces you to some of our findings. We’d love for you to check it out. Take a look over some of the stats and watch the video. Let us know your thoughts and what other issues we need to be exploring.
Take care.