Overcoming YA connection challenges could reap eternal rewards. Research shows that nearly 60% of young adults raised in church end up leaving either their faith or the church in their early adult years. The top three reasons given are that church feels personally irrelevant, they can find God elsewhere, and they can teach themselves what they need to know. However, Christian retailers can help fill this gap by providing authentic community for young adults. Some ways to do this include creating a comfortable hangout space, hosting relevant events, becoming mentors, engaging on social media, making connections to YA leaders, and hiring young adults to gain their perspectives. Building real relationships with young adults is key to keeping them connected to their faith.

1. Overcoming YA connection challenges could reap eternal rewards.
By Lora Schrock
Create Community
for Young Adults
parents wouldn’t approve of, or they may
throw out the clothes altogether and start
over with a new outfit.
During the important YA years, older
teens and twentysomethings start to figure
out who they are and what they believe. Re-
search shows it’s also when they often leave
the church, either as a conscious decision or
because they tune out.
The Barna Group has been examining
Millennials’ faith development for 10 years,
conducting 27,140 interviews in over 200
studies. Their research shows that nearly six
in 10 young adults (59 percent) who have
been raised in the church end up walking
away from either their faith or from the
church at some point in the first 10 years of
their adult life.
The Pew Research Center arrived at simi-
lar findings. Its 2014 U.S. Religious Land-
scape Study states that as Millennials enter
adulthood, they display much lower levels of
religious affiliation, including less connec-
tion with the church, than older generations.
More than 35 percent of Millennials ages 18
to 24 reported they were religiously unaf-
filiated as did 34 percent of older Millennials
ages 25 to 33. Fewer than six in 10 of those
asked identify with any
branch of Christianity.
However, the future
isn’t as bleak as this data
might imply. In May
2014, LifeWay Research
Executive Director Ed
Stetzer said in his blog
The Exchange that Life-
Way Research data had
found “about 70 percent
of young adults who in-
dicated they attended
church regularly for at
least one year in high
school do, in fact, drop
out—but … of those
who left, almost two-thirds return and cur-
rently attend church.”
Reasons Why
The fact that a concerning percentage of
young Millenials are leaving the church begs
the question: Why?
LifeWay Research learned that older
teens generally drop out of church between
the ages of 17 and 19. The top three reasons
given for not attending were they didn’t feel
it was personally relevant (35 percent), they
could find God elsewhere (30 percent), and
they could teach themselves what they need-
ed to know (17 percent).
Cailee Smith, a frontliner at The Great-
est Gift and Scripture Supply (Pueblo, CO),
mentors teens at her local church.
“From my time with students, I would say
that ... mostly church has become irrelevant
to them, whether that be church is confus-
ing, they have different beliefs, or that noth-
ing that is being preached has anything to do
with where they are at in life,” she says.
Get Legit
For these young adults, church isn’t a place
they go to for community and support. But
Christian retail stores can be.
Young people crave relationships, a fac-
tor that also plays a big part in church atten-
dance. Barna compared young adults active
in their faith to their counterparts who had
stopped going to church. The results show
that those who stayed in church were twice
as likely to have a close personal friendship
with an adult inside the church as those who
have left (59 percent vs. 31 percent).
Christian retailers who make a commit-
ted effort to nurture friendships with young
adults can meet this felt need and keep them
connected to spiritual things. The key is that
relationships have to be real. The No. 1 need
the YA group has of the church—and con-
Young adults can be a study in
contradictions. They crave one-
on-one interaction but spend
hours alone playing video
games. They’ve outgrown at-
tending youth group but aren’t
interested in plugging in to a
Sunday school class. They want
someone to care about them
and their spiritual walk but don’t
necessarily want to be involved
in church.
It doesn’t seem likely these Millennials
would flock into a Christian store, but re-
tailers can engage with this YA group and
contribute to their personal and Christian
growth by offering authenticity, community,
and a place of connection.
Walking Away
Christian parents clothe their children in
values and faith, but as the kids grow up
and become young adults, they take these
“clothes” off and examine them. They may
choose to put them on again or wear them
in new combinations to see if they still fit.
Sometimes they add an item or two their
Young Adults + +
10.15 | CBA Retailers+Resources 15The Official Magazine of CBA
continued on page 16
The Comfort Zone atThe Greatest Gift and Scripture Supply is de-
signed to be a relaxing place for people to hang out.
Feature Young Adults.indd 15 9/9/15 4:20 PM

2. sequently a Christian store—is authenticity.
“They can see through someone who’s put-
ting on a show,” says Christian recording art-
ist Kyle Kupecky. “They just want people they
can look up to, believe in, and truly trust.”
In her experience, Nancy Campbell, trade
book buyer for the Tree of Life chain as well
as one of its owners, says young adults long
for “real.” “They don’t want fake. Real rela-
tionships, real conversations, real truth.”
But let’s step back for a minute and be
honest: after serving customers, ordering
product, training staff, and crunching num-
bers, retailers may feel the last thing they
have the time or desire to do is build rela-
tionships with older teens and twentysome-
things who aren’t happy with the church.
Smith, however, believes this group is
yearning for a relationship with God.
“When given the tools they need, I’ve seen
them excel in their Christian faith, but we
have to meet students where they’re at,” she
says.
How to Do It
To begin fostering a community of connec-
tion in your store, consider taking these steps:
1. Create a safe place. If you have the floor
space, dedicate an area for young adults to
hang out. Heather Adams, owner of The
Greatest Gift, created The Comfort Zone
with deliberately mismatched furniture,
a mini-fridge with drinks, and a table for
snacks. “It was an attempt to have a nice,
comfy-cushy place to sit and relax, peruse
a book before buying, or meet a friend for
coffee and fellowship,” she says. “We have
Wi-Fi, so it’s a nice place for students to
come and do homework.” Kupecky ad-
vises retailers to pay attention to the at-
mosphere and design of the space. “Being
smart and current with artwork and the
overall vibe will make a huge difference,”
he says. “Plus, every young person loves
coffee. If you have truly great coffee, that
will get young people’s attention.”
2. Host events. Have a local band popular
with youth play a set or invite speakers to
dialogue on subjects important to Millen-
nials. “We need to teach biblical truth on
homosexuality, drugs, relationships, etc.,
to meet them at the stage of life they’re in,”
says Smith. “Time and time again, stu-
dents have come into youth group when
we advertise we’re going to speak on these
issues, and time and time again, the Holy
Spirit has used that night to bring them to
Christ.” Kupecky agrees. “[Young adults]
aren’t afraid to go deep and explore hard
topics.”
3. Become a mentor. Millennials may not
have parents who are involved or even
present. You can make a practical and
eternal investment in a young person’s life
by serving as a mentor.
4. Get on social media. If you aren’t where
Millennials are—online—then you won’t
reach them. Use social media not to pro-
mote your business or to sell product but
to create relationships. “Social media is a
full-time job. It’s important for retailers to
invest in this medium and hire someone
who really gets it,” says Kupecky.
5. Make connections. If you don’t have the
time or manpower to reach out to young
adults personally, consider serving as an in-
termediary to connect them with YA work-
ers or authors, either in person or online.
6. Employ young adults. Adams, who also
sits on the CBA board of directors, has
seen the value of having Cailee Smith
on staff for insights into this age group.
“None of us have kids that [age], so hav-
ing a twentysomething on staff who works
with teens is invaluable. She helps us de-
cide what’s cool to order and what kinds
of Bibles, t-shirts, hats, music, etc., are
‘in’ right now,” she says. Campbell not
only hires young people, she also includes
them in some buying decisions. “Allow
them to come up with events and ideas
that reach young people. Spend time in-
vesting in them. They’re the future of your
store and the church.” R+R
With more than 20 years in magazine and book
publishing, Lora Schrock is the owner of Edito-
rial Answers, LLC, www.editorialanswers.com.
The Official Magazine of CBA16 CBA Retailers+Resources | 10.15
Young Adults + +
continued from page 15
Pay attention to the space aesthetics, from the
overall vibe to the coffee you serve.
Singer Kyle Kupecky lives
out his passion for sharing
Jesus with young people
by touring with such artists
as Lecrae and MercyMe.
His wife, Kelsey, also has a
heart for youth. The actress,
who has appeared in
several faith-based films,
also is the designer of
“Possibilities,”a DaySpring
greeting card and gift line,
with her mother, New York Times bestsell-
ing author Karen Kingsbury.
CBA Retailers+Resources sat down with
the couple to get their perspective on
what’s needed to reach the YA generation.
CBA R+R: If young adults aren’t having
their needs met at church, where are they
going for fellowship and community?
Kupeckys: Anywhere someone will
listen to them. Whether that’s at school or
online, young people will go where they
feel they’re valued and included.
CBA R+R: Some statistics show this
group is leaving the church. Is that what
you’ve seen?
Kupeckys: Yes and no. We’ve seen that
families make all the difference. When
parents aren’t engaged in the church
community, usually the kids will end up
leaving the church once they hit college.
But for the families that are actively in-
volved in church, we’ve seen the kids stay
and become very involved. Parents play a
huge role here.
CBA R+R: How can Christian retailers
provide a place of community for young
adults?
Kupeckys: Young people like to be in-
spired. Providing places and opportunities
for inspiration and deep connection will
attract them. That could look like acoustic
concerts with local acts or maybe a“Cof-
fee and Music”night.
CBA R+R: Would partnering with youth
events help retailers reach this group? Or
is everything now done over social media?
Kupeckys: Partnering with local events
is a great way to get the ball rolling, but
social media is the marketing tool that can
personally touch your audience—but only
when it’s done right.You can encourage
someone and at the same time remind him
or her to come by your store for coffee.
Support and Java
KyleandKelseyKupecky
sayrelationshipiskey
fortheyoungadult
audience.
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