Christian Smith on “emerging adulthood”
There is a new and important stage in life in American culture, and it is not entirely clear that the Christian church understands or particularly knows what to do with it. I am talking about what scholars call “emerging adulthood.” This is the time of life between ages 18 and 30, roughly, a phase which in recent decades has morphed into quite a new experience for many. Researchers in sociology, psychology, and human development have been investigating the contours of this new life stage and have recently published some fascinating books on the subject, whose findings are well worth pondering for their implications for church and culture.
One of the most helpful articles on what has become a much-discussed subject—young adults and the church—was John Seel’s “Recovering the Lost Logic of the Church” (“The institutional church,” he states, “only makes sense if truth is objective, if belief is determinative, if plausibility is communal, and if real presence is uniquely promised.”)
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