NAD Church Leaders and University Students Chat to Find Common Ground

Leaders of the North American Division (NAD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church met with student leaders from universities across the division on May 15. The goal was to determine what young people are concerned with and discuss what they might want church leadership to know.

“We really want to know what you have to say,” Tracy Wood, director for youth and young adult ministries at the NAD, said at the start of the online meeting. “The voices of students from your campuses can and do have a significant impact across [the North American Division].”

In addition to five church leaders from both union and division levels, eight students were present, representing Adventist and non-Adventist campuses across the division. After introductions, Wendy Eberhart, NAD vice president for ministries, shared information about division committees holding spots for students and other young adults.

“These are opportunities for you to have a voice in the church,” Eberhart explained. “NAD leadership continues to seek ways to reshape groups to represent the church more fully, and that includes you.”

Realities and Concerns of Young People in the Church

The main portion of the meeting was composed of questions posed to the students, specifically focused on their experience as young adults in the church. Wood started the discussion by asking, “What are some of the relevant cultural topics you and your young adult friends are navigating?”

The immediate answer, offered by Tiara Best, senior theology major and student chaplain at Washington Adventist University (WAU), was creating space for differences.

“WAU is a very diverse campus,” Best pointed out. “We want to reflect God in everything we say and do, but living our faith completely can make us look like oddballs. How do we create an environment that’s acceptable and enjoyable to those who don’t come from an Adventist background?”

Brooklyn Gerber, sophomore piano major and spiritual vice president for the student association at Walla Walla University, agreed that diversity of faith is an ever-present conversation, offering as an example her experience sharing lunch on campus with a Messianic Jew and meeting people from other Christian denominations.

Though Gerber said her friend groups want to be open and have conversations about the Adventist church, it can get complicated.

“The divisions, unions, and conferences — the hierarchy — is scary and confusing to a lot of people,” she said. “How can we make explaining the church less formidable? How can we make the system less intimidating to people unfamiliar with our church?”

At Pacific Union College, student administration has worked to embrace differences and create spaces and opportunities for all people to feel safe, included, and welcome, Ashley Castro Rodriguez explained. A junior theology major, Castro Rodriguez serves as religious vice president for PUC’s student association and was recently elected religious vice president for the Adventist Intercollegiate Association.

“We have found it really hard to connect post-COVID-19,” she continued. “We struggle to find a sense of belonging within our church, even for those of us who come from Adventist or Christian backgrounds.”

Castro Rodriguez said opportunities to gather and connect don’t always need to be church or worship spaces; sometimes, they can simply be putting out a table full of food and inviting anyone to come hang out. And after people get comfortable, she said, sometimes they start asking serious questions about faith, God, and the church.

Best agreed and shared about a WAU program the students started called Table Talk, which morphed into a more popular and regularly attended event than vespers.

“We come together and have conversations about life struggles — identity, purpose, love, relationships — topics we find ourselves wrestling with on a regular basis,” Best explained. “It appealed to a lot of non-Adventists because it created common ground. Our church conditions us to adopt an ‘us versus them,’ ‘not of the world’ perspective, but what distinguishes us from the world is our love for each other. We can be so culturally Adventist we forget love, and we must be careful of that. We need to create more spaces that include everyone.”

On the flip side are Adventist students attending non-Adventist universities and colleges. This poses a different challenge because the built-in community-focused structure may not be present. Neither, perhaps, are welcoming churches. And how the local churches engage with college students matters a lot.

“Finding a church community and feeling culturally connected is important,” Rory Ashmeade, a junior neuroscience major and Adventist Christian Fellowship (ACF) officer at Yale University, commented. “The welcoming community of my local church has made a huge difference in my church attendance because I know they want me there.”

Need for Transparency and Mental Health Support

Another hot topic among young adults is a constant feeling that church administration isn’t being completely honest.

“We have a lot of questions, and we’re only told curated pieces when we ask,” Natasha Richards, a graduate student in the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary and ACF liaison at Andrews University, commented. “Everything we hear from church leadership sounds like ‘lawyer-speak’ and doesn’t explain anything.”

Larissa Jeffery, graduate student at the seminary and president of the Women’s Clergy Network, concurred that transparency is crucial, particularly for today’s youth and young adults.

“Our generation is marked with skepticism,” Best added. “We need to know the ‘why’ behind things, and there can be no hidden agenda — or appearance of one.”

Other topics discussed included mental health. “To be whole is to be completely cared for. Mental health should definitely be emphasized, and more resources should be given to our colleges and universities,” Best said.

Leaving the Church but Not Leaving God

The discussion eventually turned to the subject of young adults leaving the church. Jeffery said there are three primary reasons she’s heard over and over in her conversations with other young adults. She mentioned the church’s treatment of members of the LGBTQ+ community, the church’s treatment of women as spiritual leaders, and the lack of accountability for church leadership when it comes to abuse, be it spiritual, sexual, or other.

“The decisions being made at an administrative level within the church continue to hurt and harm people within these groups, and they push them and those who love and support them away,” Jeffery commented. “It’s a great divide. The church doesn’t feel like a safe place, so people leave.”

However, the students were quick to assure NAD leaders that walking away from the church doesn’t equate to walking away from God.

“We are tired of hearing how young people need ‘revival,’ ” Castro Rodriguez commented. “To say we need revival is to say we’re spiritually dead, and that’s just not true. To continue to push that agenda is instead pushing people away. It feels like a numbers game to consider us ‘saved,’ and what we actually want is genuine connections with each other and with leadership.”

Lip service isn’t enough, either, Best said. Using young people to check a box instead of getting to know them doesn’t keep them interested. “We want to be genuinely wanted,” Best said.

Advice for Older Generation Church Leaders

Wood then challenged the group, if they could share a piece of advice with older-generation church leaders, what it would be? Richards immediately suggested legacies in church positions.

“A lot of leaders are about to retire, and very few have identified younger people they are mentoring or apprenticing for potential filling of their role upon retirement,” she said. “These positions should all have options for potential next-gen leaders when the time comes.”

Matthew Dormus, junior theology major and Mr. Oakwood University (similar to a student association president), picked up Richards’ thread and pointed out that the church in North America seems to think leaders need to be 50 or 60 before they can fill official leadership roles.

“The [General Conference secretary] became president of the South American Division before turning 40,” Dormus pointed out. “Filling these roles isn’t about power or prestige or age; it’s just about leadership.”

Overall, however, the students were eager to let church leaders know their frustrations are not from a place of malice but a place of intense care and hope.

“When we ask questions, even if it comes across as criticism, it’s because we love our church,” Gerber said. “I want to raise my kids the same way I was raised because I’m grateful to have grown up a part of the church.”

To close the meeting, Wood urged student leaders to stay connected to their church leaders. “Please reach out anytime you want to share anything,” he said. “You have our ears, you have our hearts, and we want to hear what you have to say. It matters, and you matter, and we’re so glad you’re here.”

The original version of this story was posted on the North American Division news site.