Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and The Churches That Reach Them, is a book by Ed Stetzer, Richie Stanley, and Jason Hayes. In it, the authors provide a great analysis of who eighteen-to-twenty-somethings are and what churches are doing to reach them. It’s no secret that many young adults leave or never enter the fellowship of a local church. This book seeks to find the answer not only to why congregations are not reaching them, but how they can effectively reach out to them. It is full of surprises and challenges. I highly recommend it to pastors, church leaders, and anyone with an interest in reaching the young adult population.
The book is divided into three main categories.
- Polling. Which covers the raw data and the reasoning for the survey. The author’s do a great job of breaking the data down into charts and statistics that can easily be interpreted and understood.
- Listening. In addition to polls, the research team also invested in over 5oo personal interviews with young adults across the polling spectrum in order to gain more valuable information. The findings of the interviews are shared in chapter format covering the generalities in regular text and setting out key images that often rose to the top.
- Reaching. In this section of the book the authors’ turn their attention to the churches that are reaching this segment of the population in seemingly unprecedented numbers. In doing so they breakdown what seem to be the similarities among how they appeal to young adults and the practical steps they are taking to be even more diligent in reaching this generation.
Lost and Found is a great read and the authors include several good features. The authors strive to present the material in such a way as to engage the reader not only with where young adults are, but how to reach them. They infuse the book with enough stories and quotes to ensure that the reader has not only heard the statistics, but has also heard the voice of this generation. I give it five star rating.
The Hill House 