Josiah Kennealy wants to engage an age group that’s often
overlooked. “We don’t want to write them off as a generation, but
instead, lean in and reach them where they are. We can’t have
60% of millennials and Generation Z walk away from their faith.”
Cedar Valley Church (CVC) in Bloomington, MN added Josiah
to their team as the Young Adults Pastor four years ago. During
that time he has watched the Young Adult (YA) Ministry reach
hundreds of young adults, ages 18-30. At CVC, his team designs
YA events with the non-believer and unchurched person in mind.
These quarterly YA events feature live worship, a guest speaker,
and an after party. Though scheduled for 7-9pm, it is not
uncommon to still see 100 young adults still chatting in the atrium
at 11pm. While there, attendees have opportunities to get plugged
in with the church. At their YA Fall event, 15 new people signed
up to volunteer with other church ministries and 40 new people
signed up for a Life Group. CVC has several YA Life Groups that
are geared towards college students, working professionals, and
young married couples. These Life Groups serve as a place for
weekly connection and spiritual growth.
This past summer, Supt. Mark Dean approached Josiah with an
opportunity to serve as the Young Adult Liason with Minnesota
Student Ministries. While still on staff with CVC, Josiah is now
broadening his perspective to the state level.
Josiah has a vision to expand Young Adult ministry in Minnesota.
He posed these questions: “What if each of the 240+ churches
in MN had something for young adults? What if every church
started or added at least one young adult life group or prayer
group?” He also has a dream to see each church help a young
adult fulfill a call to minister overseas.
At CVC, they have already seen this happen. Lead Pastor Neal
Rich prayed that 10 new missionaries would be called and sent
out from their congregation. He believed that the majority would
be young adults. After Pastor Neal shared his dream at a YA event,
five people approached Josiah saying they felt called into full-time
missions. (Watch more on this story at vimeo.com/mnaog).
“God is calling a generation of young leaders to rise up. God has a
bigger plan for our District and the state of Minnesota than we do
and we just want to be part of that.” – Josiah Kennealy
Josiah wants to be a resource to local churches throughout
Minnesota. Follow him on Twitter (@JosiahKennealy) or contact
him directly at .
