What Is Threads?

I saw Landon coming down the hall toward me and I knew he had something important he wanted to discuss.

It was June 2003 and we were working together on a mission project in Alabama. Landon had come as an adult leader with his church’s youth group and he had an amazing experience serving God that week.

He was also carrying a heavy burden.

“I don’t want to go back to my church,” he said simply. “There is no one like me in my church who wants to study the Bible like I do, no one wants to serve God doing missions like we’ve done here this week, and there no one for me to just hang out with. It’s lonely being a Christian my age in my church.”

Landon’s words pierced my heart. Here was a young man who had a calling from Jesus Christ, yet he was isolated in that calling, yearning for others to join him in his life mission. He had been separated from God’s plan for community among believers. This missions experience had given him a glimpse of that plan and he understood what he was about to lose.

Yet, the most tragic part of Landon’s story is that it can be multiplied exponentially across our country and our world. Most people who fall in the age group between 18 and 34 exist outside the church of Jesus Christ, either because they find today’s evangelical church not to be relevant to their lives or because many churches have decided, either by design or by apathy they are not interested in reaching this generation.

Fourteen months ago, I joined group of people here at LifeWay devoted to creating a place for people 18 to 34 in the church and we went on a journey together to understand them. We studied what this generation’s needs are and how churches were attempting to meet those needs. We found wonderful churches of all sizes who were doing a great job ministering to this generation. We found many more churches who were struggling to make an impact, despite having loving, passionate people who were willing to do whatever it took to reach this generation.

We found a monster of a problem, in churches of all sizes, denominations and locations. But the problem can’t be illustrated much better than this piece of information from our own Southern Baptist Convention.

In 1980, more than 100,000 people ages 18-29 were baptized in Southern Baptist Churches, inside a U.S population of about 216 million people.

In 2005, although the U.S. population grew to the brink of the 300 million mark, the number of people ages 18-29 baptized in SBC churches dropped to around 60,000. While just typing these figures, my heart breaks all over again, just like it did when Landon first told me his story. I sincerely hope yours does as well.

There is an answer to this problem—a growing, vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ. His saving grace is reaching for them and His arms are open to welcome young, isolated individuals into His family through His church.

LifeWay’s part in in responding to this problem is Threads—and all you will find here at threadsmedia.com.

Threads is about four key ideas—community, worship, service and the uniting of generations within the church. The heart of Threads is found in Romans 12 and Colossians 3.

It’s about Christ-breathed relationships that turn individual, lonely lives into communities of people who love and care about each other. It’s about deep Bible study where God speaks into the lives of those who need to hear His answers.

It’s about worshipping God with our lives.

It’s about understanding the grace Jesus extended to us on the cross and embracing it. It’s about having concrete, life-changing help to those in need in Jesus’ name and sharing the Good News with everyone.

It’s about connecting people in their 20s and 30s with older, seasoned Christians who have love, experience and advice to give to people who are just starting out in life and in their walk with Christ. A personal word: This need is not new. We’re late, we all know it, and for that we sincerely apologize. We’re running hard to catch up and give you, our churches, the help you need.

For these past 14 months, we have been praying, seeking God for answers and studying his churches in an effort to find answers to help you reach this generation. We believe we have found some powerful information, trends and best practices that God will use to help you build a powerful ministry to this age group in your church.

We will be extending this information, tools, Bible study products, training and events to you through this site in the next few months and years.

One word of caution, though. We will be suggesting to you new methods, new ideas and new wineskins. We will not be changing the message given to us in God’s holy, inerrant Word. We will be changing the methodology and the conversation—for one purpose—to reach this generation.

Landon doesn’t need to be alone any longer. And his generation needs to know, love and and serve Jesus Christ.

Come and join us as we welcome this generation to the body of Christ and set them free to make a difference in the world!

New to Threads? Not sure where to start? Check out this downloadable “Introducing Threads” PDF for a good starting place!