RE-ENGAGING EMERGING ADULTS IN ECCLESIAL LIFE THROUGH CHRISTIAN PRACTICES J. Matt Mitchell* Elizabeth Björling Poest Benjamin D. Espinoza Introduction Arnett's theory of emerging adulthood has revolutionized the way in which scholars and practitioners understand individuals ages 1829 ־. Arnett's theory developed as a result of changes taking place in American culture. 1 He noticed individuals in their late teens and twenties were pursuing more education and delaying marriage compared to earlier generations. Arnett argues, "These changes over the past half century have altered the nature of development in the late teens and early twenties for young people in industrialized societies." 2 Therefore, the theory of emerging adulthood argues for a new developmental stage between adolescence and young adulthood. 3 Arnett describes the period of emerging adulthood as having the following characteristics: 1. It is the age of identity exploration, of trying out various possibilities, especially in love and work. 2. It is the age of instability. 3. It is the most self-focused age of life. 4. It is the age of feeling in-between, in transition, neither adolescent nor adult. 5. It is the age of possibilities, when hopes flourish, when people have an unparalleled opportunity to transform their lives. 4 * J. Matt Mitchell serves as Senior Pastor, Greenwood Hills Wesleyan Church, High Point, NC and is a Ph.D. student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Elizabeth Björling Poest serves as Preteen and Junior High Pastor, College Church of the Nazarene, Bourbonnais, IL and is a Ph.D. student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Benjamin D. Espinoza serves as Pastor, Covenant Church, Bowling Green, OH. The Journal of Youth Ministry 34