180º Symposium

“My, how you’ve grown!” a visiting grandparent might say to a child or early adolescent. Physical growth might be the easiest to notice and to measure. But physical growth usually ends by the late teens or early 20s, unless you’re growing outward instead of upward. In fact, later in life you’re likely to shrink in stature.

 

What about mental growth? After learning to talk, how about learning your letters and numbers? Reading opens a whole new world. But mental growth often goes in spurts rather than in regular increments. Some excel in learning information but lack common sense.

 

We could ask similar questions about social and emotional growth. Sometimes these seem difficult to measure, and there might be setbacks rather than constant or steady growth.

 

But the big question has to do with spiritual growth. Are young people growing spiritually? Are you? Can we identify stages or somewhat predictable markers? When is comes to ministry to young people, they might grow in similar ways as you did, or they might grow differently. Jesus talked about “first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear” (Mark 4:28). Does this mean spiritual growth happens naturally? But different seeds grow at different rates, and then there’s the matter of water, sun, soil—so many influential factors. 

 

Erik Erikson posited eight psycho-social stages of development in the lifespan. Other developmentalists created models with six stages, four stages, seven stages, or as many as you choose—see Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, Kohlberg’s stages of moral development, Fowler’s stages of spiritual development, and Gillespie’s experiences of faith. The majority of these stages typically occur in the first 25-30 years of life. No wonder ministry to young people continues to be so important! 

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A change in a stage provides a “natural” transition, which means these can be somewhat predictable passages to grow or possibly shrink, bend toward God or away from God. Actions at one stage can radically change in another stage. 

 

For those drawn to developmental theories, temper yourself with Wesley Ellis’ Youth Beyond the Developmental Lens (2024). 

 

But stages aren’t the only factor. Generations often have unique generalizations based on what happens as they “come of age.” Living through 9/11 in the USA impacts a generation, as does a pandemic or major technological advance like computers, cell phones, or AI. But are these true for everyone. What about those born on the cusp of a “generation”? What about those born in a different part of the world? Have American impacts been generalized to the whole world once again?

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Sometimes generations describe one nation or ethnic group or race, not all. In many countries, emigration and immigration radically change generalizations. North Americans might refer to the generations of Baby Booms, Baby Busters (Gen X), Millennials (Gen Y), Gen Z, and Generation Alpha. But what if you were born in Ukraine or Cuba or Sudan or Gaza? Do the same generations apply to you? 

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North America has been composed of immigrant people groups throughout history, unless you are a Native American. How does that affect your group? What happens in this mix of diversity, especially when racism continues, even though other coded terms, such as “separate but equal,” “the war on drugs,” and “make America great again,” have replaced the self-descriptive ones of racial prejudice. How to stages and ages play out when it comes to racism? 

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In the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, immigrant growth continues to be the primary church growth. While church membership might seem somewhat static, and church attendance has dropped, the composition of SDA churches seems to be ahead of the coloring of the general population. How does immigration affect the stage or age of immigrant young people, and their parents? In such settings, the “second generation” or “Hispanic 2.0” or “Hispanic 1.5” might better describe immigrant young people rather than something like “Gen Z.”

 

 

Youth ministry takes place on a regular basis with people of all ages leading. The highlights might come at unexpected times, but often stand out at special events. Think of your own spiritual journey. It probably includes highlights and also a gradual shaping over the long term as well.

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In 2025, the topic was discipleship—including a process over time of becoming more Christlike. Our topic for the 180° Symposium March 31-April 2, 2026, focuses on the spectacular internal experience—the type of thing when a young person says something to the effect of, “God showed up!” It’s not that God isn’t present at other times, but the moments in which God seems to unmistakably show himself. 

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The Bible contains multiple examples of this, whether it was Jacob’s vision of the ladder connecting heaven and earth, Moses at the burning bush, Elijah on Mount Carmel, and multiple stories about Jesus in the Gospels and the early church in Acts.

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What about now? Can you identify when God shows up? Where is this likely to occur? When? and Why? Does great programming make the difference? Do larger budgets yield more results? Is it completely up to God and we just need to wait? What role does leadership play? Can these things be replicated? How do you deal with things when you expect God to show up, but nothing happens—the fire doesn’t fall?

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Because our term “young people” includes children, youth, and young adults, are there similarities regardless of your age or stage in life? Are there differences? Is it more likely that God will show up when the same age group gathers, when the group is intergenerational, or does any of that make a difference?

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Those interested in participating in the 180° Symposium in-person or online are invited to register. There is no fee for participating due to the sponsorship of the Center for Youth Evangelism, the Youth and Young Adult Ministries Department and the Children’s Ministries Department of the North American Division , and AdventSource, but registration gives you access to the materials and links associated with the symposium. You can register by clicking on this link: https://cye.formstack.com/forms/180_symposium_registration_2027_

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Those interested in submitting a one-page proposal to present a paper are invited to do so by October 1, 2026. Email it to Steve@involveyouth.org.

 

For more information, see “Be a Writer” or “Call for Papers.” Following are potential topics for papers, or you may come up with your own topic based on the overall topic for the 2027 symposium: “AGES AND STAGES: Developmental and Generational Diversity When Ministering To/With Young People.” For the 180° Symposium, the term “young people” includes youth, young adults, and children (from birth to approximately 30 years of age).

 

Potential sub-topics and questions to address:

• How Stage Development Helps Ministry

• How Stage Development Hinders Ministry

• How Stages Help Spirituality

• How Stages Hinder Spirituality

• Spirituality for Different Stages of Young People

• The Challenge of the Next Generation

• The Challenge of Previous Generations

• Changes and Continuity from One Generation to the Next

• Scriptural Foundations and Principles Regarding Development Stages

• The Changes With Stages

• People Who Don’t Fit the Expected Stages

• People Who Don’t Develop

• Reasons People in Similar Stages or Groups Stick Together

• Intergenerational Church in a World of Stage Differentiation

• Programming for Different Stages of Development

• The Masters Who Determine Developmental Stages

• When Ministering to One Stage Runs Counter to a Different Stage

• Conversion at Different Stages of Development

• Church Worship and Developmental Stages

• Church Worship and Diversity of People Groups or Stages

• Talking Down to Younger Stages

• Talking Down to Minority Groups

• When Language Separates

• When Skin Color Separates

• The Boon and Bane of Representation of Your Group

• Why Have Age-Segregated Ministry?

• Why Have Ethnic Churches?

• Stereotypes—Ways They Help; Ways They Hurt

• Why Can’t Things Be Like the “Good ol’ Days”?

• Causes for Change; Inhibitors of Change

• Ways Young People Today are Different From Previous Generations

• Ways Young People Today are the Same As Previous Generations

• Ways One Ethnic Group is Different from Others

• Ways One Ethnic Group is Similar to Others

• Overcoming Age or Ethnic Discrimination

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