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Articles by PJ Dunn
How to Be a Church for Young Adult Skeptics
cottonbro studio photo | Pexels The challenge in reaching skeptics isn’t a lack of answers. It’s creating enough space for their questions to lead them toward the answers. By PJ Dunn Oh, look! Another artificial intelligence (AI)-generated church logo, promotional graphic, or meme. It looks clean — sort of. And anyone can type a few words and suddenly become a graphic artist. Think of how much time and money churches can save by using AI to create all the images they need.
Connecting Young Adults to Mentors in Your Church
Goodboy Picture Company photo | Getty Images Young adults need mentors when the job disappoints, a relationship strains or ends, the prayer seems unanswered, or obedience becomes costly. By PJ Dunn When I was in my 20s, I moved to Fort Worth, Texas to attend seminary. I felt called to ministry and carried plenty of energy, questions, and opinions. I quickly connected with a local church where Dr. Randy Stone and I first met.
How churches can help young adults apply biblical principles to AI
Photo via Unsplash. It’s the end of the school year, and the student ministry is hosting a graduation party. The scene feels familiar but the conversation doesn’t. As the pastor congratulates seniors, he overhears one say, “Even though I’m moving away for college, at least my artificial intelligence (AI) girlfriend will never leave my side.” The pastor pauses. He knew students used AI for homework, schedules and social media. But he didn’t know AI dating had entered the conversation.
How Churches Can Help Young Adults Apply Biblical Principles to AI
Solen Feyissa photo | Unsplash Churches need to help young adults use AI with biblical wisdom before they are formed by a tool instead of conformed to Christ. By PJ Dunn It’s the end of the school year, and the student ministry is hosting a graduation party. The scene feels familiar, but the conversation doesn’t. As the pastor congratulates seniors, he overhears one say, “Even though I’m moving away for college, at least my AI girlfriend will never leave my side.” The pastor pauses.
FIRST-PERSON: The Cooperative Program is worth recovery
For a century, the Cooperative Program (CP) has been the primary means through which Southern Baptists have cooperated to advance our Great Commission works of international missions, church planting, theological education, and more. However, recent giving trends among Southern Baptist churches call into question the ability of the CP to have just as great an impact in the next 100 years.
FIRST-PERSON: Revitalization is not a label; it is an invitation
When churches hear the word revitalization, many assume someone has already made a judgment. This church is declining. This pastor has failed. This congregation is behind. But that is not how we need to speak, and it is certainly not how we need to shepherd. Revitalization is not a label. It is an invitation. Words shape rooms. When people feel judged, they defend the past, protect familiar structures, and bury honest questions under fear before those questions ever become prayer.
FIRST-PERSON: Revitalization is not a label; it is an invitation
Photo by Henry Durand, Christian Index. When churches hear the word revitalization, many assume someone has already made a judgment. This church is declining. This pastor has failed. This congregation is behind. But that is not how we need to speak, and it is certainly not how we need to shepherd. Words shape rooms. When people feel judged, they defend the past, protect familiar structures and bury honest questions under fear before those questions ever become prayer. Pastors know this tension.
May 27, 2026 | Baptist Press
News Articles By , posted May 27, 2026 in Metadata: Series: Your Daily JoeFormat(s): Text Articles Share this post: Resource Categories: Articulos en Español BP Toolbox Comics News Articles By Topic By Scripture By Series By Author By Year By Event SBC Life Articles Browse Resources By: Author Scripture Series Topic Event Year Media Type: FIRST-PERSON: Revitalization is not a label; it is an invitation By , posted May 26, 2026 SBC DIGEST: Betty Drummond dies; SBTS confers posthumous...
FIRST-PERSON: Revitalization is not a label; it is an invitation
When churches hear the word revitalization, many assume someone has already made a judgment. This church is declining. This pastor has failed. This congregation is behind. But that is not how we need to speak, and it is certainly not how we need to shepherd. Revitalization is not a label. It is an invitation. Words shape rooms. When people feel judged, they defend the past, protect familiar structures, and bury honest questions under fear before those questions ever become prayer.
Parental challenges, stress stymie Scripture engagement, American Bible Society finds
iStock Metadata: Topic(s): Discipleship, FamilyFormat(s): Text Articles Share this post: PHILADELPHIA (BP) – Parents are open to Scripture engagement, but are stymied by challenges including work/ family balance, fatigue and financial provision, the American Bible Society (ABS) said in its latest release from the 2026 State of the Bible.
How Do Older Adults Invest in Young Adult Ministry?
John Moeses Bauan photo | Unsplash When senior adults intentionally invest in young adult ministry leaders, the impact extends far beyond one ministry area. By PJ Dunn On a quiet Wednesday afternoon, a senior adult deacon sits across the table from a young ministry leader in the church. Coffee, possibly warmed up from the Sunday before, sits between them as they connect.
5 Tips for Avoiding Volunteer Burnout
Churches do not usually burn people out because they care too little about ministry. More often, they burn people out because they care too little about process. The problem is not always the people. The problem is often the pathway. When churches exhaust people, they blame the situation rather than the process. They say no one wants to serve. They say people are less committed than they used to be. They say the same few people always step up. Sometimes all of that feels true.
7 Steps to Starting a Young Adult Ministry, Not Another Program
Vitaly Gariev photo | Unsplash For every new program, you’ll eventually need another program. But starting a young adult ministry can be sustainable with these steps. By PJ Dunn On a spring Sunday night, the pastor calls a leadership meeting to talk through how they can reach young adults. The biggest hurdle isn’t awareness. It’s movement. The room can name every reason ministry feels harder than it used to. What they need is a shift from “why we cannot” to “how we will.” The leaders love the Lord.
How your church can reach, disciple divorced young adults
An exhausted 28-year-old slips into the service 15 minutes late and finds a seat in the back row just in time for announcements. A slide promotes a picnic for young families. She wonders if she’s invited, but she doesn’t have kids or a family anymore. Divorced for a few months now after a short marriage, she wants to know if she still fits in at the church she once called home. She didn’t lose her faith. But she lost her place. She grew up in this church as a student.
FIRST-PERSON: Help your neighbors find your church using Google
Photo via Unsplash. One free and highly effective way to reach your community is for a church to claim its Google Maps church listing. People want authenticity, and they’re using Google Maps, not just Google searches, to see who you are. Studies show: 86% of consumers utilize Google Maps to find companies. 76% of people who search for a business visit within a day. 97% of consumers will Google search to decide if they will visit you or not.
NOBTS Year in Review: 2025 celebrated as year of ‘great joy’
NEW ORLEANS – 2025 represented another great year of academic and ministry success for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College. “This past year at NOBTS and Leavell College has brought us great joy in New Orleans, and God has richly blessed the School of Providence and Prayer,” said NOBTS President Jamie Dew. “Our students and faculty have continued to show a remarkable commitment to the task before them.
Why everyone in ministry needs a Barnabas
Adobe Stock Photo. Do not publish. Metadata: Format(s): Text Articles Share this post: More than one writer has noted that all of us need three relationships: a Paul (a mentor), a Timothy (a mentee), and a Barnabas (a peer/friend). In my own teaching, I argue that all of us need a fourth relationship: that is, a relationship with a lost person with whom we are seeking to share the Gospel. If we can’t name that person, we’re likely not burdened enough or intentional enough in sharing the Gospel.
FIRST-PERSON: Help your neighbors find your church using Google | Baptist Press
Adobe Stock Photo. Do not publish. Metadata: Series: First PersonTopic(s): Churches and MinistryFormat(s): Text Articles Share this post: One free and highly effective way to reach your community is for a church to claim its Google Maps church listing. People want authenticity, and they’re using Google Maps, not just Google searches, to see who you are.
A Silent Young Adult Night: Reaching Young Adults This Christmas
Levi Grossbaum photo | Unsplash Christmas is busy, yet for many young adults, a silent night is a familiar reality all year. And Christmas can sharpen it. By PJ Dunn The church glows with candles and Christmas trees. Families arrive for the Christmas Eve service dressed in Christmas best, ugly sweaters, and pajamas. Children wiggle in the pews, hoping this is the year they get to hold a real candle. As the choir begins “Silent Night,” the room feels full.
Is It Time to Start a Ministry Residency at Your Church?
A ministry residency isn’t a program you purchase. It’s a way of forming, equipping, and sending called people. By PJ Dunn A multi-vocational pastor folds chairs Sunday night after a fellowship gathering at his church of 75 people. He knows them all by name, their stories, their families, and—for many—their walk with the Lord. It reminds him of a few years back when he was in a ministry residency program at a larger church near his college, where he accepted the call to ministry.
How Churches Can Reach and Disciple Divorced Young Adults
Connect divorced young adults to discipleship opportunities so they can take the next step in their faith journey. By PJ Dunn An exhausted 28-year-old slips into the service 15 minutes late and finds a seat in the back row just in time for announcements. A slide promotes a picnic for young families. She wonders if she’s invited, but she doesn’t have kids or a family anymore.
The Preaching Style That Reaches Young Adults
Research shows younger adults are showing up to church more often than other generations. Is your preaching reaching young adults? By PJ Dunn The gospel never changes. But our tone and tools should, if we hope to reach young adults. Nearly a decade ago, Dr. Steve Parr and Dr. Tom Crites asked a hopeful question in Why They Stay: What helps kids and teens remain connected to the local church into adulthood?
10 Ways to Scare Off Young Adults From Your Church
We don’t mean to alienate young adults from the church, but blind spots can quietly signal, “This isn’t for you,” causing them to drift away. By PJ Dunn As you step up to welcome the congregation, your heart skips a beat. Is that a new young family? Will they be the first step in reaching young adults at your church? You’ve been working hard behind the scenes, upgrading the worship stream, revamping the website, and even making the occasional social media post. Maybe it’s finally paying off.
Should Your Church Start a Young Adult Service?
Here are four considerations to help you determine if it’s time for your church to have a separate young adult service. By PJ Dunn Walking through the fellowship hall, grabbing a cup of coffee, and making his rounds, a pastor heads toward the hallway where groups are meeting on a Sunday morning. It’s not often he has this kind of time to enjoy a cup of fresh coffee, engage in relationships, and settle in the presence of the church before worship.
How Do You Deal With Cohabiting Young Adults in Your Ministry?
Most young adults walking through your church doors will have cohabited or are currently cohabiting. So, how do you reach them? By PJ Dunn After mingling and catching up on the past week, your young adult group eases into their time together with announcements. The group is having their annual camping trip this summer, and you slowly pass around a sign-up sheet for those interested. The clipboard makes its lap around the group and into the hands of the co-leader, and their stomach sinks.
3 Ways Your Kids Ministry Could Hinder Your Young Adult Ministry
Is your kids ministry holding back your young adult ministry? Every connection point is important in making disciples. By PJ Dunn A new young family is walking through the front doors of your church. Excited at a chance to connect a fresh face to your church family, you walk up and say hello. It’s just a few moments before worship starts, so you rush them down to the kids welcome desk, get the children’s name tags, and hand the parents their security tag for pick up.
COMMENTARY: 5 ways to minister to college students this summer
Many things run through the minds of college students at the end of the academic year. Exams are over, and summer is here! Families and friends ask when you’ll be back, and you begin counting the weeks and days of relaxing, maybe working, or going on exciting trips. Looking at your calendar, you see six to eight weeks of being away from school and back “home.” However, as an emerging adult, you start to feel “home” changing.
5 Ways to Minister to College Students This Summer
For many college students returning home for the summer, the church didn’t move, but the seat doesn’t feel saved for them anymore. By PJ Dunn Many things run through the minds of college students at the end of the academic year. Exams are over, and summer is here! Families and friends ask when you’ll be back, and you begin counting the weeks and days of relaxing, maybe working, or going on exciting trips.
My Kid's in the Basement—Help! - Lifeway Research
To understand the modern reality of kids living in their parents’ basement, we must consider both their upbringing and external factors. By PJ Dunn Years of dreaming and shopping for an RV have led to the big moment: hitting the road in a motor home with your spouse for a trip of a lifetime. Just as you’ve mapped out your route through the Grand Canyon, you and your spouse get a group text from your daughter.
Dating and the Church: How Should the Church Treat Singles?
Is church the answer to dating? Make disciples, and along the way, like-minded followers may take the next step in their relationships. By PJ Dunn It’s Sunday afternoon at your church, and everyone has gathered for a potluck. All the food offerings at the event are laid out properly, from deviled eggs to three types of mac and cheese, from cookies still in their plastic containers from the store to fresh famous banana pudding from your most tenured potluck contributor.
Who Is a Young Adult?
Defining who a young adult is in your community is one more step toward connecting them in the church and making disciples. By PJ Dunn The term “young adults” can be traced back to the mid-1800s, when the Young Men’s Christian Association (the YMCA) was founded as a haven for young men. In the mid-1900s, Billy Graham was the first president of Youth for Christ, an organization that saw millions of young adults come to Christ.
What Young Adults Look for in a Church
Many of the frustrations surrounding our failure to reach young adults are less about them and more about the church. By PJ Dunn Church leaders, congregants, and pastors verbally acknowledge the need to reach young adults with phrases like “Young people just don’t come to church anymore,” “Growing up, we never missed a Sunday,” or maybe even “We have a lost generation, Lord come quickly.” Why are young adults so hard to find in our communities?
4 Steps to Become a Church That Welcomes Young Adults
The church exists today because it reached young adults in the past. Be encouraged that you and your church can reach and engage young adults. By PJ Dunn Sunday morning! The sun is out, the church doors are unlocked, the AC is on (and working!), and the fellowship hall smells of homemade breakfast. A week has come and gone, and now it’s time to worship and fellowship with the church family.
Commentary: The power of Biblical community in disciple-making among young adults
As believers, we are called to live in community with one another, reflecting God's love and fulfilling Christ's mandate to make disciples.” Finding a genuine community can be challenging. Georgia consistently ranks as the loneliest state in America. Nearly 50% of all adults in Georgia are lonely, and 30% of those are young adults under 30, according to the US Surgeon General's report in 2023.
Commentary: A friend worth having will carry people to Jesus, despite the obstacles - The Christian Index
Posted Thursday, May 9, 2024 8:45 am Let us take encouragement from the four friends in Mark 2:1-5 and be relentless in bringing others to Christ, embodying the spirit of love and sacrifice that defines true discipleship.” Mark 2:1-5 provides a powerful account of being a friend worth having to carry people to Jesus. This passage describes a paralytic man being carried by four of his friends to Jesus, unable to reach Him on his own.
Commentary: 3 lies single pastors believe
Recent news Being called to bi-vocational or vocational ministry is unique and as rewarding as it is terrifying. Compound that with being a single adult, and the calling to ministry that once felt like a spiritual high now feels like an island of isolation. Carrying the burdens of day-to-day ministry alone will often feel less than whole compared to the American ideal of a married couple with a family and pet. from a stranger-turned-best-friend.
Commentary: Easter is almost here, and your online campus needs attention
Posted Thursday, March 14, 2024 2:50 pm Pastor, opening a second campus may have only seemed possible for churches with vast resources. However, your online services are an online community that is local and global in its reach.” With many churches now having worship online, how will your church empower volunteers to help you relationally address this platform?
Commentary: Small groups need to be nurtured in order to flourish
Understanding the unique context of your church is the first step toward building a flourishing group ministry.” Small groups serve as vital threads in church life, weaving together individuals in fellowship, discipleship, and mission. Just as soon as a new group is launched, questions of long-term success arise. How will we measure success? How will we keep our groups on mission? What content will they teach week over week or year over year?
Shifting the mindset of discipleship
Your mindset determines so much of your daily decision making. A mindset is your beliefs, ideas, and attitude toward a circumstance or challenge that you will take action on. For example, I grew up in Ohio and learned to drive in the snow and ice. When I drive over ice, I have a mindset that I should slow down, make slow movements, and not panic. However, if you grew up and never encountered snow and ice, you may not have this mindset even though you have the knowledge.
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