Overview
In a world where young people are increasingly disconnected from traditional religious institutions and influenced by social media, Faithful Futures offers church leaders a lifeline: practical, research-based tools to engage Gen Z and Gen Alpha in meaningful conversations about faith. This book provides actionable strategies that build trust and foster belonging in today's rapidly changing cultural landscape.
Traditional approaches to youth ministry are often outdated and ineffective for younger generations, says Josh Packard. Instead, he advocates an approach that emphasizes relational authority, cultivates belonging, and understands faith as an ongoing conversation. Drawing on fresh data, innovative practices, and more than twenty years of experience as a sociologist, Packard offers a comprehensive guide for religious leaders to understand and engage younger generations authentically.
Informed yet accessible, this book translates complex concepts into practical strategies, addressing the unique cultural and digital landscapes of today's youth and offering new ways to resonate with their realities. It features exercises, tools, charts, tables, and end-of-chapter discussion questions.
Traditional approaches to youth ministry are often outdated and ineffective for younger generations, says Josh Packard. Instead, he advocates an approach that emphasizes relational authority, cultivates belonging, and understands faith as an ongoing conversation. Drawing on fresh data, innovative practices, and more than twenty years of experience as a sociologist, Packard offers a comprehensive guide for religious leaders to understand and engage younger generations authentically.
Informed yet accessible, this book translates complex concepts into practical strategies, addressing the unique cultural and digital landscapes of today's youth and offering new ways to resonate with their realities. It features exercises, tools, charts, tables, and end-of-chapter discussion questions.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Gen Z and Gen Alpha
2. Faith Is a Conversation
3. A Disaffiliated World
4. Belonging Precedes Believing
5. The COVID Effect
6. Growing Up Online
7. Micronarratives
Index
1. Gen Z and Gen Alpha
2. Faith Is a Conversation
3. A Disaffiliated World
4. Belonging Precedes Believing
5. The COVID Effect
6. Growing Up Online
7. Micronarratives
Index
Endorsements
“Josh Packard is one of the voices I trust most when it comes to the faith and life journeys of today’s teenagers. His research is both profound and practical and gives us new lenses to see and appreciate the young people we care about most. If you care about the next generation, Faithful Futures is a must-read.”
Kara Powell, chief of leadership formation, Fuller Seminary; executive director, Fuller Youth Institute
“Faithful Futures is absolutely essential reading for youth ministers, parents, senior pastors, and anyone else who cares about young people and faith. With grace, wisdom, and a welcome dollop of common sense, Packard reframes the research we’ve been (mis)reading about young people and religion and offers up a refreshingly readable and surprisingly useful book. (Pro tip: Don’t skip the spot-on practical exercises from Packard’s cofounder, Megan Bissell.) If you read only one book on youth ministry this year, this should be the one.”
Kenda Creasy Dean, Mary D. Synnott Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture, Princeton Theological Seminary
“Josh Packard has once again given us a thoughtful, research-driven resource that meets this moment. His deep understanding of Gen Z and Gen Alpha helps youth workers move from theory to faithful practice. What I value most is the hopeful vision he casts. These generations are full of promise, and this book equips us to engage them with wisdom and care. Anyone serious about reaching young people should study this work closely.”
Jake Bland, president/CEO, Youth for Christ USA
“Maybe since the dawn of modernity listening for the sacred has been a struggle. But even so, in this late modern moment, it’s particularly difficult. It is hard work. Trying to hold on to anything sacred inside technological advances, capitalist drives, and political struggles has been a hallmark of modernity itself. But most often modernity has given us an empty cacophony because the sacred has been drowned in subjectivity. The only way back to something sacred—into any form of the sacred—is to listen. Josh Packard has given us an important way to listen to young people. And more, he’s given us a way to help lead them into listening. This book is filled with insights on the challenges and importance of listening and how this listening can reconnect us with the sacred. This is a timely and important book. It will go right onto my syllabi.”
Andrew Root, Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry, Luther Seminary; author of Evangelism in an Age of Despair
“In a season when it feels increasingly difficult to bridge cultural and generational differences, Josh Packard offers readers hope, practical tools, simple solutions, timely insights, and more. Faithful Futures is more than a book that helps readers understand and appreciate the opportunities young people bring to our communities; it is a road map that provides clear pathways for creating spaces where people of every generation can fully belong.”
Arthur L. Satterwhite III, vice president of strategy, Young Life
Author
Josh Packard
Josh Packard (PhD, Vanderbilt University) is a sociologist and cofounder of Future of Faith, which helps faith leaders expand and sustain relational ministries in today's rapidly evolving cultural landscape. He is the author of several books, including Church Refugees: Sociologists Reveal Why People Are DONE with Church but Not Their Faith and Meaning Making: 8 Values That Drive America's Newest Generations. A sought-after speaker and consultant, Packard has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USA Today, and Religion News Service. He lives in Greeley, Colorado.