“LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”
– Habakkuk 3:2
You grow up in the company of your peers. School surrounds you with contemporaries: friends, chums, cronies, acquaintances, and even the occasional meanie. Your life story’s dramatis personae are never fewer than an attendance sheet is long.
And then comes that fateful day when you become so smart that you no longer need schooling. You leap out into the dim gray yonder in search of your place in the world. You find it, or it finds you, and you shortly realize you're nearly alone there.
“I see it happen all the time,” said Pastor Juan Cuevas, director of young adults for Grace Church. “High school and college kids are usually pocketed comfortably inside a big friend group, and bedazzled by the endless opportunities lying before them. Then they graduate, and the community they once took for granted seems to dissipate overnight.
“That, at its heart, is what The Co at Grace Church is all about. It’s the sense of belonging people in their 20s and 30s so often find themselves living without.”
Pastor Juan is a spiritual specialist: a deliverer of the Word to young people. He joined the Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru) while attending Washington State University, and continued working for his college church in the Pacific Northwest for 10 years before making his way to Grace Church of Eden Prairie.
“Grace Church noticed my experience reaching Gen Z and millennials – two characteristically hard-to-reach generations,” said Pastor Juan. “The church leaders asked me to help launch a new ministry: The Co, which welcomed 375 believers in Christ to its inaugural service in September of last year.”
The Co completely connected with the community its cofounders had contemplated accommodating. The crowds soon swelled beyond Grace Church’s lower-level auditorium’s ability to contain. Last June, The Co held service for a congregation of 855 in the main auditorium. Higher ground, indeed.
“Our mission is simple,” said Pastor Juan, omitting, in accordance with humility, to assign any credit for The Co’s meteoric growth to his relatability, impassioned preaching, or experienced spiritual leadership. “We’re here to reach and make disciples of young adults by building an authentic community, growing in faith, and pursuing Jesus together. We’re teaching the Word the way it has been successfully taught for thousands of years – the way that truly uplifts people – and it’s pulling them in by the hundreds.
“The Co convenes every Tuesday beginning at 6:30pm. We spend the first half hour mingling. Saying hi to friends over snacks, and just catching up with each other. The service kicks off with a couple songs of worship; a chance to decompress and reconnect for a second. I (or someone else on staff) then provides a 30-minute teaching taken straight from the Old or New Testament, focusing on real-world problems and their otherworldly solutions. We top it all off with a few more songs, but lots of people stick around to continue socializing after dismissal at 8pm.
“Those who would like to stay are welcome to join small group discussions about the evening’s sermon. Co-ed and gender-segregated gatherings are both held from 8:15 until 9:15pm. They're a great opportunity to share what you learned that evening, as well as gain insight from others that might otherwise have escaped you.
“I love what I do, and it’s not just because younger adults are so much fun to be around, and fill up a room with such inspiring energy while they’re worshipping Jesus. I love them because there is a hunger inside of them. It's that ages-old spiritual longing, which impels them to ask the big questions – the ones that have kept many great minds awake late at night. Who is God? How do I know Him? Is there something greater I can live for?
“The younger generations are typically characterized as lonely and anxious. Sadly, that’s not unfair. The Information Age has alienated them from their increasingly atomized communities, and the pandemic era had an all the more disastrous effect on human relationships – both with each other, and with God.
“The Co is breaking that norm. We’re welcoming everyone – everyone, barring those who are over the age of 39 – to come and discover an electrifying new environment where brothers and sisters in Christ sing, worship, and truly care for one other.
“I’m reminded of a Bible verse, like pastors so often are. It’s Habakkuk 3:2 – a prayer from the titular prophet, imploring God to make Himself evident so that all might look past their crises and recognize His hand at work. It comes to mind because I truly believe God is doing just that here at The Co.”
Connected. Community. Committed. Counter culture. Co-heirs. Commissioned. What do they mean? Find out at The Co this coming Tuesday! Service begins at 6:30 and lasts until 8:00pm, with optional study groups available afterward. And remember: no matter your age, you’re perpetually invited to Sunday service at 9:00 and 10:40am. Visit Grace.church to learn more!
"It’s the sense of belonging people in their 20s and 30s so often find themselves living without.”