Fortress Press

Hear Us Out is listening that honors the dignity and worth of the speakers and their stories. The researchers reflect with curiosity and wonder on the potential of relationship and on how to keep the story alive together--the Sacred Story of hope and love, kept alive for generations through reimagination and the kind of generous connection between stories that we experience in this book. Yoder and her team help us to hear, invite us to connect. They challenge their readers to imagine relationships that nurture stories sacred and personal, lived individually and communally, for the well-being of us all. Not for the survival of the church, but for the well-being of us all--which is the story of life.

In a time when so much is changing, leaders are searching for insights to help them navigate the future with confidence. In Hear Us Out, we hear from those most affected by the change and most invested in the outcomes: youth and young adults. This book is a much-needed resource to add to the library of those invested in architecting a future faith that matters.

So many churches are "shrinkling"--shrinking in size and wrinkling with age. They say they want young people to return to the church . . . but do they, really? If there's one book I could recommend for churches to take seriously when they consider ways to welcome emerging generations into their midst, it would be Hear Us Out. It combines quality research with deep reflection and wide affection. Your congregation needs this book, and so do you!

If we want to know more about what is happening, or not happening, in our churches, we would do well to listen to those who no longer find church meaningful. This is why you need to read Hear Us Out. Sue Pizor Yoder and her colleagues in Co.lab.inq introduce us to the worlds, priorities, anxieties, wounds, and questions of Millennials and Gen Z. Their research and the stories that they have gathered reflect a startling picture of the church. But they also paint a beautiful picture of what the church could be: a place where belonging is at the center of our communities and a meaningful life is possible for everyone.

The critical theological question of our age is how we choose to belong to one another. In this age of deep global transformation, our sense of connection defines the boundaries of our courage to change for the better in the face of global warming and geopolitical unrest. In Hear Us Out, Suzie Pizor Yoder and her colleagues deepen our understanding of what is at stake in this moment of human transformation. It's a compelling call to action to share our stories, co-create a more just world, and take seriously the call to Love we hold at the center of the Christian life.