Reconstruct

We are at a crossroads moment in the life of the western church, statistically reaching the point of irreversible decline. Young people faced with the option of either defend the broken systems of Christianity, or reject faith entirely, are walking away.

We believe a new vision is necessary among a deconstructed generation. An honest vision, that confronts the brokenness. And yet a hopeful vision that fuels a new movement of Jesus as we move from the center to the edges of cultural influence.

Hakeem, Tom, and myself each have younger brothers who are Gen Z. When I (Keithen) was 12 years old, my parents told me that I was going to have another brother. My younger brother is now 17 years old, a junior in high school and centered in the years designated as Gen Z. I wake up each day in prayer for him, and dream about the kind of church his generation will create.

Each of us have been transformed by Jesus, caught up in a vision of life with him. Far from giving in to hopelessness and despair in the face of mounting opposition to Christianity, we see a courageously orthodox and spirit filled generation rising. The church in the west is much like the valley of dry bones, and many are asking the question of Ezekiel, “Can these dry bones live?

Filled with the holy spirit and embodying the passion of the remnant throughout history, we believe the future of the church is a generation filled with more power and purpose than ever.

We believe that these dry bones can and will live.

1 in 2 young people raised in Christian families will walk away from their faith by the time they hit university. Many teenagers are disillusioned by the church, turned off by hypocrisy, and swept into secular assumptions about the world. Most young people have not found that their questions and passions have been welcomed in the church, causing a mass exodus of Gen Z from following Jesus.

Gen Z conversations about faith online are usually either : deconstruction or blind optimism. Neither are helpful or productive.

We create a forum of conversation that re-ignightes hope for the deconstructed, vision for the church, and empowering for young people.

We have found a large vacuum for digital content like this.

My name is Keithen Schwahn. My life is driven by a simple question: “what is the future of the church?” As a leader, communicator, and pastor, all my work centers around introducing secular young people to the person of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Our vision is to raise up resilient disciples in the most difficult soil around the country. After 10 years in Portland, my wife and I moved to New York to build a movement of young people with Jon Tyson at Church of the City New York.

Hakeem Bradley is a scholar and teacher on the team at Bible Project. He is a once in a generation prophetic voice, focused on reforming the people of God. Raised in an Islamic cult, Hakeem found Jesus as a teenager and now helps people all over the world to find life he has found.

Tom Gomez is a leader of A Jesus Youth in Portland Oregon. A college athlete turned theologian, Tom is passionate about spiritual formation, shaping young leaders, and catalyzing movements of prayer.