Worlds Apart

Worlds Apart: Understanding the Mindset and Values of 18-25 Year Olds is the latest book from college ministry leader and thinker Chuck Bomar . It is an easy read. Bomar is able to clearly synthesize data and combine it with an obvious passion and love for emerging adults to make a handbook for parents, grandparents, ministry leaders, and others who want to better understand 18-25 year olds.

He provides insights into some characteristics of this generation while highlighting some generational differences as well as common ground. He calls the 18-25 year olds the “Generation Higher Ed.” This new stage of life, which has never existed before, developed as the percentage of Americans having some college education exploded (from 9% in 1950 to 76% in 2209) and the length of time to complete a bachelor’s degree lengthened to six years for approximately 57% of them.

Bomar builds on the identity stage development of James Marcia and forms his own five stage search for identity stage. This is perhaps the weakest part of the book. For his stages, Bomar says that Generation Higher Ed is always in multiple stages, shifting within each day. These are perhaps more illustrative of different ways emerging adults make meaning, rather than a stage.

There are appendices with practical notes for church leaders and for parents. These are broad brush thoughts, short on specifics. A better source for specifics might be in his College Ministry from Scratch.

The necessity for intergenerational relationships is a foundational concept for Bomar’s vision of ministry. In this volume he uses healthy relations to build bridges between the generations, and says that these relationships must be done with humility. For the older participant That includes listening, suspending judgment, and developing a reciprocal relationship. This means that the older adult also needs to ask of the younger, “How am I doing?”, “Where, in my life, do you see areas for growth?”, etc. Bomar acknowledges that this could be scary, but it takes the notion of relationships seriously.Such “learning with humility” may even strengthen your faith.

This is a good book to share with someone who needs to better understand college age people, but who would not be ready for the study required to read Jeffrey Arnett or Christian Smith. It is orientated toward the parent or ministry leader wanting to better understand the 18-25 year-olds in their life.

Worlds Apart: Understanding the Mindset and Values of 18-25 Year Olds. Church Bomar. Zondervan (Youth Specialties). Grand Rapids, MI. 2011