Growing older is a part of the natural course of life. People grow older and so do organizations. For many of our churches, we have noticed that we are not only growing older, but that we are at risk of no longer having any connection to younger generations. Based on the research from the Fuller Youth Institute, along with his 25+ year career as a DCE in congregational, university, and district settings Dr. Dave Rueter will walk us through the core commitments that Fuller’s Growing Young research found consistently in churches that are growing young demographically rather than growing old and begin to process toward strategies to bring those commitments into your church community as you reach out to young people in the context of your local ministry.
Dr. Dave Rueter is a rostered DCE and is certified by the Fuller Youth Institute as the official LCMS Growing Young speaker. Dr. Rueter is the author of Teaching the Faith at Home and Called to Serve (both CPH) and contributor to Relationships Count and Connected for Life (also both CPH). Since 1998 he has served as DCE for congregations in Huntington Beach, Rancho Cucamonga, and now Livermore, CA as well as on faculty at Concordia University Irvine and the staff of the Pacific Southwest District. Dr. Rueter is married to Andrea and has two sons, James and Wesley.