Welcoming the Future Church - by Jonathan Pokluda (Paperback)

About the Book

Young adult ministry expert offers practical steps for ministering effectively to Millennials, including success stories and failures and transferable principles for mobilizing a generation toward Jesus.

Book Synopsis

If you're not reaching the future of the church, your church has no future. As much sting as that statement has, it's hard to argue with. Yet many churches have no idea how to attract and retain younger generations.

If you want to understand how to reach, teach, and empower young adults in your church, Jonathan "JP" Pokluda is ready to show you how. Sharing stories of successes and failures during his years of ministering to Millennials, JP offers you transferable principles that will help you mobilize the next generation toward Jesus. He encourages and equips you to

- be real
- teach the whole truth
- hold traditions loosely
- find young leaders
- give the ministry away
- and so much more

Tomorrow's church is out there, waiting for you to care, to reach out, to understand their struggles, and to show them why today's church needs, wants, and cherishes them.

From the Back Cover

Tomorrow's church is out there, waiting for you to care, to reach out, to understand their struggles, and to show them why today's church needs, wants, and cherishes them. Yet many churches have no idea how to attract and retain younger generations. In this paradigm-shifting book, Jonathan "JP" Pokluda shows you how, encouraging and equipping you to

- be real
- teach the whole truth
- hold traditions loosely
- find young leaders
- give the ministry away
- and so much more

If you want your church to have a future, you have to be actively reaching the future church.


"When it comes to the next generation and the call to adulting, nobody does it better than Jonathan 'JP' Pokluda. That's why I am grateful he is pulling back the curtain and sharing the script on his ministry to young adults."--Kyle Idleman, senior pastor of Southeast Christian Church and author of Not a Fan and Don't Give Up

"Learn from one of the greatest practitioners I have ever met who will prophetically remind you of truths that work, not only for the rising generations but for all people."--Todd Wagner, senior pastor of Watermark Community Church and author of Come and See

"JP is watching the next generation come back to the church, and this book will help you engage in the same work."--Jennie Allen, author of Nothing to Prove and founder and visionary of IF: Gathering


Jonathan "JP" Pokluda is lead pastor of Harris Creek Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, and former leader of The Porch, where he saw the ministry grow from 150 to more than 7,000 young adults. The author of the bestselling Welcome to Adulting, Pokluda came to understand the grace of the gospel in his early twenties, which ignited a desire in him to reach people in their twenties and thirties for Christ. He lives with his wife, Monica, and their three children.

About the Author

Jonathan "JP" Pokluda is pastor at Harris Creek in Waco, Texas, and former leader of The Porch, where he saw the ministry grow from 150 to more than 7,000 young adults. The author of the bestselling Welcome to Adulting, Pokluda came to understand the grace of the gospel in his early twenties, which ignited a desire in him to reach people in their twenties and thirties for Christ. He lives with his wife, Monica, and their three children.

Luke Friesen is director of operations at Watermark Community Church and has been involved with The Porch for more than ten years as an attendee, volunteer, and staff member. As an editor and contributor to The Porch blog, he's collaborated with JP on a number of writing projects.