Published | “Reclaiming ‘Enough'” in Hungry for Hope

I had the joy of contributing a co-written chapter called “Reclaiming ‘Enough’: Away from Scarcity Toward True Abundance,” which appears in the new book Hungry for Hope: Letters to the Church from Young Adults (Eerdmans 2025, eds Jeremy Paul Myers and Kristina Frugé). My co-author is Catalina Morales Bahena. This was a really fun project to work on, with a focus on lived experience and theology. The editors drew together a group of young adults to discuss, dream, and critique, imagining a church that would be vital and life-giving in our times. They paired these young adults with not-so-young adults like myself… As co-authors, we spent time together, discussing the topic we selected, figuring out how our own stories and theologies fit together and complement each other, and how the experiences we have draw us toward a deepening, rooted, and expansive spirituality that connects us to our traditions and is meaningful here and now.

Catalina and I had the topic of scarcity and abundance. Our stories as immigrants to this land in very different times and circumstances, as well as our sense of calling to care for the earth and the community of all life, helped form the heart of our chapter. We each tell some of our stories in relation to the land and a sense of belonging, how this relates to our faith, and the work of the church in this time. I loved working with Catalina on this!

The book includes 11 chapters with co-authors like us, sharing, listening, and trying to put into words the reason for the hope we have, and the struggles we encounter in today’s church. Other topics include curiosity, lament, liberation, climate change, mental health, sex, anger, and the challenge of being tokenized as a young adult in the church.

A lot of people wonder where all the young adults are and why they aren’t as connected to faith communities as the wonderer wishes they were. There are so many reasons, and this book does not set out to answer that question, but I think it gives a sense of the powerful, dynamic, and justice-filled community that many young adults are hungering for and attempting to build. As it says on the book website:

“This is a book that shares the wisdom, dreams, and frustrations of young adults with the church as it discerns its most faithful next steps.”

I recognize these issues as things I have hungered for throughout my own young adult years, hoping that eventually, if I persisted long enough, we would build something that looked more like what I envisioned and felt the Spirit leading toward, and yet the institutions we’ve created so often put up barriers and make it difficult. Many congregations are shifting and not able to function in the same way as they did a decade ago, partially because of the impact of the pandemic. This may be a moment where our institutions are ready to be broken down and re-formed, where we can listen to the Spirit together and act with courage, joy, love, and hope.

If this sounds exciting to you, I encourage you to pre-order Hungry for Hope! There will be a monthly book club to hear from the chapter contributors, so you can sign up for the mailing list, or watch this space and I’ll give more info about how to sign up when it’s available. (Our chapter will be the focus in March 2026!)