As a 20-something single, I sometimes feel as if the Church has forgotten about me, or worse, is just ignoring me.
From preschool all the way through college there are more programs and ministries and retreats and classes and studies and... than you could possibly shake your Teen Study Bible at. But once you get out of college I challenge you to find a community designed for you in more than a couple churches. Unless of course you're married, then the Church will start to pay attention to you again.
There is a large, and growing, population of single, working, 20-something young adults out there that the church seems to either not realize exists, or is purposely ignoring because they don't know what do with them (besides set them up on a blind date with this "really nice young guy/girl I know").

Chad my bro – how could a church reach out to a you and your friends? What would that look like in an ideal situation?

First of all, I guess, just acknowledge that I'm there. Like I said, the main problem seems to be that the church is ignoring us. I would say one of the primary reasons I'm at the church I attend is because we have a great 20-somethings singles Bible study. (It is actually THE differentiating reason between this church and a nearby church of the denomination I grew up in). But the fact that of the 12 or so people that regularly attend our study, there are around 8 different churches represented, tells me that not many churches are offering such a group. So, recognize we're there and get us involved in community with each other - just not a community focused on pairing us off.

Second, get us involved. Get us involved in the activity and workings of the whole church, not just our group. I'm guessing that in general, we probably actually have more time and energy on our hands than parents and married couples, so use us. Actively recruit us to serve in and run various aspects of the church.

Also get us involved in non-age-based and non-marital-status-based community, so we can connect with the larger church. I think this is the second step to take after a church has established a community based on our age and singleness. I think it's easy for a church to say "Ok, so we created this group for you, now go do your thing" and then start ignoring us again. Well, yes you've now created a community for us, but now we just feel collectively segregated and ignored instead of individually segregated and ignored.

So I guess I would say the big things we're looking for are community and involvement. We want to feel like we're part of smaller community and the larger church - to feel that we're welcomed and essential members of the church.

YES.

Also, here's an interesting article from Christianity Today that relates to this topic.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/octobe...

I mainly look for theological compatibility, openness, community, challenging teachings, congregational liveliness, creativity, and fresh, contemporary worship music.

But, I don't think I'm an "average" 20-something. :)

You mentioned theological compatibility as the first item in your list. Is that order of importance? In other words, what if you found incredible community but were only 50/50 on theological compatibility?

I'd say that's rough order of importance for me.

For the theology, I think it depends on if the issues I have with it are what I would consider "primary doctrine". As an example, being new to the Lutheran church, I'm still not sure how I feel about infant baptism, but I don't consider the age of baptism central to Christian theology. However, I've visited some churches that met all my requirements but seemed to glaze over or completely ignore our need for redemption. I really can't overlook something like that.

I agree, I can find a church that's meets all my other requirements, but if they're not teaching what I believe the Bible teaches, especially on the "primary doctrine" as you put it, it will all be lost.

My entire ministry is to 20-somethings (students at the University of Michigan), so I guess I could at least tell you what the students on my campus seem to want.

They seem to want to encounter a person or community that actually loves them for who they are rather than what they can give them. They want someone who actually believes something and lives for something that is real and transcendent.

They want to know someone who seems to not be enslaved and in captivity to the same things that the rest of the world is. Good thing the Church offers all that stuff :-)