This post is a third post in a three part series on identifying who the next generation is and how the church is to reach them.
In order for the church to reconnect to the next generation, Kinnaman says the church will have to rethink relationships, rediscover vocation, and reprioritize wisdom.[1] Kinnaman says that the church must (1) Cast out fear by discerning the times and embracing the risks of cultural engagement (2) Leave shallow faith behind by apprenticing young people in the fine art
of following Christ (3) Respond to today’s scientific culture by stewarding young people’s gifts and intellect (4) Live by a sexual ethic that rejects traditionalist and individualist narratives of sex (5) Demonstrate the exclusive nature of Christ by rekindling empathy for the other (6) Faithfully work through doubts by doing acts of service with and for others.[2]
To change the perception the church currently has from being un-Christian to Christian, Kinnaman and Lyons say the church must (1) Respond with the right perspective (2) Connect with people (3) Be creative (4) Serve people.[3]
The next generation craves community, depth, responsibility, and connection.[4] The churches that are meeting these needs are (1) Creating deeper community (2) Making a difference through service (3) Experiencing worship (4) Conversing the content (5) Leveraging technology (6) Building cross-generational relationships (7) Moving toward authenticity (8) Leading by transparency (9) Leading by team.[5]
To counter the prevailing Moralistic Therapeutic Deism that is running rampant in the church house today, churches must use the tools they have for “cultivating consequential faith.”[6]
Dean identifies these practices as translation, testimony, and detachment.[7] Rainer states that the “typical Millennial” wants a connected family, wants parental involvement, are diverse, believe they can make an impact on the future, are not workaholics, want a mentor, are green but not that green, communicate unlike any other generation, are financially confused, and are not religious.[8]
In order to reach these Millennials and the unchurched today, Schultz says that church practice must return to (1) Radical hospitality (2) Fearless conversation (3) Genuine humility (4) Divine anticipation.[9] To change the outsider’s perception of Jesus and His Church, Christ-followers need to act in grace and speak the truth in love. The church must embody service, compassion, humility, forgiveness, patience, kindness, peace, joy, goodness, and love.
Not all news is gloom and doom for the church’s next generation. “Lots of information abounds on young people leaving the church. But not all leave; many stay, thrive, and are impacting the world for Christ.”[10] Dr. Alvin Reid has identified some ways that the church can reach and keep the next generation (1) Befriend and mentor someone of the next generation (2) Take students out of the Christian subculture to develop skills and knowledge for interacting with the real world (3) Help students to think and live missional lives now (4) Help young people see how the Bible relates to their career (5) Help students own their faith and see faith lived out in the real world so that they can beyond a check-list Christianity to a lifestyle of following Jesus that matters.[11]
Though a new Pew Research survey found that the self-identified Christian share of the population declined almost 8% from 2007-2014, Evangelicals should not be alarmed. In a USA Today news article, Ed Stetzer, Executive Director of LifeWay Research, states that Christianity is not collapsing but is rather being clarified. Stetzer says that the church is not dying but is being more clearly defined and that churches are not emptying because evangelicals are attending church more than ever before. Stetzer asserts his belief because Pew Research does show that evangelicals in America have risen from 59.8 to 62.2 million in population over the past seven years and that those who self-identify as born-again have also risen from 34% to 35%. Stetzer says that “convictional Christianity” will continue.
Simply put, committed Christians who “value their faith enough to wake up on Sunday morning and head to their local church are mostly still going.” It is the nominal Christian–people whose religious affiliation is in name only-who are becoming “nones” leading to the shrinking of Christianity in America. Though “Nones” have increased from 16%-23% of the total population over the past seven years, this increase is found to have come mostly from Catholics and Mainline Protestants.[12]
[1] Kinnaman, You Lost Me, 202-212.
[2] Ibid, 205-206.
[3] Kinnaman and Lyons, UnChristian, 206-12.
[4] Stetzer, Stanley, and Hayes, Lost and Found, 67-68.
[5] Ibid, 143-44.
[6] Dean, Almost Christian, 106.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Rainer, The Millennials, 30-48.
[9] Schultz, Why Nobody Goes to Church Anymore, 68.
[10] Reid, Blog, “Thursday is for Training: Keeping the Next Gen in Church,” March 12, 2015.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Stetzer, USA Today, “Survey Fail: Christianity isn’t Dying,” May 14, 2015.