Millennials (those born in America from 1980 to 2000, which means people who are presently 13 to 34 years of age) are the last U.S. generation to be carefully studied. The oldest people in the next group of approximately 20 years are only 12 and much too young to even begin to be interviewed.
But the Millennials are already starting to make their presence felt. If for no other reason, they’re the largest group ever to come down the pike. They even surpass the size of the Boomers.
Millennials have much to commend them. They are strongly relational. They are world-conscious and want to make a positive difference in it, and they are the most tech-savvy of all the generations. They are also the most educated. They’re interested in money, but not so much to accumulate things as to be able to meet their goals of serving.
However, Millennials are not fans of the church. They have read about the sex scandals, and they are turned off by all the preachers on TV asking for money. It’s fair to say that for most Millennials, religion doesn’t really interest them. While they are okay with Jesus, they aren’t excited about His earthly body called the Church.
In my mind, this discovery has profound implications on the future of Christianity in America. Generally speaking, the church in the U.S. is already in decline. To lose the predicted 80-85% of the Millennials would be disastrous.
I don’t know how to reach this age group, but I am on a quest to find out. And I’m not just interested in how a given super-church is doing it, but how Millennials can be attracted by tens of thousands of churches all across this nation.
I believe the only people who can tell me how to do this are the Millennials themselves, and I’ve begun having what eventually will probably be hundreds of such interviews with them.
I will be sharing what I find out. But I challenge you to go on a similar quest. Let’s learn together.
———————————————
Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.
