Substance

“What millennials really want from the church is not a change in style, but a change in substance.” (Rachel Held Evans)

It’s an ever-growing conversation among church leaders. Reaching the millennial generation as a church to keep today’s church “growing young.” Every generation of the church has struggled to reach the next generation on some level. Does it have less to do with the generational grouping and more to do with the stage of life? Certainly every generation has its unique qualities, and church leaders would be foolish to ignore those trends.

If presumptions are correct, reaching the millennial generation in the community is less about their generational intricacies and more about understanding a twenty-something. I don’t see this segment of adults fleeing the church in record numbers. These young adults aren’t lost. They’re just disconnected (until they feel a strain to reconnect).

To that point, when these twenty-something’s marry and have children, many show back up to church. The reason is simple: They have a felt need for God and the church again. Felt need is what always drives us to God (and the church), whether it’s a felt need to feel less guilty or in this case a need to fix a marriage or learn how to raise a child.

We as churches don’t want to wait around until the twenty-year-old turns thirty and finds a spouse and has a child to engage them spiritually. That’s unhealthy for our churches, but even more, it’s unhealthy for these twenty-something’s. What can you do to draw millennials to your church, and have them plant roots in your congregation?

CONNECTION-

The twenty-something, single crowd has the same deep need to connect, but it’s lacking the various opportunities. It might be their biggest need. Creating intentional connection opportunities for this age group is part of the secret to reaching this age group. While millennials are prone to distrusting people, they are drawn to authenticity and honesty. This generation has a deep realization that everyone fails. They’ve witnessed religious figures collapse under the weight of their own hypocrisy. Many of their own parents have let them down with moral failings or divorces.

Church leaders need to be authentic and vulnerable. The last thing they want is for a pastor to get up and pretend as if everything is fine. They don’t want to hear from another Christian wearing a fake smile. They want to know how it is you live out the Christian life in this chaotic world. Do that with integrity and authenticity and they’ll respond. This is true for every age segment. It’s seems to be easier for the older adult segment. Marriage and parenting bring with it a full need for emotional growth. The more complicated your life, the greater the need for God. The key to reaching the twenty-something community is addressing their needs and giving them specific ways to apply solutions. This is not difficult, but it takes a great deal of need mining and intentionality.

THE POWER OF ELECTRONIC CONVENIENCE-

Most twenty-something’s have more discretionary time than those twenty years their senior. Marriage, children, and more demanding careers significantly reduce discretionary time. With more time, you would think twenty-something’s could more easily include church in their life, but the opposite seems to be truer. More time means more choices. Electronic convenience matters when reaching this group.

Without an online presence your church can only have an influence on those who come to your building or whom you visit personally. By using social media and blogs, you can reach people around the world any time day or night (including the millennial generation who lives down the street from your church and just googled your name to see what you are all about.)

Invest outside your comfort zone -

They want to see the church actively involved in helping make the community and the lives of those in it better. For millennials, they believe the church should find ways to minister and tangibly show the love of Christ to others.  Statistics tell us that millennials desire to make a difference that they are more socially concerned. As a church, we have the opportunity to engage these young believers in their church and back in their community in meaningful ways.

This is part stewardship as a church. When twenty-something’s see a church managed by their parents, they will not stay. To attract and keep young adults, they need to be trusted with leadership and provide responsibilities in keeping with trust. This means those leading worship, preaching, and leading ministry environments must have an element of youth engagement. Regardless of their historical make-up, churches should strive to reflect the current diversity of their neighborhood. Seeing an all-white church in an increasingly diverse area indicates that church has failed to reach those around it.

Be open to institutional change-

Churches are going to have to answer the question of: “Do we love our traditions more than our children?” This generation is going to want to come in and change some things. They will want to sing different songs. They’ll want to spend less money on internal ministries and more on missions and external projects.

Unfortunately, many churches have decided they would rather their services and institutional structure reflect the 1950s than the current context in which Christ has placed them and called them to serve. This is not a matter of changing the historical Christian message, but rather the methodology in which it is presented. Allow millennials to be one of the voices at the table when discussing the way you practice church.

Develop community-

Relationships surpass everything for millennials. Sixty-one percent of millennials say family is the most important thing in their life. Friends come in as the second most important thing. This should be a natural fit for the church, but too often we rest on what we’ve already done. Churches must start new groups and bring in new people. This generation, more so than any other, recognizes the cultural costs of being a Christian. It’s no longer the cool thing to do.

Because of this, they want to walk with others as they follow Christ. Millennials want to pour out their lives into others and find strength in numbers. Churches that provide an avenue for this will connect with this generation. If your community isn’t diverse, you can’t expect your church to be diverse. If your community doesn’t have a strong twenty-something population, then your church will struggle to reach this group. Reaching twenty-something’s requires a presence in a twenty-something community. If your current community doesn’t have a younger population, you might consider planting a campus or supporting a church plant in a new community.

Preach Christ-

This should be foundational, but too often it isn’t. Many churches unfortunately believe the opposite is true in terms of reaching millennials. Some churches have tried to water down Christian doctrine and deliver Christ-less, self-help sermons in order to reach the millennial generation. The denominations that have done so are not faring well. In every generation, every person needs to hear the gospel and be taught the Bible. But for many millennials, even those that grew up in church, they’ve never really heard it before. Don’t assume a biblical foundation. Preach Christ for millennials and everyone else.

“Want millennials back in the pews? Stop trying to make church cool. When I left church at age 29 full of doubt and disillusionment, I wasn’t looking for a better-produced Christianity. I was looking for a truer Christianity- a more authentic Christianity.” (Rachel Held Evans)[i]

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[i] Sources used:

·        “7 Simple Ways to Engage Millennials and Church” by Gavin Adams

·        “7 Ways to Draw Millennials to Your Church” by Aaron Earls