Taylor Lorenz at The Daily Beast recently dedicated an entire column to phone boredom, focusing specifically on today’s teens, also known as Generation Z. What is phone boredom? Lorenz explains: “Phone boredom hits when you’ve cycled through everything there is to do on your device and you’re left feeling stranded.”
Read MorePeople are becoming increasingly lonely, and Generation Z is suffering the most.
Read MoreA popular refrain heard in the wake of the tragically horrific shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is this: “Let the children lead.” The media coverage, the “March for our Lives” event in Washington, D.C., and a flurry of conversation on social media has fixed the spotlight on Generation Z. The Stoneman Douglas students have led the way.
Read MoreThere is a new label for Generation Z: “plurals” or a “pluralist generation.”
Read MoreThis blog post is the sixth in a series on how churches can think creatively about addressing the needs of Generation Z. We are using Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a springboard to consider how Christians can assess and address the physical, emotional, social, and aspirational needs of emerging generations, moving from the basics on up to the need for self-fulfillment.
Kate Shellnutt of Christianity Today reports Generation Z is twice as likely to identify as atheists or LGBT as are other American adults.While many youth pastors believe wisdom in using technology is the foremost need of emerging generations, other challenges are present as well. Churches need to be wise and understanding in their conversations about sexual identity and unbelief.
Read MoreThe genius of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is its clarity and simplicity. You begin with basic human needs and move up, building as you go. At the bottom, we are reminded that every person needs their basic physiological needs met before they can move on to the next stage and begin to feel safe and secure.
Read MoreThis blog post is the third in a series on how churches can think creatively about addressing the needs of Generation Z. We are using Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a springboard to consider how Christians can assess and address the physical, emotional, social, and aspirational needs of emerging generations, moving from the basics on up to the need for self-fulfillment.
Read MoreAbraham Maslow (1908-1970) was a famous American psychologist who is most well known for developing a theory of human wellbeing based on the notion that all people have a hierarchy of needs.
Read MoreThis past fall, I volunteered as a cabin leader for a middle school retreat with my church. I was assigned a cabin of 8th grade girls. During the weekend, one topic of conversation kept coming up during our cabin discussion time: what it looks like to share their faith with their friends and peers. They would ask, “We know we are supposed to talk about Jesus, but how?”
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