HELPING CHURCHES
REACH AND ENGAGE
MILLENNIALS
&
GENERATION Z

Baby Boomer Tim Cook made a frank admission to Generation Z, “In some important ways, my generation has failed you.” He made these remarks on May 18 at commencement exercises for Tulane University. You can watch Cook’s full remarks here.

Meagan Jordan of Sojourners writes:

For nearly a decade, pollsters have been reporting the trend of disaffiliation with the church, particularly among millennials. This shift is playing out in the black church, though the rates of disaffiliation and eschewing overall spirituality are less pronounced.

Does scrolling through your Instagram lead to overspending?

Paul Davidson of USA Today reports:

Thirty-five percent of Americans admit they feel pressured to spend more than they can afford after seeing images of their friends’ lives on sites like Facebook and Instagram, according to Schwab’s 2019 modern wealth survey. The FOMO effect is most dramatic for young adults. About half of millennials and 44% of Generation Z (those born approximately between 1995 to 2015) acknowledge their spending habits are at least partly shaped by social media.

New generational studies have hit the wire, and journalists have begun to file reports on trends among Gen Zers and Millennials. Here are three notable surveys that hit the web recently.

How do we preach the gospel to emerging generations?

What are their values? What are they looking for? What connects?

As with each generation, old words take on new meanings, new terms are coined, and slang becomes part of our everyday vernacular. Generation Z is no different, and a high school teacher in Massachusetts is keeping track.

Gallup has released a new poll, and the news isn’t good for churches. Membership is down.

Jeffery M. Jones, with Gallup, writes, “U.S. church membership was 70% or higher from 1937 through 1976, falling modestly to an average of 68% in the 1970s through the 1990s. The past 20 years have seen an acceleration in the drop-off, with a 20-percentage-point decline since 1999 and more than half of that change occurring since the start of the current decade.”

Beginning on the first Sunday of 2019, Kanye West launched a “Sunday Service.”

Is he promoting a new album? Starting a church? Is it Christian, or not?

Scanning the headlines for religion stories on Millennials and Gen Zers can be confusing. Are emerging generations in America abandoning faith altogether, or are they discovering spirituality? Are they open to religion, or are they anti-religious?