HELPING CHURCHES
REACH and engage
MILLENNIALS
&
GENERATION Z

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?

Mysticism is part of every religious tradition. It is defined as union with God or ultimate reality, and is often experiential in nature, involving dreams and visions or some kind of subjective experience where a person claims contact with the Divine.

How does your church try to connect with Generation Z?

Do you emphasize Bible study and doctrinal instruction, stressing the importance of attendance in a Sunday school or small group setting where Gen Zers can learn the content of the Christian faith?

The Gen Z Insights blog published an article, “Three Questions Brands Should Ask Before Speaking Out on Social Issues.” We’ve all seen businesses get this wrong. Consider Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner ad.

I came across a profile in The Los Angeles Times’ business section profiling Brian Chung and Bryan Ye-Chung, founders of Alabaster, a new edition of the Bible. The title? “Pitching the Bible to millennials: It's a ‘content-rich lifestyle brand.’”

Churches often stress that marriage is important and ideally the lifelong covenant union between two people who pledge to be faithful, loving, caring, and committed. But prior to the exchanging of vows, there is often an engagement phase, and a dating period before that.

Long before the wedding day, there is a first date, and hopefully a second, and so on. As Generation Z grows and matures, they are learning how to date. How are they doing?

Students in their senior year of high school (and sometimes junior year as well) often cast an eye toward the future. We ask students, “What do you want to major in next year?” and “Where are you going to college?”

But would Gen Zers be better off by delaying college for one year?