“Doing Dial-up Ministry in a Wifi Generation” Mark Sayers

The more you are called to speak to people, the more you are called to listen to people. Eugene Cho

Yesterday afternoon I watched an online conference with David Kinnaman (President of Barna Research & author) along with Mark Matlock (author, singer, formerly with Dawson McCallister Student Conferences) and a host of others from around our world on the topic Faith for the Future: What We Are Learning About Resilient Discipleship for the Connected Generation.

Allow me to share with you some key conference takeaways on reaching both the Millennial and Gen Z generations:

  • We need (Boomers like myself & older Millennials) to slow down and listen to these generations that are far too often talked about in a less than positive manner. And by the way, who are these demographic age groups parents? Hmm.
  • These generations need an emotionally connected church.
  • Younger adults don’t want Christianity just to be true, they want to understand that Christianity is good.
  • Millennials are the most diverse age group in the world.
  • Only 32 percent of young adults in the world have someone who believes in them. Do the math: this means that 68 percent of younger generational adults do not have anyone who believes in them. They need older mature mentors, life coaches from among the ranks of those of us who have age, experience, and maturity on our side.

The danger of placing labels on people groups/individuals is that it predisposes us to make decisions about people and in the process keeps us from seeing the potential in these individuals that God sees.

  • The connected generation doesn’t want to be consumers, they want to be distributors.
  • Poverty and social justice, two issues that Jesus addressed during his earthly ministry are issues that today’s churches must address in order to successfully reach and involve these younger generations.

Go to theConnectedGeneration.com to purchase reports, get field guides, watch this conference and extended interviews.

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