The Question all Pastors Should be Asking if We Want to Grow the Church

Our family is made up of the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, GenXers, and Millenials (and canines).

A vital question on the mind of pastors and church leaders who care about continuing to build up the kingdom of God through the Church is this: "Why are the young adult generations leaving the church? (Or not joining at all?)"  

Of course, not all are leaving. Popular seminaries are still receiving new students, people are still getting baptized and confirmed. But are they active? Are young people feeling committed to keeping the church going in the future? Where do they get involved and why do they regularly attend? 

According to Rachel Evans on CNN's belief blog, the younger generations are looking for churches that incorporate these beliefs: compassionate outreach work that makes a difference in the world, knowledge based teachings on the complementary relationship between science and theology (no anti-evolution preaching), active inclusivity - welcoming all races, sexual orientations, and gender equality. 

These beliefs are reflections from my favorite verse in the book of Micah: "…. What does the Lord require of you? To do justice, show mercy, and walk humbly with our God." (Micah 6:8) And in the summary Jesus gave for all the laws and commandments: Love God and love your neighbor. (Matthew 22:36-40)

Reading this priority list from Evan’s blog makes me even more thankful for our church's compassionate inclusivity, mission outreach work, and our approach to teaching Science and Theology. She quotes the personal yearnings of a Millenial - GenXer:

"We want an end to the culture wars. We want a truce between science and faith. We want to be known for what we stand for, not what we are against.....We want churches that emphasize an allegiance to the kingdom of God over an allegiance to a single political party or a single nation......We want our LGBT friends to feel truly welcome in our faith communities.....We want to be challenged to live lives of holiness, not only when it comes to sex, but also when it comes to living simply, caring for the poor and oppressed, pursuing reconciliation, engaging in creation care and becoming peacemakers." 

To build up the kingdom of God in this new church year, let us continue to serve and care for our Baby Boomers and older generations. And let us also continue to do what we can to meet the yearnings of the younger generations who are striving to be authentic children of God with or without the church. Then our church be a place where they can have these yearnings satisfied through serving our Lord and Savior who sacrificed his life for justice, kindness, and mercy for us all.  
(For the full article see: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/27/why-millennials-are-leaving-the-church/)

A Prayer of the People

O God of the heavenly powers, who gives more than we desire or deserve; grace us with your Holy Spirit as we pray on this blessed day. Your son Jesus prayed for his disciples then and for us now. We are so grateful to know that we are loved so dearly by you. May we rest for a moment and embrace, absorb, and bask in that love. May your Holy water flow through our lives keeping us in the flow of your Spirit always.

 

Gracious God, Beautiful Light, with the whole host of heaven we declare your goodness! We lean on your steadfast love as we plead: come and help us. We are scrambling for peace but finding chaos, searching for blessing but overwhelmed by trouble. We pray for those who are suffering today. For those who don’t know you, for those who doubt you love them, and for those who know you but do not come to worship you. Be with them in their journeys. Lead them to a closer relationship with you and your healing presence. Interrupt our worries with a vision of purpose and delight. Lead us to the waters of healing amidst the work of our days, throughout our rest, and in our dreaming. Open our hearts to be reassured of your presence among us and in each person we meet.

 

God of boundless grace, you call us to drink freely of the well of life and to share the love of your Holy being. May the glory of your love, shine forth from each one of us out into a world in need. We ask these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.