4. âThe loss of the national treasure of an entire
generation of Haitiâs best and brightest is a loss that
cannot be measured or replaced.â
DISCUSS:
Are you
aware of
this missing
generation ?
What will
that mean
to the
church if
changes
donât occur?
5. âHEMORRHAGING FAITHâ â
2011 James Penner et al.
⢠â(This) sobering new research on
Canadian âraised Christianâ 18 to
34 year-olds. For every five Catholic
and Mainline Protestant kids who
attended church at least weekly in
the 1980s and â90s only one still
attends at least weekly now as an
adult; for those raised in
Evangelical traditions it is one in
two. And thatâs not all. Most who
have quit attending altogether
also have dropped their Christian
affiliation.â
6. Session Outline:
⢠1) EXPLORING THE MILLENNIAL WORLD
⢠2) REASONS FOR THEIR EXODUS FROM CHURCH
⢠3) MILLENNIAL RE:ENGAGEMENT
7. 1) EXPLORING THE MILLENNIAL WORLD
⢠a. Who are Millennials and what are they like?
â˘
⢠Stats Canada: -â...In general, a generation is a group
of individuals who are about the same age and have
experienced, most often as children or young adults,
specific historical events, such as an economic crisis,
an economic boom, a war, or significant political
changes. These events may influence their views of
the world.â
9. 1) EXPLORING THE MILLENNIAL WORLD
⢠BORN between 1980 -2004:
⢠Largest Generation in Hx
⢠Ethnically Diverse
⢠Digital natives
⢠Most Educated
10. 1) EXPLORING THE MILLENNIAL WORLD
⢠Continued..
⢠Cause oriented
⢠Optimistic
⢠Need Mentoring
⢠âSpiritual but not religiousâ
11. 1) EXPLORING THE MILLENNIAL WORLD
⢠TOP PRIORITIES for Millennials (2010)
⢠To be a good parent - 52%
⢠Have a successful marriage â 30%
⢠Helping others in need â 27%
⢠Buying a home â 20%
Pew Research
13. 1) EXPLORING THE MILLENNIAL WORLD
â˘b. Millennial Pressures on faith
⢠Worldview challenges: from Rabbit-ears to cable TV.
14. âItâs Complicated!â
⢠âitâs hard to know how to live with the
onslaught of information, worldviews and
options they are faced with every day. One of
the specific criticisms young adults frequently
make about Christianity is that it does not
offer deep, thoughtful or challenging answers
to life in a complex culture.â - (David Kinnaman)
15. 1) EXPLORING THE MILLENNIAL WORLD
â˘b. Millennial Pressures on faith
â˘Post-modernism & truth
â˘Lost Confidence in Authority
â˘Runaway Consumerism
â˘Deconstructed Family
â˘Compressed Time & Demands
â˘Secularizing Culture
16. 1) EXPLORING THE MILLENNIAL WORLD
⢠c. The Millennial Exodus:
⢠60% of âChurched Millennialsâ are now De-churched.
⢠âyou had a better chance of survival on the Titanic than
a childâs faith has in our churchesâ
20. 2) REASONS FOR THE EXODUS FROM CHURCH
Discussion:
What reasons would you
suggest for the departure?
âIts complicatedâŚâ
21. 2) REASONS FOR THE EXODUS FROM CHURCH
a. Sociological Factors
âStudy after study indicates
that parents are the most
significant spiritual influence
in their spiritual
livesâŚ.changes in parents
marital status or their rate of
attendance would influence
the spiritual lives of their
children.â
- Hem. Faith Study.
22. 2) REASONS FOR THE EXODUS FROM CHURCH
b. Ecclesiological factors: Church problems
⢠Mission involves âengaging the ever-changing culture
with the never-changing Gospel.â â John Stott
Culture
Gospel
24. ii. Churchâs failure to communicate the neverchanging Gospel adequately:
⢠Kenda Creasy Dean âAlmost Christianâ, we
pass on an âalmost-Christian mutantâ faith
to their kids.
⢠Sociologist Christian Smith - âmoralistic,
therapeutic, deismâ
⢠ďˇâOur serious questions, if they were
answered at all, were often answered with
simple platitudes and insufficient clichĂŠsâŚ
We werenât taught the Bible.â - Millennial
Blogger â Ben
25. ii. Churchâs failure to communicate the neverchanging Gospel adequately:
âWeâre not leaving the
church because we
donât find the cool
factor, there; weâre
leaving the church
because we donât find
Jesus there!â
26. 3) MILLENNIAL RE: ENGAGMENT
What can be done?
ââŚHereâs the thing, having been advertised
to our whole lives, we Millennials have highly
sensitive BS meters and weâre not easily
impressed with consumerism or
performancesâŚâ - Rachel Evans, CNN 2013
Pursue 3 Values:
⢠Authenticity
⢠Expectancy
⢠Holistic Church
27. 3) MILLENNIAL RE: ENGAGMENT
a. Authentic Culture in Church
⢠Exploring calling together
⢠Resourcing rather than recruiting:
⢠Dealing with Disappointments:
30. â˘Holistic Christians know that Church is far
more than a weekend serviceâŚ
â˘C.H.U.R.C.H. =
⢠Christ
⢠Honoring
⢠Unified and
⢠Redemptive
⢠Community of
⢠Hope
31. WHOLE BIBLE â Spiritual Formation
⢠âSpiritual formation is the grace-directed process
into Christlikeness, that involves the renewing of the
mind, heart and habits, through Godâs word and
Godâs presence, which is the expected norm of
historic Christianity.â â Dallas Willard
âoffer your
bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and
pleasing to Godâ
âŚbe transformed
by the renewing
of your mind.â
Romans 12
32. WHOLE CHURCH: AUTHENTIC COMMUNITY
⢠ââŚThey refuse to be worship-only
attendees, they desire to be in
more relational settings..â Rahner
⢠ââŚjust as I have loved you, you
also are to love one another. 35 By
this all people will know that you
are my disciples, if you have love
for one another.â - JESUS
33. WHOLE WORLD â Missional Servants
⢠Millennials are intensely community focused, they are more
likely to be in a church where the leadership and congregation
care about and are involved in the community they serve. â
Thom Rahner
In the same way, let
your light shine before
others, that they may
see your good deeds
and glorify your Father
in heaven.
- Jesus
34. WHOLE GOSPEL: X-Centered Lives
⢠âMillennials need guidance on engaging culture meaningfully,
and from a distinctly Christian perspective. This idea of finding
a way to bring their faith in Jesus to the problems they
encounter in the world seems to be one of the most powerful
motivations of todayâs practicing Christian Millennials.â
(BARNA)
Mentoring â 90% of de-churched had noneâŚ
Vulnerability about marriage, money, sex, work
35. Haiti - âBuilding Back Betterâ
⢠Leslie Voltaire
and a number
of Architects
dreamed of
rebuilding Haiti
â it would
involve creating
âMagnets of
attractionâ that
would draw
people from the
camps and
ghettos to
places of
health, work
and community.