Bob's Blog

Last night I attended a church service that was geared towards twenty-somethings. It was opened to all ages and did attract a number of older people to the evening, but the night was intended to draw in younger people that the church had been missing. It was a good start. There were some technical problems with sound but overall a good first start with over 100 in attendance. The focus of the teaching will be on apologetics. You might think that's a heavy topic for young people to handle but they were not only very attentive but taking notes. There were even high school students who came to find out more on how to know and defend their faith. I enjoyed myself and the conversations after the service was informal and relaxing.

I do that a lot out here. Next week I'll be attending another service that is geared towards 18-25 year old. At last nights service, I saw a friend of mine who leads a college ministry at another church. He won't be attending the service on a regular basis but was there because he wanted to get some insights on how to lead this age group. I am finding out that he is not the only one. Many established churches are starting to reach out to this generation if only because they see the need for their church to grow younger. I meet with a few pastors that ask questions about how to start a college ministry or how to keep twenty-somethings in their church from leaving. Those are good questions and hard to always answer them in the way that they might want to hear it. Here's what I'm finding in what churches are doing across the country.

• Some churches have decided not to try. They feel they are too old to change and since they have no one young in their church, they are just going to minister to the ones that are attending today.
• Some do try but don't know how to reach this generation. Also, they find it hard to mix multiple generations together. Not everyone agrees on worship music. Some like to sit and be taught on Sunday mornings, while others prefer a more interactive service. It's a hit and miss from week to week and no one is satisfied.
• There are other churches that decide to plant new younger churches. This works out well for the new church but can devastate the existing church. Families might be spilt up (mom & dad stay at the established church while their kids attend the new church), resources are stretched, and eventually the congregation that planted the new church finds itself back to where it started.
• Finally, some churches have started an alternative church to their "regular" service, but this to has draw backs as well. Most of these alternative churches are lead by a charismatic leader and eventually leaves the church that gave it their start.

There are no easy answers but there are some core characteristics that can help churches transition from one generation to another. I'll share about this on my next blog.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 8, 2007 at 3:35 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.