Bob's Blog

Everyday I'm usually emailing someone around the country talking about the Church. There are times that the discussion gets so good that the questions need more space to answer than an email can provide, and we decide to talk on the phone. I have even traveled to meet them and spend time picking their brains on certain church related issues.

Mike Jentes is one of those people that you have to spend more time with rather than merely communicating with through an email. Mike has a love for the local church and for young people. He oversees a church in Columbus, Ohio known as The Quest. It's a church mostly of younger people, committed to reaching the surrounding urban area of Columbus. I asked Mike what he thought were the essentials for a church led mostly by twenty-somethings. Here's what he shared.

• Social Action - Mike stated that Millennials desire to move their faith into the market places, to the hopeless and the needy. That's why The Quest planted itself in urban Columbus, to love and live as Christ.
• Highly Relational - The Quest is a gathering of multiple small house groups around the city of Columbus. Mike notes that this generation desires small group connections. Being small is ok with them and so is multi-ethnic.
• Passionate About the Bible - They want the Scriptures to be brought into their everyday life. A key for this generation is revisiting discipleship and answering the question,"What does it mean to walk like Jesus?"

These young people want a church that is on mission and that connects in a dynamic group, even within a fellowship of churches or a denomination. In talking with Mike, I came away thinkng about two key questions. First, what are churches doing in reaching and keeping this postmodern generation? Second, how does a church (or a Fellowship) give voice to a younger generation? Culturally, the landscape is changing in our country, and that is true within our churches. I believe how we answer these questions and others like these will determine the look of the Church for future generations.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 6:50 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.