{"id":47957,"date":"2020-03-02T06:00:26","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T11:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=47957"},"modified":"2020-02-29T14:26:58","modified_gmt":"2020-02-29T19:26:58","slug":"an-actual-millennial-responds-to-church-efforts-to-attract-millennials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2020\/03\/an-actual-millennial-responds-to-church-efforts-to-attract-millennials\/","title":{"rendered":"An Actual Millennial Responds to Church Efforts to Attract Millennials"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My former student, John Ehrett, has written a response to a church growth consultant who is urging churches to become even more contemporary to attract millennials.\u00a0 Since this is talking about his generation (I can tell your<\/em> generation if you catch that allusion), John takes issue with the consultant\u2019s suggestions.<\/p>\n

John\u2019s position is evident in the title of his post:\u00a0\u00a0How to Lose a Generation: Against Tony Morgan\u2019s Worship Quick-Fixes.<\/a>\u00a0 Did you catch that?\u00a0 Far from being techniques for reaching this generation, these tactics are a formula for losing<\/em> this generation.<\/p>\n

\n

John takes up each of the 10 points the consultant raises.\u00a0 The essay defies excerpting, so I will simply quote the beginning of the post, expecting you to click to the link to read every word.\u00a0 After that, I\u2019ll quote another<\/em> millennial and former student cited by John on what this generation is really yearning for.<\/p>\n

From John Ehrett<\/a>, Between Two Kingdoms<\/em> at Patheos:<\/p>\n

As a general rule, I try to be a pretty charitable reader. Most of the time, I can manage to put a positive spin on an argument I disagree with\u2014because most of the time, there\u2019s a kernel of truth to be extracted. (This principle generally keeps me from getting too outraged by the Internet.) Every once in a while, though, I happen on a piece that\u2019s wrong on so many different levels that the presumption of \u201cthere\u2019s a good insight in here\u201d no longer applies.<\/p>\n

Full disclosure: the first time I read \u201cchurch consultant\u201d Tony Morgan\u2019s recent\u00a0article<\/a>, \u201c#OkBoomer: 10 Signs Your Weekend Services Aren\u2019t Designed for the Next Generation,\u201d I thought it was a straight-up parody. But based on the surrounding website, I actually think it\u2019s sincere (I\u2019ll revisit this post with a correction if the author shows up to explain that, no, it was actually satirical). Morgan\u2019s article, in essence, is a plea to make contemporary church worship\u00a0even more\u00a0<\/em>contemporary, in an attempt to attract millennials and Gen-Z types who\u2019ve drifted away from institutional religion. It won\u2019t surprise anyone who\u2019s read things I\u2019ve written over the last few years that I think he takes a wrong turn from the start, but let that slide: what\u2019s really mind-boggling about the article is the sheer audacity of Morgan\u2019s central assertion: \u201cYou can\u2019t reach the next generation of young adults without being a church for young adults. In other words,\u00a0everything you do must be designed with the next generation in mind.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot to unpack here, so let\u2019s take Morgan\u2019s \u201c10 Signs\u201d point by point. I gather, demographically speaking, that I\u2019m Morgan\u2019s \u201ctarget market\u201d (I hate using that term in the church context, but if the SEO profile fits\u2026)\u2014and I\u2019ve attended a pretty wide range of churches over the years, so I guess I\u2019m as qualified as anyone to weigh in on whether this is what \u201cyoung people\u201d actually want.<\/p>\n

[Keep reading. . .]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

John concludes by quoting the talented and perceptive Gracy Olmstead<\/a> (again, also one of my former students, though I can\u2019t take credit for them):<\/p>\n

\u201cThe millennial generation is seeking a holistic, honest, yet mysterious truth that their current churches cannot provide. . . . Protestant churches that want to preserve their youth membership may have to develop a greater openness toward the treasures of the past. One thing seems certain: this \u2018sacramental yearning\u2019 will not go away.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Did you catch that<\/em>?\u00a0 \u201cThis \u2018sacramental yearning.'\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photo: \u201cDay 77, Project 365 \u2013 1.7.10\u201d by William Brawley,\u00a0Creative Commons 2.0 License<\/a>, via Flickr.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
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