Transcript Slide 1

Will New Generations become
Belief-filled Disciples?
NCA Workshop
Elmhurst College- May 19, 2008
David Schoen
UCC Evangelism Ministry Team
Including material used with
permission from Rick Morse,
V.P. New Church Ministry,
Christian Church (DOC)
Church Extension © 2007
All rights reserved
the world has
changed
60
– 80 % unchurched
80
% of baby boomers left
80
% of youth have
negative view of church
Culture does not support
church
More generations today than ever…
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Gen Z (0-5)
Millennials (6-24)
Survivors (25-43)
Boomers (44-61)
Silents (62-79)
Builders (80+)
Each generation has
unique events that
formed it, and a
different view of life.
In the church we tend to think of
two age groups:
Boomer +
The rest of
those
youngsters…
Churches didn’t use to worry
about generations…
A few
transplants
Founders
Their
children
Grandchildren &
families
Stephen Compton
Many Churches have Lost a
generation or 2:
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Churches do not anticipate
loosing youth…(even though that
has been the pattern for 40
years)
Young adults report:
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Relocation after college or school
Difficulty in assimilation because
church style
IF they visit—little generational
affinity
Most mainline youth become
unchurched
Roof and McKinney
The result is aging
congregations
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While the
younger cohort
equals 65% of
the population,
they are only on
average about
30% of existing
congregations
Growing Gaps in
understanding
There is a shifting attitude
towards “organized” religion
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65% of the US
population cannot
remember a time when
clergy were respected.
Denominational loyalty
means nothing to most
people.
The average person
believes that no
particular religion has
claim to truth.
Shifting attitudes towards faith
1990, 2000 & 2004 Percentage of the Population Attending
a Christian Church on Any Given Weekend
25.0%
20.4%
18.7%
17.7%
20.0%
15.0%
1990
10.0%
2000
2004
9.2% 9.1% 9.0%
7.2%
6.2%
3.9%
5.0%
5.5%
3.4% 3.1%
0.0%
Evangelical
Mainline
Catholic
Total
Unchurched USA
•Since 1991 adult population
in the US grew by 15%.
•During that same period the
unchurched population grew
by 92%! 75 million US
adults do not attend church
'Unchurched' Americans
say church is 'full of
hypocrites' consider
Christianity to be more about
organized religion than
about loving God and
people, …“unchristian”.
New Generations –
Outsiders to Christian Faith
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Age
% Outsiders
to Christianity
18-41
37%
16-29
40%
42-60
27%
61+
23%
Population
34 Million
24 Million
21 Million
12 Million
44 percent -- agreed that
"Christians get on my nerves.“
Vast majority of young non-Christians
view Christianity as anti-gay, judgmental
hypocritical, too political, out of touch.
But 78 percent said they would be willing
to listen to someone who wanted to tell
them about his or her Christian beliefs.
Almost three-quarters -- 72 percent -agreed that God "actually exists“ and an
even larger percentage -- 86 percent -said they believed they could have a
good relationship with God without
church involvement.
21st Century Culture and Church
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Post-Modern – It’s a Whole New World
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“Big Five” of hallmark modern values:
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Anthony Robertson
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Reason
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Optimism & Objectivity
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Universality & “The Grand Story”
21st Century Culture and Church
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Post-Modern - Modern World is crumbling
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Reason
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Where moderns wanted their preachers to explain
mystery, post-moderns want to experience mystery.
Optimism & Objectivity
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Post-moderns are not so sure that salvation is
around the corner or that ‘objective’ science and
technology are our saviors. What some call
‘objective truth,’ is the interest of the powerful and
privileged.”
21st Century Culture and Church
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Post-Modern - Modern World is crumbling
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Universality & The Grand Story
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Post-moderns revel in the local, indigenous and the
particular. Post-moderns tend to be skeptics about
this big story. Small stories, particular stories, and
different versions of reality appeal to the postmodern mind.
21st Century Culture and Church
While modernity was liberating and
powerful in many ways, it was also and
especially for Christianity, reductive.
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highly moral, but not especially spiritual
modern Christianity explained miracle
and mystery (away) and proposed moral
values and lessons as universal truth.
What was missing was spiritual
connection and experience, the
experience of a sacred, numinous,
transcendent Other.
21st Century Culture and Church
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In the last thirty years while interest in
“spirituality” has been huge
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People felt yet church was not the best
place to pursue their “spiritual”
interests.
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Transformation was lacking
Discipleship Formation and
New Generations
Discipleship Formation with New
Generations in the 21st Century is:
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Relational in outreach
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Conversational in witness
Relational Outreach
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Discipleship Formation in 21st Century
is Relational
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Build community with those outside the
church
Get to know new generations and
culture
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Relational Outreach
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Bridge the gap by building
relationships
The days of waiting to welcome new
generations when they come back to
church are over.
Instead of waiting inside, we go
outside
Relational Outreach
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“I stopped wondering about how to
draw younger folks into my church
and started focusing on how to
draw my congregation out of its
building and into relationship with
the world outside its doors.”
Relational Outreach
“No Matter who you are, or where
you are on life’s journey, You are
welcome here!” makes the
theological statement that belonging,
being in relationship, is the first step
of believing. Relational Outreach is
about helping people belong so that
they can believe.
Conversational in Witness
The postmodern world calls us to be
conversational in witness and invitation.
“let your conversation be gracious and effective”
Colossians 4:5-6
Count conversations,
……….not conversions.
More Ready than You Think,
Brian McLaren
Conversation and
Faith Formation
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The postmodern world calls for disciples who
reach out to a world that is hungering for
good conversation about faith, values, hope,
meaning, purpose, goodness, beauty, truth,
life after death, life before death and God.
Engaging in everyday faith conversations will
not only help others become Christians, it will
help us become better Christians, who know
and love the still speaking God more than
ever. Brian McClaren
Conversational Ministry
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New Generations want to talk.
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We are the ones who are not talking
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New Generations are curious and want
information not on “what” we believe, but
“why” we believe.
We are all at a threshold, a
‘kairos’ moment:
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God is Still Speaking
has shown that the
harvest is ready.
There has been a
great response of
people looking for a
church like the
United Church
of Christ.
Witness and Invitation
UCC-Style
What do you say when
someone asks you about
your comma?
“For us it means God’s not stuck.
God still has more light and truth for
us today.”
“My church believes that God is still
speaking to us today.”
“It means that no matter how bad
things are in my life or in the world,
God is in the midst of it.”
V ITALITY
Go Forth…
into the Virtual World
 We seek to build Christian community
online because that’s where we can
encounter members and potential
members of our church:
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1.1 billion Internet users worldwide
100 million on MySpace
70 million bloggers
34 million students on Facebook
4-8 million on SecondLife
i.UCC
On Line Ministry and Community
V ITALITY
The College and the Church
and Discipleship Formation
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College Chaplain –
relational and conversational ministry.
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Reaching new generations of
Belief-filled Disciples.