A New Model for Churches Who Want to Reach Millennials
It is time for a new model of ministry to millennials. Here is a way to move toward a new model of reaching out to millennials that invites millennials into a deeper level of engagement and participation — one that fits with millennials’ way of life. A model, by the way, that isn’t one-size fits all but is one-size fits one:
Interruption vs. Engagement: Churches that intend to reach out to millennials will commit to creating a message that says, “Don’t stop your life to come to church. Come to church as a part or even the basis of your life.”
Reaction vs. Interaction: Churches desiring to connect with millennials will not only give instruction for something to do but instead will give them something to do with the church.
Attendance vs. Empowered Participants: This new model approach relies on the old cliché “Don’t come to church, be the church!” In order to be the church, however, millennials will need to be empowered and released to create new ways of doing church and connecting to others.
Big Promises vs. Personal Gestures: Millennials will continue to require that churches not only tell them about what God promises to do for the world but show them what Christians choose to do every day to make the world whole.
Members vs. Partners: Churches will need to communicate to millennials the churches’ invitation to not only belong as members but to become partners. To belong is boring. To become, together as a community, is an adventure.
The bottom line is that millennials desire to be a part of a community that is collaborative, creative, and curious. Over half of all millennials say they are spiritual, but only a third are part of a faith community. The issue is relevancy and engagement. To connect with millennials — not because our churches are dying but because our churches can be growing — investigate and experiment with a new approach to reaching millennials in an intentional, generous way; a way that seeks to accomplish God’s mission to restore the world toward its intended wholeness.
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Originally published here: http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/6040/what-millennials-crave-and-how-the-church-can-relate