What made this Gen Z pastor choose a career in ministry when many of her generational peers have opted out of church altogether?

Online, you can follow her on Twitter under the handle @GenZPastor. In real life, you’ll find Pastor Sara Martin baptizing and confirming young people, sharing meals in her community, and providing pastoral care to her congregants. Raised in the church from birth, she received her call to ministry on a youth mission trip at age sixteen. Now she is pursuing ordination as an Elder in the United Methodist Church while she serves in her first ministry appointment as the Senior Pastor at Guthrie First United Methodist Church. 

In a recent conversation with this Gen Z Pastor, we discussed what she would like other church leaders to know about reaching members of her generation, along with her own hopes as new pastor.

Q: What excites you about being a pastor?

Sara Martin: The sacred relationships you have as a pastor. Part of my calling as a pastor is to walk alongside people on their best days and on their worst days. You have days where you celebrate new marriages, new babies, families coming together, new jobs, graduations, birthdays, and anniversaries. But you also have days where you sit at the bedside of the aging, sick, and the dying. You may walk alongside someone through grief and loss. I believe my congregation will teach me not only how to be a pastor, but the wisdom and truth about our human life.

 Q: Is there anything that makes you nervous about your ministry position?

SM: I worry about how people will perceive me as a young, female pastor fresh out of college. While I don’t feel that age and experience are necessarily prerequisites to successful ministry, life experience is one of the universe’s greatest teachers. I don’t think any of us has all the answers, and owning up to this truth will only be a benefit as I lead and pastor as a member of Generation Z.

Q: What made you stay in the church when so many others in Gen Z have opted out of organized religion?

SM: At age 17, I was elected to a denominational board to help draft and edit faith statements around having conversations on social justice and advocacy within local church communities. Through this experience, I was able to see the diversity and beauty in my church, as well as their ability to have hard conversations on important but difficult topics.

I am called to enter into broken spaces to bring grace and reconciliation. It would be easier to walk away from the Church then to struggle with it the way that it is. So I made a choice to say “yes” and to bring justice, reconciliation, and liberation with my work in the church.

Q: How do you plan to connect with the members of your intergenerational congregation?

SM: Jesus modeled ministry in such a beautiful way: Jesus had meals. We let our guard down over a cup of coffee, the breaking of bread, and conversation. Taking time to share a meal is a great way to get to know one another and share stories, even across generations.

Q: What suggestions would you give to churches that hope to reach Gen Z?

SM: As a church, be authentic and individually yourselves. Trying to appeal to whatever is trendy is not going to convince young people to come to church. Figure out who you are as a community and learn to tell your story. What are your values? What is it you do well? Then do that thing well.

Cultivate youth and young adult leadership in your church. Give young people a space where they can lead. If you don’t give Gen Z a space at the table, they will make their own space outside the church walls.

Finally, figure out the difference between Millennials and Generation Z!