Homegrown Leadership

Millenials. Just hearing the word elicits different mental responses depending on your exposure to them. Regardless of your thoughts on Millennials, you need them. Your church needs them. If you don’t attract and keep some younger people in your church, it will eventually die. Without younger people to succeed your older members, your congregation will eventually dwindle down to nothing. I just heard a news story this morning about such a church in our city. This church has had a presence in the city for decades. But recently, the membership has declined to the point where the church can no longer sustain the childcare program that has been an institution for generations of parents. Why has the membership declined? They have failed to attract younger people to their church.

Why do we have such a difficult time attracting younger people to our churches? There are several reasons, but I will list 3 of the main reasons here:

1. Resistance to Change. This is not something new in the church. But resistance to change has hurt us at times. While the rest of the world moved on, we held on to duplicating cassette tapes and CDs, printed newsletters, and avoided an online presence. The church has a tendency to accept change only after the rest of the world has proven that it will work. For this reason, the church is often 10-20 years behind our culture.
2. Fear of New Ideas. This is similar to resistance to change but differs in application.  It’s not that we’re resistant to change, we’re resistant to the ideas of others regarding how to implement change. When we think of things that need to change in our church, we sometimes think that we are the only ones who know how to make it work. When someone younger comes up with a way to do something we’re often resistant to try their ideas.
3. Fear of Losing Control. This ties in with the other 2 reasons we have a difficult time attracting younger people to our churches. We don’t want to lose control or influence. We may recognize the need to eventually turn things over to someone younger, but the time to do so is never now. We want to retain control for as long as we possibly can. Once we lose our sense of control, reasons 1 or 2 may come into play: they may change something or do it differently than we would.

Recognizing the reasons we don’t attract younger people to our churches is only half the battle. How do we overcome these obstacles and attract younger people to our churches? Here are 3 ways to make your church more attractive to younger people:

1. Give them a place to express their doubts. Millennials want authenticity.  They have been subject to targeted marketing most of their lives. They don’t want to hear hype from the church. They want authenticity. A recent survey by Barna Research tells us that young adults with Christian experience say the church is not a place that allows them to express doubts. They do not feel safe admitting that sometimes Christianity does not make sense. In addition, many feel that the church’s response to doubt is trivial. Too often, Christians dismiss the struggles we face and focus on the victories. While the victories are important, Millennials want to know that they are not alone in their struggles. That life is not always fair and that they are safe in expressing their doubts.
2. Give them a place to express their creativity. Millennials value creativity and innovation. They have ideas that we simply cannot conceive of because of their connectivity to technology and the differences in their culture. If we shut down their ideas and do not give them a place to express their creativity, they will find someplace else to do so. While they have some great ideas, they often lack the experience to achieve success. Partnering with them is a great way to both demonstrate value in their ideas and help them gain the experience necessary to be successful in the future.
3.  Give them a place to be mentored. Millennials value diversity. Diversity for them translates to far more than racial diversity. It also means generation diversity. They realize that they don’t know it all. They want to be mentored. While they want a safe place to express their ideas and creativity, they want help in both shaping their thoughts and ideas as well as in making them work. They want to learn from the mistakes of others. They are open to learning what has worked and what hasn’t. That isn’t to say that they won’t figure out how to make something work that has not worked in the past. But they want to be mentored. If you want to attract younger people to your church, give them a place to interact with other generations. Most churches split classes or even small groups by age. This is not effective with Millennials. They want to have meaningful interaction with those who are older and have more experience.

While this is again not an all-inclusive list, these are a few things you can do to make your church more attractive to younger people. There is no “quick fix” though. Building a church takes time. Changing a church culture is no different. Don’t expect Millennials to flock to your doors just because you begin an intergenerational Sunday School class. Healthy growth takes time. But not doing these things will cause younger people to seek other churches where they can express doubt, creativity and find mentorship.

If you need ideas about how to foster an environment of healthy church growth, contact us. We would love to partner with you and help you discover ways to make your church more accessible to others in your community. We would also love the opportunity to help you grow personally. Discover your purpose and feel more fulfillment from life. Working with a personal coach may be the change you need to help you experience a better sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. Contact us here to explore the possibility of working with a coach. For more about coaching, see What is Coaching? and Six Benefits of Working With a Coach.

Tom Rawlings is the founder of Homegrown Leadership. Tom is the author of Leading DEEPER – Leading Leaders in the 21st Century, as well as a coach, consultant, and speaker. With over 30 years of experience in church leadership, Tom and his team work with churches through consulting and pastors and church leaders through coaching. If you would like to invite Tom to speak at one of your events, please contact him here. Questions? Comments? We would love to hear what you think.