Whether you care about politics or not, this generation is already influencing and will be transforming everthing they interact with.
And whether you agree with them or not, they bring some much needed ideas. I’m especially interested in how they are influencing the Church, which is not talked about here. But that’s for other posts. Just know that what is discussed here is obviously influencing the Church.
Now here are some very brief observations on some of the summaries that authors make in the interview. I didn’t really organize it…but peruse the observations made by the authors. Very interesting.
- Millenials are people born between 1982 in 2003 (at least as defined in the US).
- Largest generation in American history. 1 million more than the previous largest generation…the Baby Boomers.
- Twice as many Milennials as Gen X’ers
- Most ethnically diverse generation in American History…40% are either African American, Asian or Mixed Race; 20% have at least one immigrant parent.
- Generation “least bound” by gender and role restriction.
- Half of Millenials that are in college are female; first time in history.
- Highly socially tolerant generation.
- “Civic Generation”…lineal descendants of the last Civic Generation the GI/Greatest Generation (i.e. Depression, WWII, etc.)
- See a need for a greater economic equality in the country…respond to economic injustice. Will be interested in re-distribution policies to make economic inequality to go away.
- Voting for Obama anywhere from a minimum of 2/3/4 to 1 over Hilary. 6 to 1 in Iowa.
- Agreement across gender lines with Millenials. No gender gap.
- Question by Hugh: “Why do they like Obama so much more than Hilary?” Answer by the authors: 1) Differences in Style–Hilary is running a classic Boomer campaign of Compare and Contrast, or Divide and Conquer. Obama is running a campaign of unification of the country, message of hope and change. 2) Obama has married that message with the right medium. He is doing social networking better than any campaign in history.
- Communication to this generation via text, online, etc. is how they make decisions, rather than listening to authority. They make decisions based on their connectivity network, rather than make decisions based on authority.
- You should have two different strategies to reach the Boomers and the Millenials. And they should be, and better be completely different. The Millenials can sniff out any in-authenticity in marketing. They don’t care about or watch TV, because they would rather be online and communicating and networking with people.
- Very “green.” They respect the environment. Believe in being good stewards of the environment.
- There are conservative Millenials, but when it comes to Millenials, liberals outnumber them 2 to 1 for the first time in history. This will impact politics for generations to come.
- More inclined to join the military. “They were seared by 911.” Have security concerns. Very respectful and proud of the military, and fire and police force. Not the Boomer anti-adult institution. Respect their parents.
- Issues such as gay rights, gay marriage, interracial dating, interracial marriage, etc…are dead issues to them…it just doesn’t matter to them…these issues were decided long ago.
- Very much constrained by the financial challenges this country has created…will want to solve these fiscal problems…will want to tax those who have money, and give it to those who don’t.
- Interested in Peer to Peer, Bottoms-Up organizing styles, and not Top-Down, Command and Control style. You can appeal to them if you can talk to them about communitarian solutions that are self organizing.
- Authenticity is important. Lying is not okay to this generation.
- Millenials do not like to desert their elders; believe in their elders; even if their elders act in crazy ways (reason why Obama’s ratings went up after supporting his pastor (Rev. Wright), after his comments.
- Question by Hugh Hewitt: “What do they want?” Answer by authors: “Wonderful family life…life that is filled with the riches of interpersonal relationships, and that has enough income so that they aren’t pressured enough on the income side.” …”They want to leave America in better condition than they found it.”
How does this impact ministry in a PC(USA) Church? Here are just a few take aways i got from this interview. Of course, every PC(USA) Church is not like this, but I’m painting with broad brush strokes at this point.
- The PC(USA) is a Top-Down, Command and Control organization. This structure and style of leadership I believe will push away this generation, and already has in many ways.
- The PC(USA) for years has been focused on and trying to answer the question of homosexuality, especially as it relates to ordination and the vows involved in being ordained. According to this generation this isn’t even a question. So why the denomination spends all of its time on this issue, it is considered a non-issue by the Millenials. This forces them away from the PC(USA) and into other church communities and denominations.
- The PC(USA) is a denomination based on decisions made by authority. But because of technology especially, Millenials bypass the decisions of authority and reach concensus within their own social circles.
If the PC(USA) hopes to attract this generation through its doors, it will radically have to restructure its leadership, ordination procedures, vehicles of communication (especially with technology), etc.
Thoughts?
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
this is some really great stuff rhett.
great summary of the interview and I think your summary of how it affects the pcusa is right on 100%
Thanks for the insights, Rhett. We copied the post and sent it out to our session.
The ordination process is such a tough issue. I speak against it as often as I possibly can, and I’m shocked at the resistance to changing it…
I’m sorry you dropped out. It’s a real shame. A real loss.
So are we arguing from cultural description here to ecclesiastical prescription? We must be vigilant in understanding where the culture is moving but emerging cultural trends, like the ones at the end of this post, are not determinative for the body of Christ. Sometimes the call is to be counter-cultural.
Michael — to some extent, I agree with you. I think one of the ways millennial followers of Christ will have to be counter-cultural is in their resistance to rampant consumerism (something embraced by many millennials and post-moderns alike).
But if I understand what you mean when you say “ecclesiastical prescription” (messing with church structures?) I’m not opposed to that at all. In fact, I think the church has to change in order to accomplish the purposes of the body of Christ. The message may stay the same, but somehow I doubt that hierarchical structures of leadership and ordination of gay ministers are really that central to the message.
Neal. Great points. I was thinking about this when Michael posted.
Michael. I see what you are saying. But I too would argue that these Millenials in many ways are living counter-culturally by calling into question many of our hierarchical, command and control, ecclesiastical structures.
The body of Christ is not to be determined by cultural trends…but it will obviously take various shapes based on the characteristics of the cultures one is raised in. And that is not always a bad thing.
The Millenials in many ways reject a lot of the Boomer ideas…and I am all for that when it comes to Church. Some of the ecclesial ideas that came from the Boomers have greatly influenced our church in some unhealthy ways…I’m thinking of the pastor as the CEO, rather than a pastor…the megachurch in many ways, though I don’t have a problem with them in general. etc.
So I see the Millenials as a great hope to the future of the Church. I tihnk though that each generation fears somewhat the next one…because when a generation calls something into question, i.e. church structure…there are always those who are threatened by it.
Good thoughts though…
I have three millenial daughters – one in political science, one in seminary pursuing a M. Div. degree and ordination, and one in college pursuing
Urban Ministry/Educational Ministry major. They study the Bible and are applying what they learn. There is one area that this blog does not address. What does each group think about the validity of Scripture as a guide to action, thinking, relationships and world view. The problems in the PC(USA) are all about this issue – the vlidity of Scripture (even the homosexual divide). I find that there is a high degree of Biblical illiteracy among boomers and millenials – yet there is “spiritual” hunger being addressed by the media and culture, but not addressed in our churches. The hunger is there – Scripture doesn’t change – At the core of all longing is the basic Gospel whatever the age.
Linda–personally, I’d have to ask you what you mean by “validity of scripture.” If you mean that scripture is helpful, inspiring, and central to the way we understand our story and place in the world, then I’m down with that. But if “Validity” is just another code word for “inerrant,” “infallible,” and “unquestionable,” then that may be where this Gen X’er (who is in his own opinion quite bibically literate) parts company.
Linda Lee:
You ask, “What does each group think about the validity of Scripture as a guide to action, thinking, relationships and world view.”
I think these groups think the Bible is valid…if that’s what you are asking.
Whether they are Boomer, Millenial, GenX’er, etc….
I don’t think the question is so much validity, as much as it is a question of interpretation.
We all have to remember that we approach Scripture with a biased lens….none of us approach it in a pure, unadulterated way.
I often hear people say…”Just give me the Bible.” Or “I just read the Bible.” As if others aren’t reading it.
The question is interpretation. Someone from a different generation or cultural mileu may have different interpretations of a text than someone else.
So a Boomer in this case may approach a text differently than a Millenial because of the environment in which they were raised. it’s the same text, but we all have a lens that shapes our interpretation. The Millenials in many cases are asking new questions about economics, social justice and leadership that the Boomers weren’t asking.
So I think, just because we talk about cultural/generational trends, doesn’t mean these people discount the Bible…sure some do. But all of us approach the text through a lens…and that’s the most important thing I want us to keep in mind.
One thing I try to remind us, is that most of us American Christians have approached the text through a White, Protestant Work Ethic, Consumerist, Capitalist, Republican lens….we are just so ingrained we don’t know it. So if people start asking questions about the text, we think they are being too cultural, without realizing all along just how culturally embedded we are.
And obviously, different seminaries, different churches, have different views of Scritpure. Fuller Seminary says the Bible is infallible, but not innerant. Which is the view I hold. So if someone says the Bible is innerant and infallible, they will automatically think the other doesn’t take the Bible seriously….which is unfortunate, because that is not true.
Anyways…just some thoughts.
rhett
Neal:
Wow! I didn’t even see your post. But we are on the same page. I just rambled longer than you, and you got to the point.
The question of validity is so important. What does that mean? Because I think the Bible is infallible, but not innerant. So does that mean I don’t take the Bible as being valid. I would think not.
So great question. Where people talk about validity, I think of it as interpretation.
We all interpret…we all have a hermeneutical lens through which we interpret. We like to think we approach the text purely and on it’s own terms…but that is just not true.
rhett
Linda- The hunger is there – Scripture doesn’t change – At the core of all longing is the basic Gospel whatever the age.
Similar to what Neal and Rhett said- it comes down to individual interpretation. Most importantly, the freedom to look objectively at Scripture. And the freedom to form individual beliefs from by studying scripture. The spiritual hunger is satisfied in the process rather than the conclusion. Because, understanding will inevitably change throughout one’s life. The church would do well to encourage this journey.
Neal #7, Rhett #8
Just be clear, I want to be sure that I understood as not being for or against any of the items at the end of the post based on what Millennials think about them.
As the final G.I. Generation cohort members were being born (the same archetype as the Millennials) John D. Rockefeller, Jr., joined with Henry Emerson Fosdick to found the Riverside Church in NYC, a multipurpose megachurch with expansive facilities and programs. From the 1930s into the 1950s, this was the “Willow Creek” for the Mainline denominations. Everyone wanted to be Riverside. Rockefeller made massive donations to seminaries and churches across the nation with the caveat that they run their institutions like his corporations, with a CEO and board of directors. Especially after WWII there was an expansion of these megachurches all funded and built by the ambitious “bigger is better” G.I. generation. Unlike the generations before them, they saw how resources could mobilize into these ecclesiastical corporations for building the Kingdom God.
Boomers came along and decided that these institutions were to formulaic, cold, and regimented. So they created their own megachurch versions that emphasized enthusiasm, expression, and embrace of all the latest business techniques. Unlike the generations before them they could see that the need for people to emotionally engaged in worship and the need for a plethora of self-help therapeutic programs for the community.
Now the Millennials come along, and they see things no generation before has seen and so now we are going to … Getting my picture?
All I’m saying is proceed with extreme caution when trying to go from cultural context to mission.
That said, I should disclose that I’ve served on the GAC (the mission arm at the national level) for the last four years. I’ve been a leading advocate of decentralized collaborative mission with the denominational structures existing in support of Presbyterians and their congregations. There is a major shift underway toward less top down “flat world” functioning (not there yet). It remains to be see what happens elsewhere in the denominational hierarchy but I’m hopeful.
Rhett #11
You wrote:
“The Millenials in many cases are asking new questions about economics, social justice and leadership that the Boomers weren’t asking.”
I’m a trailing edge Boomer. When I was in college in the late 70’s to early ‘80s, I was reading magazines like Jim Wallis’ Sojourners and Ron Sider’s The Other Side. Sider’s “Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger” and John Howard Yoder’s “The Politics of Jesus” were big. Anti-consumerist environmentalism was all the rage. (E. F. Schumacker “Small is Beautiful.”) In the late 80’s I went to grad school at Eastern University and had Campolo and Sider for classes.
The present day Emergent fascination with these same leaders (and their latest disciples) and their teachings strikes me as anything but emerging. I was at an ESA event two weeks ago and Dr. Sider commented that he was too old to be an idealist anymore but he was pleasantly surprised to see younger Evangelicals coming around to the positions ESA has been advocating for more than thirty years.
This may all be new to Millennial Evangelicals but these questions have been asked before. In fact, I experience the Emergent conversation as (disappointingly) retro. I share the distaste for the consumerist religion you have mentioned. Yet this all feels like one more uncreative pendulum swing when it comes to politics and social justice. Millennial Evangelicals may be asking new questions but their answers feel monotonously familiar.
Michael:
Good stuff. Thanks for the comments and thought. I’m learning a lot from you. I agree in that the “Emergent Church” is probably more retro in many ways…everyone keeps saying that it harkens back to the Jesus Movement in many ways.
So maybe there aren’t a lot of new questions being asked.
I’m technically a Gen X’er, but feel more akin to the Millenials. So maybe the X’ers just haven’t been asking new questions, but the previous generations were.
One of the things that I think the Millenials have is their affinity for technology….I think technology has really influenced many of their views in ways that previous generations have not had. Would you agree? I think the technology has really ushered in a new sense of collective collaboration….of bottoms up mentality.
I’m just thinking through many of these things myself.
It’s funny that I just picked up Ron Sider’s “Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger.” So maybe Claiborne is a return to people like him of an earlier generation.
I need to think more on some of the things you said.
Thanks for contributing to this discussion…you have given me a lot to think about. I have a baby daughter…I’m wondering what her generation will be about.
rhett
There is a saying that applies here. “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.”
The technology question is an interesting one to contemplate. My grandmother (1906-1994) moved from MO to OK in a horse pulled wagon as a little girl but lived to see a man walk on the moon and into the earliest days of the internet. Some historians argue that the technological transformations in the nineteenth of the railroad and the telegraph were more radical than what we have experienced since (other change being mere expansions of the trends they set in motion.) Railroads meant that for the first time human beings could travel faster than a horse and cover more than about 20 miles in a day. This led to the creation of time zones, where previously each town had kept their own time, setting clocks to noon at the height of the sun. Telegraph radically shrank the world and put people long distances apart in synchronic existence. Both created radically different perceptions of time and distance. Most innovations since have been refinements of this.
I think the next big change is coming soon and is already underway: biotechnology. I think this has the potential radically alter the way we perceive life and being. That is what I expect your daughter’s generation is going to be caught up in.
Anyway, I love your post and talking about the generation stuff.
Wow, where to begin…
In a nutshell what I see here is opportunity. The question before us (the Church, particularly us in the mainline, top-down, hierarchal lead church), is whether we’ll hold tight to the gospel instead of our structures. Will we allow the gospel to read us in our context, or will we read the gospel in ours?
I think this is the central point of the whole Scripture issue, the whole sex issue in the Church – will we really allow the Gospel, allow God, to read us, to speak to us, to cast out the demons we sleep with and the idols we carry in our back pockets – or will we, like many before, simply find new places to plant our flag in the Bible, places that are more comfortable for our context, places that we can use to bring about our own kingdoms on earth?
This next generation is beginning to call into question some of our structures, some of our idols and maybe, if we’re willing to listen, they can be the Jeremiahs, the Hoseas, the Isaiahs that help us. Hopefully we can show them that the story hasn’t necessarily been corrupted, the gospel is still true, and we’re willing to be chastened by it, and by them. And maybe they’ll see that by us living that out, that the whole story IS true, the whole gospel IS real and they too, in turn, will be formed and reformed by the love of God…
Most of these facts are bologna. For one, being a Millennial, I watch quite a bit of TV WHILE networking online. Secondly, Millennials lie all the time. Some less than others, but Millennials have lied to their parents more than once a day, they have fights more with their parents because of lost ties, and they are less likely to spend any time together…except, maybe, in front of the TV.
So, yes, Millennials do want to help out the environment, but mostly they are being brainwashed into helping out lost causes. A lot of Millennials do not care about keeping their family together, and some do. Classifying every single Millennial as caring and sophisticated is somewhat odd. Our generation has the highest female college attendance, but higher drop-out rates than previous generations.
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