It was the first crisis of my first pastorate. I had challenged the people of that Colorado church to make a “faith promise” of increased giving for world missions. To my delight they committed an additional $5,700 per year, a 50 percent increase over the existing missions budget.
I practically floated to the missions committee meeting, where I recommended we draft a revised budget. But there wasn’t even a second to the motion. As one committee member said, “Pastor, when the money actually comes in, we’ll decide how to spend it.”
I was hurt and angry. God, missions, and I had suffered a terrible defeat.
Seventeen years later, I see the episode very differently. What I then thought was a spiritual issue I now understand to be a generational issue. The difference was not that I trusted God and they did not. The difference was more that they had lived through the Great Depression and I had not.
Projections of perceptions
We all tend to project our own experiences, perceptions, goals, and values upon others. We assume that what is valid for us is valid for everyone else.
Twentieth-century perceptions have been largely shaped by two significant events: the Great Depression and the Baby Boom. Even those not born in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s or the decades after World War II have been greatly influenced by these monumental eras of social change.
The Depression generation was small compared to those before and after. Only 24.4 million live births, for example, were recorded in the United States in the 1930s (which explains why many churches today have proportionately fewer members aged 49-57). They married younger, and more of them have stayed married than have their children. Women bore children younger and had more of them.
Economic times were tough in the 1930s, but hopes for a better future were fulfilled. Unprecedented growth began in the 1940s and boomed into the 1950s and 1960s. A generation was produced that remembered the hard times but moved ahead through diligence and perseverance.
By contrast, the Baby Boom of 1946-1964 produced 76 million American births, by far the most for any comparable period in the nation’s history. The differences from their pre-War parents are legion. They grew up amidst prosperity, yet under nuclear threat. They got more education, married later, and had fewer children (which makes for some very high expectations in child care). They also can’t remember a time without television (which affects the way they listen to communicators). In short, they have different perceptions of life, including the church.
Churches dominated by leaders born before World War II risk perpetuating attitudes and programs that may make it difficult to minister effectively to those born after the war. These attitudes can be found in statements like “We can increase our youth group and evening service attendance the way we did in 1954” or “Let’s teach stronger denominational loyalty so our young families won’t leave us for that independent church.”
Of course birth date does not always determine perceptions, and not everyone projects personal values on the rest of the church. Some people born in 1960 think and act as if part of the Depression, and others born in 1929 share the perceptions of baby-boomers. However, churches that seek to effectively reach and minister to those born after 1950 will intentionally design their ministry with the characteristics of the new generation in mind.
Timely touches
Much has been written about this generation. For example, it tends to be more conservative politically and theologically but much more permissive on social issues such as divorce, remarriage, the role of women, use of alcohol, and extramarital sex.
Our church has found the most significant characteristic of the new generation, however, is its receptivity to the message of Christ and the church. The combination of demographic and social currents at the end of this century makes this huge group more open than ever to the gospel.
We’ve found a few simple strategies make this outreach more effective.
First, look for leaders born between 1946 and 1964. Remember that the numerical peak of the Baby Boom was 1957 (those turning 30 in 1987). Certainly this does not mean the elder board should be determined by birth year, but it does say that baby boomers should increasingly come to places of prominence and influence in any church serious about reaching this generation.
Second, be ready to minister to children. This generation is coming back to church, and the primary reason is that they are having children. The number of married couples with children under age eighteen rose by more than 400,000 in 1984-86 This reverses a fifteen-year decline. Baby boomers have married and borne children at older ages than their parents. Safer childbirth for older women, availability of child care when both parents work, and the ticking out of the reproductive clock are all adding to the “baby boom echo.” Some 24,630,000 married couples have children under eighteen.
These parents have high expectations for their children and for the institutions that serve them. When visiting a church, the decision to return may be based far more on the nursery facilities and care than upon the denominational affiliation on the outside sign. So our church has focused on nursery facilities and a strong children’s program. The church with an emphasis on children’s ministry will attract new parents who might otherwise be closed to the church.
Third, be ready for non-traditional families. Because people during life’s transition times are more open to the gospel, we’ve found there are excellent opportunities to reach this generation-but only if we’re willing to deal with tough family situations.
The prevalence of divorce today is both a tragedy and an opportunity. Our church is trying to maximize the opportunity through seminars and classes such as “Divorce Recovery” and “Healing Broken Relationships.” I’ve been amazed how many can be attracted even from simple advertisements in the “personals” column of the newspaper classified section.
This, of course, is just the starting place. We then wrestle with how to assimilate divorced and remarried persons into the mainstream of church life. Increasingly we’ve found people choose not to be classified by marital status at all (single; married; formerly married) but prefer to be known simply as “adults.” In many ways, this makes the assimilation process easier and more natural.
Fourth, focus on special occasions. When is the time that most baby boomers who are open to church first attend?
We’ve discovered the primary re-entry point is Christmas Eve. In many churches Christmas Eve attendance now exceeds Easter Sunday morning. Christmas Eve represents tradition, family, nostalgia, and religion all at once. Also, it is one of the least threatening church services to attend.
Some of the principles we’ve tried to keep in mind in planning our Christmas Eve service are these:
1. Advertise so those who are unchurched but open to a Christmas observance will be aware of it.
2. If possible, offer more than one service to accommodate different schedules.
3. Make the program our best quality effort. From the music to the message, we want to present biblical truth in a straightforward manner and in a way that encourages a newcomer to say, “I’m glad I came.”
4. Offer child care. Even though some parents choose to keep their children with them through the service, they will know this is a church that cares for their children.
5. Delete the offering. We don’t want a visitor’s first impression to be that the church is more interested in money than the person.
6. Keep the lights low. Dim candlelight will allow first-timers to slip in and out, “testing the water” before making a decision about future involvement.
Reaching baby boomers does not mean compromising truth or Scripture. It does call us to be Christ’s agents for effective evangelism in a way that relates to the current generation. Understanding our own culture is as necessary as a missionary’s learning the culture of another nation.
In this context, I’ve appreciated Lowell Mason’s words of more than a hundred years ago, which Charles Wesley put to music:
A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify.
A never dying soul to snare,
And fit it for the sky.
To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfill;
O may it all my powers engage,
To do my Master’s will.
-Leith Anderson
Woodddale Church
Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Copyright © 1987 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
