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The generations’ next wave is hitting the shore, and baby busters may soon feel overtaken by the surge. While most attenders at the Generation X convention in Orlando plotted to reach the Starbucks society (those born between 1965 and 1980), a few leaders warned X-ers to look over their shoulders. Today’s youth group is entering college, turning 20, and defying many of our assumptions based on those just a few years their senior.

Generation X, with its aimless, hopeless, extreme sensibility, is mostly an American culture, but their wired successors are a global phenomenon. The world is a much smaller place for them. They have lived most of their lives at warp speed with cyber freedom. And similar characteristics are showing up in their age group in many cultures.

Even with school shootings and the overall devaluation of life, society has embraced these kids. Their parents were more involved in their upbringing than Gen-Xers’ parents were. Their childhoods were “The Lion King” years.

And they’re much more hopeful.

That’s good news for ministry, according to Ken Baugh, Frontline pastor at McLean (Va.) Bible Church. The emerging generation seems more willing to hear a message of hope. The challenge is to make it the message of hope in Christ.

Rich Hurst, co-author with Baugh of Getting Real: An Interactive Guide to Relational Ministry (NavPress, 2000), says we should talk in terms of two generations. Those born after 1980 who are coming of age now he calls millennials—”milli’s” for short. Kids born after 1990 are the real “net gen.” They’ve never known life without the Internet.

The next generation(s), Hurst says, have the numbers and the power to soon surpass Generation X in influence. “There is nothing more important to us than to reach the Millennial and Net generations, and it will be up to Generation X to do it.”

Eric Reed

Currents

It’s a miracle!

More than eight in ten Americans believe God performs miracles, and almost half believe they have experienced or witnessed one. That’s according to a Newsweek poll taken just before Easter. Here’s the breakdown:

84% have faith in divine miracles.

79% believe the miracles in the Bible.

48% have personal experience with miracles.

63% know someone who has.

90% of Christians believe in miracles.

98% of evangelical Protestants say they do.

(USA Today, 4/24/00)

Glossolalia

A vocabulary list for the postmod church.

We actually heard each of these used in a sentence recently.

BiComm—short for Biblical Communication; like the sermon, only more, uh, authentic
CEOs—people who attend church on Christmas-and-Easter-only
Cheese meter—the buster’s on-board detector for all that’s not authentic
Chreasters—see CEOs
Coaching Team—the ministers formerly known as pastoral staff
Director of Cell Multiplication—education minister
Christ Follower—preferred over “Christian” in many places
Lead Pastor—like the lead sled dog, the only one for whom the scenery changes
Self-actualized faith—your guess is as good as ours on this one.
“A Safe Place to be in Process”—new slogan for the 12-step church

The Virtual Tent Meeting

Church outreach on the Internet

At Calvary Church of Los Gatos, California, we reach more than 30,000 people every month (through our Websites, see www.calvarylosgatos.org).

There is great advantage to using the Internet to support and enhance ministries, but I think the first place I would like to begin is to lead those in spiritual need to the foot of the Cross—to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We see a good deal of our click-stream going to a self-navigational piece called “Who Is Jesus?” (produced by Campus Crusade).

We’re learning that people who would not usually come to church are arriving daily (via the Internet) to find something. In that process, some will find Jesus. This side of eternity we will never know how many lives we’re affecting, but we know that God is using us and our technology to change lives. We actually have people coming to our church saying they have completed the steps and want to know more.

We used to set up meeting tents and preach the Good news. The Internet is the electronic tent—the place where the transformation journey can begin.

—Walter Wilson, author, The Internet Church (Word, 2000), in Church Champions Update (3/10/00)

E-vangelism Netiquette

Tips to reach the really unreached.

Victoria Shepherd was a witch, a commited Wiccan, when she asked this question online: Why are you a Christian instead of something else? Charles Scott replied and asked why she was a Wiccan. That started a four month e-mail conversation between Shepherd in California and Scott in Canada that resulted in Victoria’s salvation.

Scott’s experience sharing his faith online encourages others to try, but not everyone is so savvy.

Here’s help for witnessing on the Web from Jan Brown, our Miss Manners with a message. Jan manages 17 chat areas and 2,000 message boards for ChristianityToday.com, the cyber-domain of Leadership and our sister publications at Christianity Today International.

Jan’s advice:

Stay objective. You’ll hear gut-wrenching stories. Empathize while you evangelize, but maintain your emotional distance to keep Web relationships from spilling over into real-life relationships.

Be skeptical. Not everyone is who they say they are in cyberspace. One woman Jan encountered said she was depressed and sought counseling advice. It was a set-up for a liability lawsuit.

Keep your cool. You’ll meet plenty of seekers, but expect antagonists, too. Some drop by Christian chat rooms just to cause trouble. Don’t fight. Speak the truth—in love.

Know your stuff. Web witnessing is part evangelism and part apologetics. Be prepared to answer tough questions.

Know your limitations. Don’t give personal advice unless you’re a professional counselor. Be prepared to refer serious matters to the experts. Suggest a Christian helpline. Rapha: 1-800-383-HOPE. New Life Ministries: 1-800-NEW-LIFE.

from ChristianityToday.com magazine (Nov/Dec 1999)

Leadership Links

E-vangelism: Sharing the Gospel in Cyberspace by Andrew Careaga ($9.99, Vital Issues Press). Call 1-800-749-4009 to order.

Web Evangelism Guide www.webauthors.org/guide/

Electronic Brainstorming

Making more of long distance meetings

Finding the time to draw small group and ministry team leaders together for planning and resourcing is getting harder and harder. Yet some of our most effective ministry ideas have come out of discussions in these groups.

Lately I’ve been using e-mail to describe current ministry opportunities and challenges and have invited our leaders to reply with their ideas, suggestions, and questions. We’re calling this “E-storming.”

The response has been really positive and the savings in time and travel are obvious.

—Phil Kingsley City Gates Fellowship Dublin, Ireland

Innovative Study Appeals to Small Town Values

Can the Aunt Bee Bible be far behind?

Barry Lancaster puts on his khaki uniform, adjusts his policeman’s hat, drops a bullet in his shirt pocket, and slips into character. On Wednesday nights, he’s Barney Fife, deputy sheriff of Maple Avenue United Methodist Church in Marietta, Georgia. He’s sworn to protect and serve up the Word of God.

Fife—er, Lancaster introduces a vintage episode of “The Andy Griffith Show.” After his group watches the show, the deputy leads discussion on the moral issues it raised and turns to Scripture for answers. Now in its second season, the study is a real hit, growing from 20 to 60 average attendance in just over a year.

“We’ve had ‘guest appearances’ by Aunt Bee, Gomer, and Ernest T. Bass,” the deputy impersonator said. “Our pastor even dressed up as Otis Campbell, the town drunk. That was the best.”

Lancaster said the unusual study is attracting visitors. “We bring in several men from a halfway house. They really related to the episode about Opie’s hobo friend.”

Lancaster patterned his study after one piloted by Joey Fann of Huntsville, Alabama. Fann’s weekly lessons are available at www.barneyfife.com.

Both men are contributors to a new Bible study curriculum based on the TV show. The kit includes four episodes, hosted by pastor/comedian Dennis Swanberg, plus student books and teacher’s guide. The publisher plans to release four volumes. ($39.99, Nelson Word Multi-Media Group, a division of Thomas Nelson.)

Let me e-llustrate …

Where do you get your stories?

One-fourth of pastors in our survey regularly surf the Web for sermon illustrations. But online services still trail traditional sources. As expected, younger preachers are much more likely than older preachers to plug in their Internet stories—39% of those under 40 compared to 22% of those 55 and over.

Our respondents identified up to three sources from this list:

Personal experience 84%
Current events 47%
Bible study 28%
Internet 26%
Illustration books 25%
Preaching publications 20%
Commentaries 13%
Media 10%

Ethics Test

Do you think it’s wrong to use this material from someone else in your sermon without giving credit:

Illustration 14%

Idea 22%

Outline 37%

Transcript 62%

Have you ever used someone else’s preaching material in a way that you now consider inappropriate?

Yes 30%

No 70%

(Source: Leadership Survey)

I Wish I’d Said That!

This Website is better than Bartlett’s. It’s the motherlode of all quote resources, according to Church Champions. More than 23,000 quotes, including a little data on each person cited as author of the quote.

www.bemorecreative.com.