July 24, 2013
Interview with Amy Hanson
Amy Hanson, author of Baby Boomers and Beyond, tells CHRISTIAN STANDARD Editor Mark Taylor seniors ministry must change if we are to engage the next generation of retirees. See the interview here.
Articles for tag: Baby Boomers
September 25, 2012
Facing the Facts about Debt
“¢ Our nation soon will be $16 trillion in debt. The U.S. government is living way beyond its means””it is insane and can”t continue without cataclysmic results. But the government is essentially doing what the average American citizen is doing. “¢ A tsunami of student loan debt will be upon us soon as graduates leave college and enter the workforce with an unimaginable and unsustainable albatross of debt. The average debt load of 2012 graduates will hit “a record $28,700, projects Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Finaid.org. That amounts to a $330 standard monthly payment. To handle that easily, he estimates,
September 2, 2012
Demographic Darwinism and the Church
By Robert Hull I was born in 1943. Demographers are eager to put me in my place, but I”m not sure exactly where that is. They tell me if we stretch the boundaries a little, I”m considered a Baby Boomer (or just a “Boomer”). From the reading I have done lately, I think that”s bad news. Any day now Generation X is going to wrest power from me and my decrepit fellow Boomers, throw us all under the church bus (uh, van), reinvent the church we have loved and served with our idealism, strength, time, and money, and replace it
July 15, 2012
Megachurches: Storm Clouds Ahead?
By Brian Maris It”s not all smooth sailing for the megachurches. Church leaders I interviewed foresee some storms on the horizon. In my previous column (May 27), I shared seven positive trends megachurches are experiencing. These were gleaned from interviewing nine authors, academics, megachurch pastors, and missional church planters. These nine were overwhelmingly optimistic about the future of megachurches. But not everything they see is positive. Today, we”ll look at three concerns that were mentioned in those interviews. 1. Overfishing in Other Churches” Ponds “There are two kinds of megachurches,” states Eddie Gibbs, senior professor of church growth at
April 11, 2012
Gen X Rising (Part 2)
By Rick Chromey Gen X is rising. From the Tea Party to the emerging church movement, a new breed of leader is operating. Unlike previous generations in recent history, Americans born between 1961 and 1981 don”t feel a need to work within institutional frames. In the 1990s they pioneered dot-com companies to launch a World Wide Web. During the past decade they”ve revolutionized dig- ital learning, wireless communications, reality television, and thousands of “third place” cultural experiences from coffee shops to fantasy sports to “emerging” churches. Now in their 30s and 40s, this generation rides the leading edge of unemployment, foreclosure,
April 10, 2012
Gen X Rising (Part 1)
By Rick Chromey The next two decades will produce unimaginable change. By 2040, much of what we now call “modernity” will be history as the digital revolution finalizes its reinvention of commerce, communication, and education. In 2010, Amazon e-books outsold print books, and in 2011, Borders booksellers filed bankruptcy, signaling an end of the age of Gutenberg. The iPad and Kindle are changing how we read. The CD and DVD are dead media (and books are next), while Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter continue to flex digital muscles. In the midst of this cyber revolution stands a generation waiting to
December 15, 2011
The New Old: Are We Ignoring One of America”s Largest Generations?
By Amy Hanson Question: What do NPR, USA Today, Chico”s clothing store, CVS pharmacy, Whole Foods Market, CNN, and the Obama administration all have in common? Answer: They are all investing significant amounts of time, money, and research into one of the biggest demographic shifts ever to occur in America””the aging population. Specifically, these entities, as well as hundreds of others, are studying baby boomers and the impact this huge group will have on society. The baby boom generation (whom I like to refer to as “the new old”) includes 78 million people born between 1946 and 1964. Pew Research
Leading Older Adults to Find Places of Service
 By Amy Hanson VolunteerMatch, an organization that helps to connect people with community groups, commissioned an extensive research study in 2006 and discovered that more than half of adults 55 and older are interested in volunteering. The challenge is that many of them are having difficulty finding the right way to share their skills and experience. As leaders, what can we do to help people in the second half of life discover their unique place to serve?  Connect people to God so he can lead them. A few years ago I met a man named Hal who was
Dispelling the Myths
 By Bill Tennison  Want to be effective in your ministry with adults over 50? Then get rid of these commonly held myths about older adults.    Seniors think they have “done their time” and don”t want to participate in the life of the church.  “It”s a myth that senior adults no longer want to contribute,” wrote David P. Gallagher in Senior Adult Ministry in the 21st Century: Step-By-Step Strategies for Reaching People Over 50. “It”s equally untrue that senior adults don”t want to be actively involved. Senior adults do want to be involved.” In a
May 13, 2009
The Final Challenge
By Mark A. Taylor Every sports fan knows the importance of ending well. We remember games won in the ninth inning, come-from-behind victories cinched in overtime, runners prevailing only in the final lap. All the game was important, but victory was sure only in the final seconds. Every gardener knows a successful harvest is the point of planting. Neat rows of new sprouts are attractive, and beautiful blooms on healthy vegetable vines are encouraging. But if by summer”s end the plants dry up, rot away, or become the food of garden pests, what real good is a garden? So it
November 23, 2008
The Emerging Church: A Brief History and Helpful Resources
By William R. Baker See the Main Article: “The Emerging Church and the Stone-Campbell Movement: Some Striking Similarities (Part 1)”   What is now dubbed the emerging church began with a few prominent, young, evangelical church leaders in the early 1990s who became disenchanted with the megachurches with which they were involved. It has grown now to an expanding network of mature, culturally savvy church leaders and thinkers who minister with congregations, mostly in large cities. These leaders are attempting to embody the gospel within the challenges of a postmodern world. The crisis these leaders were experiencing, it turns
October 5, 2008
Raising Up the Next Generation of Genuine Leaders
By John Derry  Sociologists have identified certain characteristics associated with contemporary generations, differences church leaders will find helpful as they seek to resolve conflict and bring generations together to achieve common goals. One generation is not better or worse than another. They are just different, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.  DIFFERENT GENERATIONS The Silent Generation or “Tradition-alists” (born between 1925 and 1946) lived through the Great Depression and World War II and experienced the postwar boom in America. They are known for loyalty, a strong work ethic, respect for authority, and resistance to change. They are
September 12, 2007
Let”s Add Our Voices to the Conversation
Mark A. Taylor reflects on the emerging church conversation—welcoming change that draws believers closer to God while asking how churches can learn from emerging principles without abandoning existing congregations.
TRANSITIONS: Facing the Facts of Transition
Russell Crabtree, Holy Cow Consulting, The Elephant in the Boardroom, pastoral transitions, succession planning, Disciples of Christ, Episcopal Church, Columbus Ohio,
