Articles for tag: Generation X

September 1, 2023

Kent E. Fillinger

The Hope Quotient

The Hope Quotient

By Kent E. Fillinger  It’s been said that a person can live 40 days without food, four days without water, four minutes without air, but only four seconds without hope. Hope is a power that energizes us with life. The available research on hope is limited, so Christian Standard conducted an online survey in May 2023 to assess how hopeful people are about the future of the church. The survey size was limited—just 141 responses—but the results were informative.   It’s worth noting that 87 percent of the survey participants reported attending church “more than once a week” or “once a

May 25, 2018

Christian Standard

5 Things You Need to Know about the 5-Generation Church

By Haydn Shaw I was recently in a church talking with a room full of baby boomers (those born 1946–64) and millennials (born 1981–2001) who wanted to understand how to build community across generations. They realized that people tend to socialize with others of their own generation before and after the worship services, and they wanted to know how they might bridge the differences. They wondered if they should have intergenerational small groups. The boomers and millennials want to spend more time together, but their different life stages create practical challenges. For instance, many baby boomer small groups enjoy big

January 27, 2018

David Roadcup

Young Ministry Staff and Elders—Connecting Together

By David Roadcup The summer of 1966 was a watershed time for me. I was 19 years old and going into my sophomore year at Lincoln (Illinois) Christian College. I had accepted my first summer youth ministry in a rural church in central Illinois. I remember my first day. I knew I had been called to this, my life’s work, but that first day was daunting. Where do I start? How is this going to go? Who are these people in my new church family? Will I be liked? Will they work with me? It was a challenging and impactful

September 8, 2017

Christian Standard

If We Want to Reach Millennials, We Must Think Like Veronica

By Haydn Shaw My writing collaborator and I put together most of my book Generational IQ while occupying a corner table at a local Smashburger restaurant. We spent so much time there that the entire staff got to know us. One afternoon, the manager, Veronica, asked how the book was coming along. She said she reads business books, so we talked about my first book, Sticking Points. When I told her Generational IQ was a look at the spiritual lives of the generations, she lit up and told us her grandmother was a devout Catholic. Her mother had been raised

June 20, 2017

Christian Standard

Called to Serve Millennials, but Can We Reach Them?

By Haydn Shaw Churches have three main options for reaching millennials (those born 1981″“2001). When I consult with churches, I usually recommend the first, and sometimes the second, but never the third because it”s the one that doesn”t work. Option 1: Change the church now This is the best option for most churches. It”s important to hear what people who never grew up in the church have to say, so research is invaluable (my Generational IQ book is one resource, but there are many other helpful generational resources). Since 30 percent of the unchurched used to go to church, don”t

March 29, 2017

Christian Standard

The Church Every Generation Needs

By Jim Tune I keep coming across articles about millennials. Most of them are written by millennials (those aged 20″“35) about why they”re done with church. A recent article advised churches to start listening to millennials, to ditch vision and mission statements, to stop preaching at people, to disclose on the church”s website how every dollar is spent, and more. “Decide if millennials actually matter to you and let us know,” it concluded. “In the meantime, we”ll be over here in our sweatpants listening to podcasts.” Articles like these make some valid points. Many millennials aren”t part of a church.

September 2, 2012

Christian Standard

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

April 11, 2012

Christian Standard

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

Christian Standard

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

October 5, 2008

Christian Standard

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

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