The Younger Evangelical Church

March 13, 2009 in Aside with 4 Comments

From “Younger Evangelicals” by Robert Webber: “This younger generation [x & Y] wants the wisdom of other generations; they don’t want to be separated out as a group with characteristics they “will grow out of and graduate from.” … Xers have ‘the very characteristics that the church ought to grow into,’ one of them being their commitment to the inter-generational church, another their love of intercultural communities.” 18-34-year-olds: Is this true?

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4 Responses to “The Younger Evangelical Church”

  1. Dave Sandell March 14, 2009 at 9:23 pm #

    So true for me – we're starting a third service this fall, and I'm trying hard to not make it a Gen X & Y service for that reason – I don't want people to feel like they have to figure out whether or not they qualify to be a part of what we're doing, or that there is something inferior about what we're doing – like it's preparation for what's ahead. I remember being a high school freshman and looking forward to college, and then in college, wondering about adulthood. Now I just want to be in the moment, with this community, for as long as people want to commit to it.

    Also, his points about intercultural community & intergenerational communities resonate with me. Our church is 44% non-white (and growing several percentage points each year) and the median age is 33. And coming into that auditorium and seeing a sea of faces that don't look like mine always feels like what I hope heaven feels like.

  2. Justin Wise March 15, 2009 at 8:33 pm #

    Man, Dave. You can write. You should start a blog or something… :)

    I am TOTALLY with you. That's why we dropped the "young adult" language from Immersion and just let it be what it's going to be. You would not believe the sigh of relief the community has breathed.

    Wisdom on your part, bro!

  3. Ross_Hesseltine March 16, 2009 at 12:37 am #

    short and sweet….yes. I agree with you and dave, and robert for that matter. it really makes me think as we are planning a new service.

  4. Jim March 19, 2009 at 5:32 am #

    i'm almost 40 so this younger stuff may not apply, right?!