We definitely aren’t the cool church in town. Our building is busted. Our worship space is puritan-plain. We are Southern Baptist (definitely not cool up here), complementarian, Reformed. There is a lot about is that is uncool in many ways–at least to many outsiders. But Jesus is here, and his people are amazing.
If you have even briefly looked at the interwebs this week you have seen a lot of talk about the millennial generation, especially as it relates to the church. Rachel Held Evans kicked things off with her perspective on why they are leaving the church. There were many responses worth reading, here are two (Trevin Wax / Brett McCracken).
Our church is only 6 years old but is very generationally/socially diverse. It’s pretty amazing actually. Looking around on a Sunday and you see senior citizens who have retired, young professionals, truck drivers, young men who tour in metal bands, college students, stay at home moms, et al. While we don’t have a ton of college students, the largest percentage of our growth at Redeemer comes from the millennial generation.
Yesterday I was scheduled to have two meetings with two different couples. One couple was coming in for a membership interview, the other couple was coming in for pre-marriage counseling. All four people are “millennials,” and I thought I would ask them a few questions related to the recent online conversation.
First up was Brad and Katie. I asked them why they haven’t given up on the church in its institutional/formally organized sense. They aren’t just attending a service. They are already plugged into a Community Group, have recently joined two of our ministry teams, and are covenanting with us (we take membership seriously at Redeemer). Why? They emphasized two things: real community and serious bible teaching. As they began to look for a church after getting married they wanted to surround themselves with believers who were seeking the Lord together. They wanted to be a part of a community. They said they were warmly received by our people, and made to feel welcome quickly and naturally. They also emphasized the expository teaching at Redeemer that emphasizes the gospel and experiential theology. Brad and Katie said they need the local church for a number of things, but most important to them is a healthy community to belong to, with strong teaching from leadership.