In a message sent to the members, they were given an opportunity to attend another Methodist church some 15 miles away during the process. However, they were also informed that when the church relaunched, it would be different and the changes were intended to reach a different group of people in their community. Specifically, younger people.

A recent move by the Grove United Methodist Church in Cottage Grove Minnesota has made national news. In an attempt to reach their growing community, the declining church with an average weekly attendance of 25 is being asked to close its doors for an intentional relaunch and replant. But, that’s not the reason the church made national news.

In a message sent to the members, they were given an opportunity to attend another Methodist church some 15 miles away during the process. However, they were also informed that when the church relaunched, it would be different and the changes were intended to reach a different group of people in their community. Specifically, younger people.

The church’s memo sent to the older members asked them to stay away for a period of two years and then seek permission before returning to their previous church. This is their strategy for connecting with the younger families in their community—by keeping the older families away. Jeremy Peters, the new 32 year old pastor explained it this way:

It’s a new thing with a new mission for a new target,” said Peters, “and a new culture.”

Some of the vocal church members are calling it age discrimination. At best, it’s one of the clearest examples of pragmatic church growth techniques of our era. In short, the leadership of the church cannot figure out how to reach their community. They’ve abandoned the sufficient Word of God and turned their back on the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

However, as we consider such a desperate move by the leadership of a local church —we must think critically about the emphasis that’s often placed on the youth within the church. In many evangelical circles, massive percentages of church budgets are consumed with strategies to attract youth and young families. In a neighboring town where I serve here on the west side of Atlanta, a Baptist church spent loads of money on gaming systems for their youth room. Meanwhile, many of the elderly are overlooked. They’re expected to put their tithe check in the offering plate each month (typically the first week of the month), but beyond that—the church growth strategy doesn’t include them in the slightest degree.

In the church planting world, many young church leaders put a great deal of emphasis on attracting millennials and specific demographics that do not have gray hair or need assistance getting from their car into the building on the Lord’s Day without stumbling. When a church overlooks the elderly, it can cause several big problems within the church family.

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