Jan
26
As we look at ways to generate refreshed interest in church communities, perhaps a clue to our future has been residing in our own households. The CBC did a radio piece the other day on the attributes of the different generational break downs - the silent generation, the baby boomers, Gen X and Gen Y. I followed up on this by looking at a few articles on the web. Baby boomers are just turning 65. Gen Y ranges from about 26 years old down to age 10.
I was interested to note that Gen Y has a lot of things in common with the baby boomers - in fact, much more than Gen X! The one factor that interested me the most was a sense of tradition. I found myself drifting back to a conversation that I had with a Gen Y sort who I bumped into on one of my many ferry trips.
He seemed keen to discuss the state of mainline churches in general and as I was speaking of dwindling congregations and starting to warm up to the subject of the emerging church, he cut in to say "What about the stories? What will happen to the stories if we don't have churches?" A good question! But more than his question, I was struck by his enthusiasm for the overarching stories of our faith, stories that speak to the human condition and convey truths about the question, how then shall we live?
Is this an indicator that a new generation will emerge that wants to sate their spiritual hunger? Is this a chance to generate new conversations? What would a church look like to them? Stay tuned as this group continues to come of age!
Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/isafmedia/
I was interested to note that Gen Y has a lot of things in common with the baby boomers - in fact, much more than Gen X! The one factor that interested me the most was a sense of tradition. I found myself drifting back to a conversation that I had with a Gen Y sort who I bumped into on one of my many ferry trips.
He seemed keen to discuss the state of mainline churches in general and as I was speaking of dwindling congregations and starting to warm up to the subject of the emerging church, he cut in to say "What about the stories? What will happen to the stories if we don't have churches?" A good question! But more than his question, I was struck by his enthusiasm for the overarching stories of our faith, stories that speak to the human condition and convey truths about the question, how then shall we live?
Is this an indicator that a new generation will emerge that wants to sate their spiritual hunger? Is this a chance to generate new conversations? What would a church look like to them? Stay tuned as this group continues to come of age!
Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/isafmedia/