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The Future of the Church In America

A couple of months ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to bring together twenty emerging religious leaders under 40 years of age to talk about the future of the Christian church and how the church can be more effective at reaching this younger generation over the next 10-15 years. Although you do not hear many religious leaders talking about the generational divide within the church, the reality is that studies and research on this very topic continuously point to the fact that the generational divide in the church is not only an issue, but it’s affecting the amount of young men and women who attend church after high school. For instance, in one article written by a Pastor’s wife entitled, “Losing the Millennials,” the pastor’s wife revealed that not only do 69-94% of youth forsake their faith after leaving high school, but within the Assemblies of God churches, 75% of students drop out of the religion after high school and within the Southern Baptist Convention, 88% of students drop out after high school.

After a night of tremendous insight, revelation, and enlightenment on this issue among twenty young and powerful leaders within the Christian community, I now firmly believe that changes must be made amongst seasoned leaders within the church over the next 10-15 years in order to be effective at reaching this younger generation. Although many key issues were discussed in our panel, there were really six key things that I discovered in our conversation on this topic that I believe Christian leaders can do in order to become more effective at reaching young men and women who seem to be dropping out of the church!

Leadership Principle #1
Become More Relevant & Make Our Relationship with Christ a Stronger Focus Point

During the discussion, one of the strongest statements made all night in my opinion was made when one of the guests stated that our strongest asset as Christians is our relationship with Christ. In essence, it was the guest’s belief that our relationship with Christ is not only essential in our daily lives as Christians, but it’s the one thing that the world cannot offer any young man or woman.

Unfortunately, you rarely hear most religious leaders really talk about this lifestyle in a relevant way to the younger generation. However, if leaders can make this lifestyle a stronger focus point that is relevant to the life of a young adults, then leaders will have a stronger pull with this younger generation because every Christian knows that their relationship with Christ is a very powerful asset and resource!

Leadership Principle #2
More Transparency from Religious Leaders

Although I personally have been immensely impacted by several of the larger churches across the country, one of the greatest problems that I see within some of these churches is the transparency between the church membership and the pastor of these large churches in America.

For instance, on a regular Sunday service, pastors of these huge churches sometimes give a powerful message to the congregation and then leave the service immediately after the service without ever taking the time to connect with members of the church. Sometimes the faithful members in the church fail to connect with the heart of the pastor because the pastor might not take enough time to meet personally with the members of the church.

Even though this style of leadership from several influential pastors has worked for many years, the reality is that leaders who fail to really build relationships with the younger generation and allow members of this generation to get to know them more on a personal level are going to see their ministries affected immensely because of the lack of transparency with the younger generation.

Personally, as a speaker, I understand how hard it is for major religious leaders to meet with members between services, but if religious leaders are going to be effective with this younger generation, they’re going to have to make this adjustment!

Leadership Principle #3
Possess a Vision Bigger than a Church Building

For many years, I have been pretty consistent in attending church on Sunday mornings, and I have heard religious leaders talk about their vision of creating a huge church building worth millions of dollars. Although I believe in creating nice places for worship, I strongly believe that leaders of the future must have a vision bigger than the church building in order to be effective in the 21st Century.

The reason why this is so important today is because many major ministries in the next 15-20 years will not thrive simply because they have a great church building, but they will thrive because they are effective at reaching people through unique venues and ministries outside of the church walls. Many of the people who are impacted by Christ from this younger generation in the future will not just be reached within the four walls.

If the church is going to reach these young men and women more effectively in the 21st Century, it’s crucial that the leaders of the church have a vision that is bigger than a nice church building!

Leadership Principle #4
Shift from Consumer Mentality to Service Mentality

For the past few years, some of the most popular messages within the church have revolved around Christians become millionaires, acquiring houses and cars, and being very successful materially. Although I believe in the prosperity of Christians, if we are going to be effective in the 21st Century, it’s not going to be based on how many material possessions we acquire, but it’s going to be based on our service to humanity.

In essence, the effective religious leaders and ministries of the 21st Century will not be those who are focused on acquiring great wealth, but they will be those who are doing their part to serve others outside of church through a variety of different mechanisms.

The reason this is so powerful in the 21st Century is because research not only suggests that men and women of the younger demographic are concerned about making an impact in the world through volunteerism, but certain churches have seen more attendance from the younger generation with service-projects than with regular Sunday services.

Ultimately, as Christian leaders, not only is it important that we build ministries based on this concept, but it’s essential that we are serving the community and nation in a practical way as well!

Leadership Principle #5
Corporate Attitude Verses Individual Attitude

For years, not only have different religious denominations within the Christian church fought against one another, but the church has even experienced competition among preachers and ministers of the same religious denomination. This type of attitude has not only led to divisions within the church, but it’s probably one of the reasons why the older and younger generations have failed so much at connecting with one another.

As we move forward into the 21st Century, I believe the church needs to be unified beyond various denominational differences, and I believe we need to posses more of a corporate attitude as leaders, because the more connected religious leaders become with their congregations in the 21st Century, the more powerful the entire church body will be in the years to come.

Many men and women of the younger generation despise denominational rhetoric, and they will be more closely drawn to leaders who care about everyone as a whole verses their own individual vision or selfish ambition.

Leadership Principle #6
Courage to be Different

Just recently, I had the opportunity to converse with a pastor who was preparing to start a new church. During our conversation, I encouraged him to purpose his vision, and I told him to really seek the Lord concerning his assignment verses copying what other pastors have been doing for the past century.

The reason why I told him this is because I truly believe that the model of the Christian church has to be different in order for it to succeed in the United States in the 21st Century. I also believe that these new models of church can only manifest if religious leaders are willing to take the time to seek God and really discover the evolution of the church in the 21st Century.