After years of grim statistics, God is bringing a spiritual awakening to Gen Z and Millennials. A recent Barna study reports that Gen Z and Millennials are quickly becoming the “backbone of church attendance,” surpassing previous generations in weekly church attendance. 

We all know how people in church contexts often respond to change. If we are to minister to and engage with a spiritually hungry generation, we must be open to seeing what we can do to best serve and connect with a younger generation. 

Focus on Jesus

Gen Z and Millennials have been on a spiritual and meaning search (see part 1 of this two-part blog series) and are spiritually hungry for an encounter with Jesus. For a generation that struggles with institutions, has social media feeds full of the failures of Christian leaders, and has deconstructed and reconstructed their faith, Jesus is the One who can speak truth through the chaos. 

Focusing on Jesus enables a younger generation to encounter the One who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) and to experience the power of the gospel through His life, ministry, death, and resurrection. One simple place to begin is to work through one of the Gospels, examining who Jesus is, what He did, and how He relates to broken and hurting people. As the church, are we putting the focus on Jesus?

Foster Intentional Relationships

Gen Z and Millennials are surrounded by followers but have very few real-life friends. In a world of constant online and technological communication and the prevalence of remote work, younger generations need a place where they can experience real-life community. 

Through intentional relationships, a church can become a place where Gen Z and Millennials can find people to mentor them, friends to walk alongside them, and the next generations to impact. As the church, are we creating spaces and places for intentional community to flourish?

Pursue Deep Discipleship

Many Gen Z and Millennials who are returning to church have experienced and likely walked away from the attractional and seeker-driven church movements of their childhood and teenage years. In a world of endless entertainment, the church must call younger generations to a deep discipleship of walking with Jesus and seeking to live for His kingdom in a broken world.

Churches need to call the next generation to walk with Jesus and to grow in their faith. Younger generations are looking for depth, cost, and a call to follow Jesus in a way that doesn’t just change Sundays but impacts every area of their lives. As the church, are we living a faith that causes us to look more and more like Jesus and make a true difference in the world?

Embrace a Greater Mission

Gen Z and Millennials are cause generations. From racial equality to social justice to mental health, these generations flock towards a cause to believe in and a mission to advocate. When they arrive in churches that are often simply interested in increasing attendance and promoting the denomination, these causes fall greatly short of a generation’s desire to change the world.

A quick survey of the Scriptures reminds us of the call throughout the Bible for us to live as a people on mission. Our mission to seek to represent the kingdom of God in a world of competing kingdoms and to share the gospel with all people in all places is a compelling call to Gen Z and Millennials. As the church, are we presenting a mission great enough for the next generation to want to join?

Empower Next Generation Leaders

Gen Z and Millennials have incredible gifts and passions that we often see utilized by leaders in the workplace but ignored by the church. Raising the next generation of leaders in the church requires passing the mantle and responsibility of leadership onto them. Many young adults arrive at churches only to find that the older generations hold nearly every leadership position and seem uninterested in relinquishing their control and roles.

If the next generation doesn’t have a place to actively be a part of the leadership of your church, they will look for another church. We must remember that every gift in the body of the church matters and that there is no minimum age in Scripture for using your spiritual gifts to serve. As the church, are we willing to pass meaningful leadership roles on to the next generation?

The influx of Gen Z and Millennial Christians back into the local church is truly a gift. As a church, will we be willing to adapt to the changes that may be required to engage with this generation, or would we rather simply continue with the status quo? Your church’s answer to that question will be fundamental in determining whether your church lives long enough to impact the generations yet to be born.