Fewer millennials than ever are coming to church—you may have already noticed! The thing you might not realize is that there are many ways to connect with them to help reverse this troubling trend.
But wait a second. Before we go on, who exactly are the millenials?
- The Millenials are the generation born between 1984 and 1994.
- Today's millennials are between the ages of 23 and 33.
- Currently there are roughly 75 million millenials in the United States (which happens to be the largest generation in the country).
Sadly, even though 8 out of 10 of them were raised in a religious home, 72% of millenials don't attend church and more than one-third of millenials don't associate themselves with Christianity. That is a lot of people who aren't hearing the Word of God, connecting with other believers, or raising their own kids in the Christian faith.
While these statistics may be disconcerting, pastors and church leaders need to keep these words in mind, "Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD" (Psalm 31:24). Despite these unsettling statistics, there are some effective ways for the church to reach this seemingly unreached group and to keep them coming to church.
Foster Connection with Age-Based Groups
When it comes to providing ways for connection, there are so many benefits to offering age-based groups. Some of these benefits include:
- More meaningful connections with like-minded people.
- Logistics - for example, maybe a 40-year-old could bring a roast to the potluck, but a 20-year-old might not be able to give much. Younger groups can participate in different ways.
Specifically with age-based groups, millennials can get an opportunity to more comfortably discuss topics in the church that older generations might not be keen to talk about or have different opinions on. With a connection group for younger people, it can foster deeper, more meaningful conversations with less fear of judgment from peers.
Be Mindful About Your Sermons
It's important when reaching out to millenials to be mindful about the content of your sermons. Not only are fewer millenials going to church, fewer of them are getting married and more millenial women are putting their careers before becoming a mother. For these reasons, you may want to keep your sermons from being too family or couple-focused. Also, when doing a sermon on say marriage, be careful that you’re not alienating an entire group.
Be Transparent
One expression that seems to hold true for millenials is, "tell it like it is." In other words, they like transparency and honesty. They like it when others can be real and raw and open.
This kind of transparency can sometimes be lacking in the church. Much too often, churchgoers (and church leaders) try too hard to be prim and proper, as if they don't have any problems, or they are not struggling with certain sins. This can be a complete turn-off to the millenial generation who considers many Christians to be hypocrites.
When trying to be more transparent, it's important to also keep the following in mind:
- Millennials want to know what their time and money is going to.
- Why are we giving to this cause? How much? How does this align with our mission?
Trust is a key issue here. Since millennials have grown up in an era where information is always ready for them (i.e. the Internet), they may expect the same from their church.
Provide Service Opportunities
It's interesting to note that this generation wants to find purpose in what they do. In fact, many millenials would rather work for companies that give back to their community.
If this is the case, then it would make sense they would expect the same (or even more) from the church they attend. Millenials have been dubbed the most philanthropic generation, so it would be in your church's best interest to provide opportunities for them to fulfill the need to be philanthropic.
Have A Great Website
Millenials grew up on the Internet. Some even go as far to say that the Internet is every millenial's third parent. So if your church doesn't have an Internet presence, there is a pretty good chance you won't connect with this age group. And it gets worse, because millenials are so completely tech-savvy, not just any website will do. If you want to grab their attention, your church website needs to be top notch
In order to make this happen, here are some recent trends you might want to embrace:
- Use animations.
- Use images and video.
- Be sure to include links to your social media (which leads us to the next point).
Engage on Social Media
Simply put, millenials are on social media, which means the church should be too.
- 88% of millenials receive their news and information from Facebook.
- 71% of millenials who use Twitter think live tweeting makes an event more enjoyable.
- 48.2 million millenials use Instragram.
Provide Online Giving
Did you know that millenials are considered the most generous generation? While they like to give, they do so a little differently.
- More than one fifth of all millenials have never written a check.
- They probably don't even carry cash.
Instead of writing checks or carrying cash, most of them do all of their giving, spending, and paying online, which is why it's more important than ever for churches to provide online giving.
Be On Mobile
When wanting to get information, it shouldn't come as a surprise to know that millennials turn to their phones first, rather than a desktop computer. It may shock you to know, however, that 4 out of 10 millenials actually interact with their smartphone more than with other people!
One more stat to note is that 77% of millenials own smartphones. All this really means is that being on mobile offers a great way to reach out and connect with them.
