Teenagers Speak. Will We Listen?
Last week I had the opportunity to be a part of an online conference called Groundswell. The premise of the conference was to let teenagers from all across the country and across multiple denominations speak into the lives of pastors and church leaders. To share their unique perspective on what the church is doing, is failing to do, and what it needs to start doing in order to capture the hearts of this generation of teens and young adults.
As I get older I will need to be more intentional about listening to the voices of the generations that follow me. The way they do life will be and is much different than the way I did life at their age. I will need to be attentive if I want to figure out how to share an unchangeable message with an ever changing world.
Below are the notes and thoughts that I jotted down. Let me know what you think.
Notes From Groundswell Online Conference
1) Build younger- mentor
2) Methodology can become an idol
3) Don’t water down the gospel. It will offend some people, but don’t water it down to get more people.
4) Kids are hungry. They just need someone to step out and invite them.
5) Most misunderstood about this generation: this generation is totally helpless.
6) We have to know God and learn who he is before we can follow him.
7) People are not coming to learn how to deal with situations. They could google that. They want to know about God.
Church needs to change. Most churches in a city are the same.
9) How a sermon is given matters- presentation.
10) Allow younger people to serve.
11) Young people do things differently- not incorrectly- just differently.
12) Kids don’t have a lot of positive role models.
13) They (teens) feel like church isn’t a lot of fun.
14) Not enough opportunities for teenagers to volunteer or plug in outside of the youth ministry.
15) Pastors should practice what they preach.
16) Pastor should be transparent with their struggles. It would be nice to know that they are real people too.
17) You are never too young to help out.
18) I want someone (an adult) to have a relationship with me.
Rick Warren
· Teenagers are the church now
· The stage (Sunday morning presentation) should be ethnically and age diverse
· #1 factor for determining success in a child is a caring adult in their life. Doesn’t have to be a parent.
Most impactful thing church has done
· Raised up leaders that want to do life with me
· Letting me know it is okay to not be okay
What discourages people in your school
· Disunity among churches
· Hypocrisy in behavior
What should the church do over the next 5-10 years?
· Open doors to pray, volunteer, etc… other than Sunday.
· Sacrifice- go out of their way to bring people indoors
· Stability- less turnover- consistency
Hot Topics
· From surface conversations to deep questions
· Think more, know more, teach deeper things
· Politics- church is not a political movement
What should stay- anchor points
· The gospel is what we are for
· Relationships are important
Ideal Mentor
· Down to earth, honest, real, love on me more and point me to Jesus
· Give me biblical answers
· Finds a way to relate, seeks to give good advice
What should the church start/stop doing?
· Stop thinking coolness will win people over
· Start listening and talking
· Challenge us, expect more, stop watering down expectations
· I need to be accepted even if I’m not like you. Be interested in me, not about what you are doing.
How has pastor invested?
· Transparent & relatable
· Cares about next generation- takes a week to preach to youth
· Honest about struggles
· Encourages this generation- I believe in you
· Gives time regularly to next generation
Cultural Issues
· Porn & technology
· Stop sweeping issues under the rug
o End of world
o Homosexuality
o Any awkward topic
· Sexuality
How to address these issues
· Straight from pulpit
· Church needs to be realest place in the world
· Youth platform (youth meetings)- we are not too young to deal with issues
· Teens to talk about issues in social circles