Catalyst Track: Meet Generation Z // Day Four

Move over Boomers, Xers, and Millennials; there's a new generation now.

 

This track comes from James Emery White’s new book, Meet Generation Z.

 

When you complete each daily assignment from the track, you will be entered in to win a copy of his book! There are 5 available!

* See below for details

 

Making up more than 25 percent of the US population, Generation Z represents a seismic cultural shift. Born approximately between 1993 and 2012, Generation Z is poised to challenge every church to rethink its role in light of a rapidly changing culture.

 

From the award-winning author of The Rise of the Nones comes this enlightening introduction to the youngest generation. James Emery White explains who this generation is, how it came to be, and the impact it is likely to have on the nation and the faith. He helps us rethink our old evangelistic and apologetic methods, cultivate a culture of invitation, and communicate with this connected generation right where they are. Start this track if you want to learn how to better connect with and lead a new generation.

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DAY 4 – Title

 

Most pastors and church leaders I know are versed in what it would take to build a cultural bridge. But they don’t act on it because they feel like they are caught between a very unique rock and a hard place.

Culture has shifted dramatically. Unless they reach the next generation, the church will simply get older and smaller, year by year, until it is a shell of what it once was. But if they attempt to implement some of the things they feel could make a difference, they run the very real risk of alienating their current base of support—the people paying the bills, serving in the nursery, and leading their teams. So they feel stuck.

Within the challenge presented in this book to reach the next generation is the inherent challenge to have the courage to change. There are many traits one might wish upon pastors and church leaders. Holiness, selflessness, humility . . . but I find that most of them embody such traits. They are good and godly people. So if there is one trait I would wish upon pastors and church leaders around the world, it would be this: I wish they were more aggressive. As Webster’s definition puts it, aggressive means “ready or willing to take issue and engage in direct action; full of enterprise and initiative; bold and active; pushing.”

May that kind of aggression mark us all. It may just inspire the church to reach the next generation.

 

Reflect: How might you more aggressively bring Generation Z into the church?

*Join us on the Catalyst App and submit your reflection answers to be entered to win a copy of Meet Generation Z.