Years ago I subscribed to a magazine called Mental Floss. Today it is an online publication. As I was looking through it, I was astounded at what I read regarding teenagers. They are called Generation Alpha and they are your church’s youth group. Teenagers born 2010 to 2024 are Gen Alpha. These teenagers don’t show up much when I am visiting or speaking in CABA churches. We often sum up all the students as the Next Generation or NextGen.
Here are some brutal facts that caught my attention.
· According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of our state is 11.8 million people. Those with ages 15 to 34 total 3.1 million, which is 26.3% of our population.
· Cincinnati Baptists baptized only 78 teens aged 12-17 in 2023—just 14.3% of all our baptisms.
· In 2018, the North American Mission Board released an evangelism study identifying the Next Generation as one of five problems facing the SBC.
· In the book, The Great Evangelical Recession, John Dickerson noted that 3.7 million evangelicals are 18-29 years old. In that age group, 260,000 leave their churches – and their faith – every year; 712 per day.
· Some of these may be in our churches now, but what about after high school? LifeWay research has learned that 35% of 18-29 year-old “prodigals” do return, but some 65% never do.
David Evans sat across from several evangelism leaders in Baptist state conventions. He pastored for several years and has served for the past 10 years as Tennessee Baptists’ state evangelism director.
Evans says his church asked, “Is the church really relevant in my life?” That question drove him hard in leading his church. The Lord used that question to inspire their church to look at three important practices that would get after lostness in his community, and particularly the Next Gen.
1. Assimilation process. Their church voted that church leaders could include 13 year olds. Evans pointed out that by the age 18, most students have left their churches. Instead, they determined to have those by age 18 to be fully integrated into the life of their church. Evans bragged on a 16-year-old girl who was their church’s evangelism leader. He said she “killed it,” using slang that they had more baptisms that year than any year previously. Instead of keeping youth sequestered into a separate church existence, he has found it helpful to engage them to keep them not only attending, but growing in Christ and as a healthy Baptist church leader.
2. Causes. Next Gen young adults want to be part of something bigger than their life. They want to be personally involved and support a social ministry that also is used to share the gospel message. Evans cautioned that if your church can’t go beyond its walls, then young adults will leave (and are leaving!) to find a cause with which they can align.
3. Memories. Young adults with children have one window of time each week. Evans’ church found that in their community the best time to help families make memories was Saturday from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. This is right after nap time from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Help young families make good memories. If your church’s facilities smell or look bad, it’s not helping them make a good memory. Their church found that parents liked using a large parking lot to sponsor events like drive-in movies.
He said that when you begin involving teens and 20-somethings, that the Lord will lead. Evans punctuated this by saying, “Kids aren’t sharing the Gospel because their parents didn’t.” Being a role model is the key.
Our theme for 2024-25 is “Community Engagement.” It is a perfect time to engage Generation Alpha and young adults in servant evangelism. They can become leaders, putting together projects that address important needs, and can be scaled to allow families to make memories. Boldly praise God for strategies that transform a community in moments, days, and seasons of service.
Cincinnati Baptists must acknowledge the Next Generation as a problem area for us that must be addressed. Take a moment and review the Youth Evangelism Study that CABA leaders compiled for us in October 2021.
--Mark Snowden serves as director for the Cincinnati Area Baptist Association
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