Demographics and the Church

Josh Loveless at Relevant Magazine offers a thought-provoking article in which he asks if "young adult" ministries are akin to mutinies. That is, they reject anything and anyone older than their age and segregate themselves into a "ministry", "worship service", or even an entire congregation, to the detriment of the whole church.

I believe this is a continuation, and perhaps an intensification, of the movements that started decades ago when church leaders allowed market research and demographics to define what "church" (and most specifically corporate worship) should look like. The basic summary is that we thought that we needed to have separate things for different age groups. So, in worship, those aged 60 and over want organs, hymnals and tradition; those aged 40-60 wanted pop/folk music and nothing formal; those aged 20-40 wanted pop/rock and powerpoint, and those under 20 wanted...well...they were too young to know what they wanted for sure, but it usually involved something that their own church didn't have, so they had to find it at mass gatherings or ecumenical youth events in town.

To me, there are numerous problems with this approach. In the article, Josh addresses one of the primary ones: it allows a church to be driven by arrogance and fear (on the part of all generations, not just young people). It is arrogance to think that my personal preference should be everyone's. It is fear to act according to people's wishes and whims and not according to God's unfailing love.

So what's the solution? Should younger, or older, people simply "deal with it"? Not at all. Part of the solution is to seek wisdom and discernment from God - to discern between personal preference and that which will "let all things be done for building up" (1 Cor. 14) and to be wise in implementing those things. Another part is for all generations to consider how we can best help one another grow from infacy to maturity - both in a physical and spiritual sense. I promise you that does not happen best in demographic isolation.

There is much more to say on this, but this is a starting point for now.

Thoughts? Agree or disagree? Is there a both/and solution here? What are healthy roles that age-specific ministries play in a congregation? What about the concept of "reverse mentoring" mentioned in the article? Is that something all churches should pursue?

Comments

Well, here is my opion and

by Cindy - 2010-03-01 11:12

Well, here is my opion and yes, I have a lot of those!
I am not big on multiple services "just to please the people". I firmly believe that times change and there are many older folks in the church who in their wisdom have seen the need to move forward and modernize. Then again there are those who never want change and cannot figure out why they church never grows and those churches tend to die out.
At the same time I see many young people who refuse to see that there are some "more tradtional" things that need to remain in the church. With out the the older influence we tend to miss out on learning from their wisdom and churches end up in the land of stupidity with many issues because of it.
With praise and worship there needs to be a mix. The more modern is so wonderful (to me) but at the same time those old hymns can really stir the soul. It isn't impossible to reach all age groups in one service. Some people will be offended by things just for the sake of being offended and the reality of it is that it has nothing to do with what is happening in the church but in their own hearts. It isn't a matter of "just dealing with it", it is a matter of having open hearts so that all will be reached and we can live in unity, serving God and moving forward for the kingdom of God.

Good thoughts, Cindy. I agree

by Michael Schutz - 2010-03-02 11:25

Good thoughts, Cindy. I agree - there is great challenge in trying to be "all things to all people". I think every congregation needs to figure out how to apply that verse to its context. And even more importantly, not mis-apply it. In fact, if anything, Paul's words in 1 Corinithians 9 should lead those who would consider themselves spiritually mature to argue for LESS of what they themselves prefer personally, in worship or otherwise, for the sake of those who are less mature.

(Now that gets into the whole issue of spiritual maturity and the "you can't do that because it will offend me" argument, but that's a whole other topic! :) )

Plus, I'm not convinced that 1 Corinthians 9 can be applied with a broad brush to all parts of congregational life - worship being one of them. I'm not sure it's wise or healthy, or even possible, for one congregation to be "all things to all people" in the context of public worship, unless all present are spiritually mature and truly don't care what the "style" is, only caring about hearing the Word and giving thanks for it.

Thanks for reflecting on this with me.

"Whenever fear is present,

by Betty-Ann - 2010-03-02 23:21

"Whenever fear is present, control becomes the way we respond".

"When we speak of the Church, all of us have different ideas on what that means. Peter’s message is a reminder to all of us that one of the essential pieces to the movement of the Church is a generational one—a collective, intergenerational voice that’s sensitive to the Spirit of God. I believe in that dream God gave to Joel thousands of years ago. I believe each of us has been designed to contribute to that dream right now."

I think this is my favourite part of the article. The key for me being "intergenerationally sensitive to the Spirit of God and being designed to contribute right now" I think if we could really figure out what that looks like...well it would be amazing. Not being afraid to loose a little of the control that we think we have might be a good thing too.

The beginnging of the article talking about mutiny etc kind of unnerved me...not sure why yet other than I think there is a place for age specific stuff.

W/R/T worhip, I think that its about connectiveness. Where I recognize that God doesn't need me to worship Him, but I sure need to worship Him... to connect, I don't think that's about a certain song or really where I'm at necessarily or how spiritually mature I am or the style that's going on around me, my education, vocation, age or really anything about me or others demographically. Its totally about that moment that God quietly whispers, and the other moment where he loudly proclaims who He is, whether that's in private worship or corporate, it resonates deeply and changes my heart. The church needs to provide avenues for connectivity to God and to others in many areas, not only in corporate worship or within the church building.

One of my favourite quotes from CS Lewis says "The work of Beethoven and the work of a charwoman become spiritual on precisely the same condition, that of being offered to God, of being done humbly 'as to the Lord'."

Anywayz, just some late night thoughts. Thanks Michael for the avenue to connect this way!

Good thoughts, Betty-Ann,

by Michael Schutz - 2010-03-08 16:32

Good thoughts, Betty-Ann, sorry for the delay in responding! I think the use of the word "mutiny" was supposed to be unnerving. I think there is a place for age-specific stuff too. Yet I think he was saying that there are getting to be congregations made up of almost only twenty- and thirty-somethings; that we as a generation (I say we since I'm 33) can have a tendency to simply want to disassociate with everything that's not "us", and that's not healthy. We Lutherans have been very good at segregating youth from the rest of the church (and by mentioning it, I'm not celebrating that!) and I think the Evangelical world has been as good or better with young adults. And I do agree that it can be fear that drives this - on both sides of the coin - fear on the younger generation's side of not being seen as worthy of contributing, and fear in older generations that they will lose something valuable to them - be it style or leadership or whatever. Either way, it's not healthy, and solution, as you say, is to pursure that inter-generational sensitivity to the Spirit's leading. Thanks for the reflections!