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This is part 4 of Jim Coggins’ State of the Local Church series.
“Over the last 20 years, more and more young people think the church is
irrelevant, out of touch and narrow-minded,” said Paul Robertson of Youth Unlimited of Toronto.
This fall, Robertson and Colin McCartney,founder of UrbanPromise Toronto,
presented a series of seminars across Canada explaining to church leaders why
so many of the under 35 generation are missing from the church.
Many church leaders already know it is a problem. The strategic plan produced in
2009 by the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster revealed not only that many
Anglican parishes are shrinking but also that they are getting older: “When compared with community demographics, we are vastly under-represented by
people under 44 years of age, and vastly over-represented by people over 65
years of age.”
Doomed to disappear?
Does this mean that the local church is doomed, destined to disappear once the
older people who now occupy the pews pass away?
Not necessarily. Sociologist Reginald Bibby’s most recent study of teens (The Emerging Millennials, 2009) showed that since
1984, the proportion of teens who never attend church has risen from 28 percent
to 47 percent. However, the study also showed that the percentage of teens who
attend church monthly has increased slightly from 32 percent in 1992 to 33
percent in 2008.
This means that while some local churches are losing large numbers of younger
attenders, others are holding their own, and some are even growing.
Some of the growing churches are ones which deliberately target the young. For
instance, those who attend the five Youth Churches in the greater Vancouver
area are almost all teens and young adults – as are the church leaders.
This is one aspect of the trend to more diversity among local churches, what
some have called “boutique churches,” each designed to reach a specific social group – such as a specific ethnic group, a particular socio-economic group, seniors or
young adults.
Churches that focus on seniors will likely die eventually. Does that mean that
youth churches will be the church of the future?
Again, not necessarily. The Youth Churches have now been going about eight years
and are continuing to reach succeeding generations. Lewis Chifan, pastor of
Vancouver Youth Church, noted that the young are “very comfortable with change and trying new things,” and that the Youth Churches strive to be “always reaching for the next generation.”
But Chifan is aware that, at 24, he is already “more stuck in my ways than I was four years ago.” What will happen to the Youth Churches in 10 to 20 years? If they continue to
reach the younger generation, will they lose their ability to reach their
current members, who will then be approaching middle age? Will they stay the
same and become middle-aged churches, creating the need for new youth churches?
Or will they transition to multi-generational churches? Chifan said the Youth
Church leaders “understand they will have to deal with” the issue eventually, but they are comfortable with “not having the answer yet.”
While acknowledging that some churches are absolutely failing to reach the
younger generation and it is commendable that some churches are doing so, Marv
Penner, director of Youth Specialties Canada, suggested the youth church model
is “probably the poorest model” in terms of “developing a long-term sustainable faith.”
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Multi-generational
Youth churches are not the only churches reaching the young. There are a number
of churches – particularly larger churches – that are multi-generational.
Jeff Bucknam is the new senior pastor of Northview Community Church in
Abbotsford, which attracts significant numbers of young people and young
adults, as well as older people. Bucknam, who is 37 and was recently promoted
from young adult pastor, said it doesn’t hurt that he is young enough to be able to “speak to the hopes and dreams” of the younger generation.
However, he added that that does not mean a 55 year old pastor cannot reach the
young. “Any church that is committed to listening to and knowing young adults and having
them involved, will have young adults.”
Bucknam noted that being multi-generational is a core value of Northview, rather
than following the ‘homogeneous unit principle’ that “caters to a target demographic.” This is because the multi-generational church best demonstrates the kingdom of
God that Jesus is building, Bucknam said. “I need the idealism of the 20 year old telling me that church has to be better” – but “young couples need older couples” to show them what good parenting is.
Bucknam said there is also something healthy about the various generations
learning to give and take, in areas such as preferences for different styles of
music. “Discipleship and community happen when I give up something for you. Christian
faith is educating people that it’s not all about them. Culture says it’s all about you, but Christian faith is laying down your life for a friend.”
Bucknam added that “most young people have got a very sensitive cheese metre and can tell when
someone is trying too hard.” For this reason, having the latest technology, music and video clips are not as
important as being authentic.
He noted that there is a huge technological and worldview gap “between a 70 year old and a 15 year old.” However, “the core issues are the same, have always been the same...We all have idols that need to be challenged. We all have sin that needs to be exposed. We all
need the grace of Christ.”
December 2009
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