ROCKY MOUNTAIN CONFERENCE
reENVISION Change Creates New Culture for Young Adults
I
am a Millennial. I am young enough to use Google as a verb, but old enough to have owned mix tapes. I refuse to shop at Walmart because of the labor conditions in their Asian factories, yet I admit I have no idea who my state representatives are. The Millennial generation is a passionate sea of contradiction and controversy. Our parents told us we could follow our dreams and our hearts. As a result, we travel on a dime and fight for the acceptance of all people. At the same time we are the most narcissistic generation in history. It’s as if Millennials are pinned between technology and a deep need for fulfillment, so we grab onto the new while feeling nostalgia for the old. One more characteristic of Millennials is we want change in our churches. We don’t do things just because that’s how they’ve always been done. We question tradition, are skeptical of titles, and believe each individual should be seen, known and heard.
If you attend, could you sing a song, share a welcome, write a poem, or offer the prayer? The goal of reENVISION Change is to create a church environment based on participatory experience. Each month, a different young adult is asked to participate in the service in some way, and our hope is that every year, each person attending will have stood on our stage A stage of participation at least once. We started reENVIWe have 50-80 people who SION Change at Lifesource attend worship each month Adventist Fellowship because at LifeSource Adventist we wanted to stand in the gap Fellowship. Eighty percent of of our church and our gener- these people don’t attend our ation. We wanted to provide church, and about 40 percent a space for people to get what are not Adventist. We want Marcus Lemonis called “the them to participate anyway. Millennials are the most opportunity to make a differ- We believe the best way to educated generation to date. ence.” We live in an age where feel ownership of something Roughly 34 percent of us everyone gets to be seen and is to participate in it. have a college degree. We are heard, yet we tell people they After each service, we a generation of people who have to sit down and be quiet have an event focused on were taught to ask questions, in our pews. building community. That so we do. We ask questions of We wanted to try someway people who come alone our government, our bosses thing different, something we can leave feeling a part of and our churches. hoped would attract young something bigger. Marcus Lemonis, best adults. We asked the people We have basketball tourknown from CNBC’s hit show who attend our Saturday naments, volleyball games, The Profit, said the key to night services to participate. spoken word poetry slams and open mic nights. We have board games and free Each month, a different young adult is asked to participate in the food. Young adults don’t want service in some way. reENVISION strives to provide a culture where a church service; they want Millennials don’t need the church, the church needs Millennials. a relationship. We want to reENVISION a change that makes them feel included. Eighteen to 35-year-olds keep telling us they don’t need church, so we want to provide a culture where the church needs them.
Photos: Mickey Mallory
22 OUTLOOKMAG.ORG APRIL 2020
Research from the Barna Group says that only 4 percent of Millennials (currently ages 22-35) are Bible-based believers. In fact, the Barna Group says that: • Only two in 10 Americans under 30 believe attending a church is important or worthwhile (an alltime low). • 59 percent of Millennials raised in a church have dropped out. • 35 percent of Millennials have an anti-church stance, believing the church does more harm than good. • Millennials are the least likely age group to attend church (by far).
keeping Millennials fulfilled and happy is to give them the opportunity to make a difference in the workplace. As a church, I believe we can learn a lot from the research being done on Millennials in the workplace. Understanding how Millennials function in their careers can help churches understand how Millennials perceive their place of worship.
Seth Day with Dr. Heather Thompson Day
