In the second decade of the new millennium, the church is facing a new challenge.  A challenge that is somewhat difficult to describe which makes it even harder to understand.  The challenge in which I speak is the Millennial Exodus. I am a millennial, so I am somewhat certain that I can unpack this 'great exodus', elucidate and also provide remedies to help reach this generation.

I will introduce myself and explain a bit about my background.  I feel this will help the reader understand who I am and my perspective.  I grew up in a non-denominational church, where I actively participated in children's church and teen class.  I was a part of the junior doorkeepers, sang in the teen choir and volunteered wherever help was needed.  In a word, I was churched.  Church was who I was, but I do feel that my parents gave me a great balance with all my school activities.  My parents encouraged me to participate both in and out of school.  I feel that this balance is what helped shape me and my perspective.

I've come across many millennials that were raised in church that did not have such balance.  For them it was church or nothing.  No school dances, no sports, no volunteer activities.  This contributed to later feelings of negativity towards the church.  There is often no balance between the world and the church.  Then these people who only know church are sent into the world (college) with no skills how to use scripture in everyday life.  We are often taught that we "are not of the world but in it", which is absolutely correct, but at the same time you aren't taught how to navigate through the world.

There are things, particular things, that just aren't discussed or even commented on in the church.  So in a sense, we have been sending young people into the world that are ill-prepared to deal with issues that the normal person deals with.  Mental health, homosexuality, sex, and the list goes on and on are topics that young people will undoubtedly face once they enter the hallowed halls of their dormitories.  Are we prepared to deal with such attacks on the beliefs that we grew up with?  This is where the disconnect usually starts to take place

As the pressure of school and life increases, a lot of young people that once leaned on the church feel that the church has lost its place in their lives.  But who could blame us?  The toughest parts of our lives are starting to occur and our connection with our home churches start to wane.  Loneliness, fear, and doubt within ourselves start to creep in.  For those of us from the inner city, this is especially true.  To a certain extent, we are no longer a part of the church but a separate confused entity left to deal with the perils of semi-adulthood.

Dealing with the transition between childhood and semi adulthood is an important and critical time.  This time is where the church can step in and help.  Millennials, for the most part, recognize that they need something, something bigger than us, something outside of ourselves.  Let's start to dig in to how we can remedy this.

Until next time,