1. The Great Millennial Debate

3. Today there is a 43 % drop-off engagement between the teen and early adult years. This drop-off represents 8 million twenty-somethings who were once active churchgoers but who will no longer be particularly engaged in a church by 30.

4. 5 Myths as to Why They Leave 1.Most People lose their faith when they leave High School 2.Dropping out is a natural part of the process 3.College experience is a key factor. (not being prepared is) 4.YA are biblically illiterate (everyone is) 5.YA always come back 6 Reasons they do leave 1.Churches seem overprotective (sensationalizes or minimizes the world) 2.Christianity is shallow 3.Church antagonistic to science 4.Experiences related to sexuality are simplistic or judgmental 5.Wrestle with the exclusive nature of Christianity 6.Unfriendly toward doubt

5. We Have a Church Problem

6. Evidence of Stress in the System The Great Millennial debate is evidence of a much larger problem in the system.

7. We Have a Church Problem Stop with the schizophrenic view of church – There is one church. 12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

8. We are the Church Regarding our schizophrenic view of who is or isn’t the Church is our understanding of what it means to be part of the body of Christ.

9. mathétés: a disciple (math-ay-tes') : a learner, disciple, pupil From math-, the "mental effort needed to think something through“ A learner; a disciple, a follower of Christ who learns the doctrines and the lifestyle Disciples make Disciples, who make disciples

10. - 14: 15“If you love me, keep my commands. - 5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned -14 You are my friends if you do what I command. -33 If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it. - 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. - 16 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward…

11. We Live in Exile “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.”

12. There is a REAL Cross involved We seem happy to celebrate affinity and appreciation for Jesus the teacher while minimizing our distaste for Lordship of Jesus the divine word.

13. Allegiance to the King – We Preach Life without Death Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds

14. Why Don’t Millennials Come to Church? Cultural discipleship: don’t want their faith relegated to Sunday worship – holistic faith term “reverse mentoring” has come to describe this kind of give and take between young and established leaders. Kinnaman says, “Effective ministry to Millennials means helping these young believers discover their own mission in the world, not merely asking them to wait their turn. One way to think about this generation is that they are exiles in something like a ‘digital Babylon’—an immersive, interactive, image-rich environment in which many older believers feel foreign and lost. The truth is, the Church needs the next generation’s help to navigate these digital terrains.”

15. “What Millennials really want from the church is not a change in style but a change in substance.” -Barna Group