How to Reach Millennials

Instead of fretting, I sat down with some Millennials to actually talk to them about their views of church.

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There’s a lot of angst in the North American Church about Millennials walking away from church. The Millennial generation is typically considered as born somewhere in the early ’80s to 2000 or so. Instead of fretting about it, the other day I sat down with some Millennials to actually talk to them about their views of church. These were some of the take aways from the conversation.

Invite Millennials to Community not Church

Millennials want community. They’re not as interested in being invited to the “weekend event” that we call a worship service as much as they are being invited into a real community where they can know others, be known and have shared experiences together.

Hire Someone to Wake up Every Day Thinking About Millennials

Who on staff at your church is paid to wake up every day to think about Millennials? A lot of churches pay a lot of people to do a lot of different things. Is your church willing to put its money where its mouth is and actually put money into this?

Don’t Silo Millennials

Don’t start a new ministry designed to reach Millennials. We’re not talking about doing youth group for young adults and segmenting them out apart from the rest of the church. Instead invite and involve them in the church. Listen to them and their ideas. Give them real responsibility, give them real opportunity to lead and influence the church.

Address Their Unique Needs

Research shows that Millennials are most interested in marriage, parenting and social causes (in that order). What is your church doing to help them navigate these issues and find real answers that will help them have a fulfilling marriage, become a better parent and engage in real social causes?
Is your church finding success reaching Millennials? What are you doing that we all could learn from?

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By Paul Alexander

Paul is a pastor, speaker, strategist, and ministry consultant at Tony Morgan Live. He has a passion for helping churches make vision real. For more than 11 years he has served on the senior leadership teams of some of the nation’s leading mega-churches. Currently, Paul serves as the Executive Pastor at Sun Valley Community Church, a large multi-site church located in the Phoenix area.