Ministering to GenXers

Who are the GenXers?

• Following the Baby Boomers, before Millennials
• Also called "Busters"
• Born between 1965 to 1984
• Used to describe the alienated youth
• Approximately 84 million people considered to be GenXers

The Latchkey Generation

• Increased Divorce Rate
• Lack of Adult Supervision
• Described then as "Unfocused 20-somethings", "Self-involved and aimless... but fun!"
• They are the "Friends" generation
• Considered cynical, lacking direction
• Had bleak & hopeless perspectives

Untitled Slide

• "Savvy, entrepreneurial loners. Distrustful of institutions, especially government. Children of the Reagan Revolution - and the divorce revolution. More comfortable than their elders with an increasingly diverse America"

GenXers in Politics

• 23% of GenXers consider themselves unaffiliated with religion
• Represent the dividing line on many issues between young and old

GenXers in Politics

• They were mainly around Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. And showed no strong allegiance to either party
• More liberal on social issues
• Older X'ers tend to vote Republican. Younger X'ers tend to vote Democratic

Questions

• In a time when everybody wants to feel special and loved, do you think it is okay for your church to cater to specific generations?

Questions

• With every generation feeling so unique, do you think it is appropriate to minister intergenerationally? Or should we have different points of leadership to cover all generations?

Questions

• To a group of people who feel ultimately out of place and unheard, what can you or your church do to involve the GenXers?

Insights

• Through no fault of their own, Xers are the most demonized generation alive today.
• Xers could not help but internalize the values and images they grew up with

Insights

• Since Xers are extremely reactive to authority, those privileged to offer spiritual guidance to them would do well to maintain a non-directive style
• Allowing them to set the agenda and discover for themselves how ideas and beliefs ought to be deconstructed and reconstructed will yield the most fruit

Insights

• Xers work well in one-on-one spiritual guidance, but do even better in groups
• They want to feel a sense of belonging and connection, to be part of something and not forgotten

Insights

• Xers are not keen to be part of traditional faith institutions, leading in part to the continued decline among mainline Christian denominations in the United States
• Those who do participate in traditional religious structures will invariably come to them with a critical eye, and will have an agenda