Hope for Your Church
Darrel Schick
Sometimes it can be difficult working toward church revitalization – simply because there are so many American churches plateaued or in decline. Occasionally, though, research comes along that gives me some hope.
A couple of years ago the Fuller Youth Institute completed research as to “why Millennials leave church and what makes them stick”. The results were encouraging.
The research indicated that success in reaching younger people does not necessarily depend on a church’s size, location, denomination, being cool, or even having a lot of money.
Fuller found there were 6 Core Commitments that helped turn churches around –
- Allowing Millennials to lead
- Having empathy for the Millennial mindset
- Focus on Jesus more than Christianity
- Cultivate warm relationships
- Prioritize everything toward reaching young people
- Be the Best Neighbors locally and beyond
The encouraging thing about the survey is that churches CAN turnaround and begin to grow again. Plus, many of the adjustments in the church involves a change in attitude. So money and music may not be the most important things. It appears mindset is.
So churches – what do you say? You ready to change your mindset – so you can change the world?