Millennials
Do millennials bring something new to leadership?
Three authors, one Jewish, one Muslim, and one Christian, place their hope firmly in a new generation—again.
How millennials gather
Peer-led discussions among young Muslims, Christian experiments in communal living, and pop-up Shabbat meals embody common yearnings.
Lifting the spirit
I've been inspired this year by Shonda Rhimes, the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Paul Angone.
What’s your passion? To market themselves, churches need a product
If we're going to adopt business language for the church, we should think less about reaching a certain market and more about the nature of the product.
Lessons in Belonging from a Church-Going Commitment Phobe, by Erin S. Lane
Erin Lane wants to help millennials and those who love them understand the real countercultural impulse of the church.
reviewed by Anne Blue Wills
A circle, not a meeting
Their voices were passionate and sometimes poignant: we want a safe space where we can speak openly, listen as non-judgmentally as possible, and hold each other accountable. We want to make room for questions without feeling the need to give answers. We want to share our gifts—from baking to yoga. And we don’t want what we’re doing to be called a meeting! Such were the comments of several young women professionals who gathered for a group I hosted and facilitated.
Choices and lives: The changing politics of abortion
There has been a broad and dramatic shift toward more abortion restrictions in the United States. This will almost certainly continue.
What's honored in a country will be cultivated there
When we get the age breakdown of the Presbyterian Church's General Assembly, it’s nothing short of horrendous. 91 percent of the laity are 50 and older. 67 percent of the Clergy are 50 and older. A mere 23 percent of all commissioners are under 50. What can we do about it?
Jeff Bethke answers questions about Jesus from American history
How does a college kid produce a Youtube sensation about Jesus that received 27 million hits? And become a New York Times bestselling author with Jesus > Religion: Why He is So Much Better than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough before his 25th birthday?
Jeff Bethke’s breakthrough video, “Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus,” resonates with millennial evangelicals.
Putting the "-ist" in "environmentalist"
Keith Kloor thinks environmental organizations are struggling to stay relevant. Christopher Ingraham says "the green movement has a Millennial problem." The eco-Millennial is "a myth," says Derek Thompson: "Millennials don't give a hoot about the environment."
They're all talking about this big Pew study on Millennials that came out last week.
Why doesn’t anyone care about Generation X?
Many in Gen X are annoyed that we’ve spent a lifetime living under the looming Boomer shadow, and now we’re getting swallowed up by Millennials.
Generational roadblocks
When we want to build intergenerational congregations, what do we do to signal to a new generation that they're not welcome? What are those unconscious blocks that tell them they're not welcome?
Scrappers
It’s scary. Sometimes, we Scrappers have to swallow our pride in order to start working with the institution that turned us away. Often, Scrappers develop autonomy and a certain voice that we fear we'll lose if we move into partnership with an established organization. We worry that the structure will steal our ideas and they'll have the money and power to pull them off—without us.