How can your church reach baby boomers? Part I

Steve Mills,Executive Director of Church Ministries,Northwest District,The Assemblies of God, has written a piece that speaks to the need for a paradigm change that is necessary for the church to ready herself for the wave of Boomers that is heading her way.

Here are his words:

How can your church reach baby boomers?

Let me suggest some ways:

"1. Provide multiple options in programs and ministries. Elective classes give options and choices. In a society where people are struggling with major life problems, such as alcoholism, addictions of many kinds and immorality, recovery and support groups provide a positive means to health and growth. Some classes can meet at different times during the week other than the traditional Sunday school time. With a class or group meeting on Tuesday night, as well as the normal Sunday school time, more people might become involved. The traditional concept of church and Sunday school must give way to new methods and approaches to reach this generation.

2. Keep the teaching practical, positive, and personal. The self-help and how-to sections of a bookstore reveal subjects of interest, such as how to have a happier marriage, how to be a better parent, how to manage your money, how to deal with your job and boss, how to deal with life problems and addictions, how to deal with your past successfully, and how to know that the Bible is God's Word. In a world marked by hopelessness, the good news is that Jesus is the answer. But we must present the good news in everyday terms to which people can relate.

3. Provide opportunities for relationships to develop. In an impersonal, high-tech society, people are searching for a place in which they feel loved, cared for, and significant. Sunday school classes need to be structured so people have time to develop significant relationships. This can be done in small group interaction during the class, by fellowship time before class, or by group activities outside of class. Three things can help you have a successful class----a coffee pot, good discussion, and ministry to personal needs of those in the class. These help build a sense of community, a need which this generation feels."

(More in next blog post)