The Church: Is She Ready For The Boomers??

From the beginning, I have suggested that not only has society failed to prepare for the (Current Builder) and oncoming Boomer Wave but neither is the church ready or getting ready to welcome and integrate the most important resource of Seasoned Believers in history.

As I was thinking about this developing crisis earlier today, I decided to do some research to validate or challenge my impressions.

My research process was simple. I decided to see if the churches of my own denominational background were getting ready to minister to the large number of adults in society. It seemed that one way to do that was by reviewing current job openings listed on the web sites of nine different Christian groups. They were seven Bible Colleges, CrossLink (which connects people and ministries) and a weekly national church publication.

The data seems to validate my intuitive hunch. Here is what I found:

There were a total of 547 ministry positions excluding pulpit ministries listed on the five web sites. Out of the 547 jobs listed 383 (70%) were for people who were trained to minister to children or youth. There were no ministry openings for Adult or Senior’s-Seasoned Believers.

An additional area of research included a web site of a week long national church convention. The daily program listed only one event for “Seasoned Believers”. It was a social event, a “Senior’s Luncheon”.

One large denomination’s website also had a number of open jobs. The listing included 46 for ministers of children and youth. There were no jobs listed for Ministers to Seasoned Believers.

In a very happy discovery, I found one Pentecostal denomination that was recognizing the issue that faces us. The Assemblies of God recently appointed a part time National Director of Senior Adult Ministries.

Out of a total of 443 job openings, I found 0 Ministry Positions for Adult Ministries in churches and 1 for Adult and Seasoned Believers at the denominational level.

If you know of a congregation or denomination that has recognized the need for a Ministry to Adults or Seasoned Believers, please send the church name, address and contact number to me.

The Boomer Blogger