If you follow the news at all, you will have already seen reports of the spiritual renewal that is beginning in the global church (yes, even here in the West):
“Undeniably, there is renewed interest in Jesus,” says David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna. “Many people have predicted the growing irrelevance of Christianity, however, this data shows that spiritual trends have a dynamism and can, indeed, change. This is the clearest trend we’ve seen in more than a decade pointing to spiritual renewal—and it’s the first time Barna has recorded such spiritual interest being led by younger generations.”
I encourage you to take the time to read the attached articles. If you are a mature Christian, it is time to both rejoice and prepare. I hope your heart is stirred by the shaking of the widely accepted narrative that Christianity is on the decline in the West, especially among the young. That was certainly true in past decades, but there has been a significant shift in the data, especially since 2022. This does not indicate cause, but it is interesting that the beginning of the brewing renewal correlates with the timing of the Asbury Revival.
How can churches prepare for and lean into this growing work of the Holy Spirit? I believe that one of the keys is intergenerational reunion. In our MDSI department, we have teams and events that provide age-and-stage specific ministries. Women’s and Young Adult Retreats are already underway. Men’s gatherings are planned. Prime Time Provincial Retreat begins in June. In the Summer we will welcome hundreds of youth and kids to Kids Rock Camp and Youth Breakaway. Correlating with the Barna data, we have seen tremendous growth from 2022-2025 in all of our events, especially youth breakaway, which was at capacity last year.
It is essential to recognize that while age-and-stage specific ministries are useful for providing specific outreach, community, and leadership development for the different demographics, the church was never meant to operate as a collection of isolated silos. Put another way, our interests, characteristics and preferences should never be barriers to fellowship and cooperation as a body. The growth in discipleship in Prime Time (50+), Men’s, Women’s, and Family Ministries should directly impact our level of prayer for and discipleship of the next generation. As our churches grow younger, the mature believers should be catching the passion, the expectancy, and the curiosity of our children, youth, and young adults. They need to be invited to our leadership tables, onto our ministry teams, and especially into our post-Sunday community. God is calling us to intergenerational reunion.
A large part of the reason that I am a pastor today is that I had a church family who invited me around their tables, Sunday School teachers who invested in my life outside of class, and pastors and ministry leaders who invited me to participate before I was ready. I’ll never forget the first time I led worship in church. I could barely strum and sing at the same time. I picked all newer songs. And the older people who invested my life growing up entered in to worship the same as if I was a member of the Gaithers :). The first time I preached, I read directly off of 12 pages in under 5 minutes. I have no idea what I said. And they all gathered around me as I came off the altar broken by my own inability, and graciously lied to me about how amazing my sermon was. When I went to Bible College, they laid hands on me and sent me, and then sent me care packages. Wow. What a family – who would lay down their preferences, give up their time, and take a risk on a young person like me.
Well, I’m not quite that young anymore. It’s my turn to give back – to honour, pray for, and share community with the generations who have gone before me. I want to sing their favourite choruses with them, to hear their stories, to invite them to speak into my life from their decades of loving Jesus. But I also want to pour myself out for the generations who are coming after. I want to be around their tables, in their gatherings, learning from how they are working out their faith and reaching their peers. I’ll bring cookies and great coffee. I’ll sing whatever songs they like. I’ll curiously let them question my cherished but extrabiblical traditions. I’ll invite them to leadership tables they’re not quite ready for yet – just like my church did for me.
What if reunion leads to renewal? How will we prepare our hearts, our schedules, our churches, our events and ministries? Let’s begin by making room for every generation in our hearts, minds, lives, and gatherings.
References
“New Research: Belief in Jesus Rises, Fueled by Younger Adults.” Barna. Web. Accessed April 2025. https://www.barna.com/research/belief-in-jesus-rises/
“The Open Generation.” Barna. Web. Accessed April 2025. https://www.barna.com/the-open-generation/
“The Quiet Revival: Gen Z Leads Rise in Church Attendance.” Bible Society. Web. Accessed April, 2025. https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/research/quiet-revival
“Reigniting Hope Study.” Alpha & Flourishing Churches Institute. Web. Accessed April 2025. https://alphacanada.org/reignitinghope/
“Global Christianity Surges Beyond Projections in 2024.” Frontier Partners International. Web. Accessed April 2025. https://www.frontierpartners.org/global-christianity-surges
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