Jason Castro rocked tonight as he sang his spectacular version of Hallelujah. I realized why I get so giddy over Jason, and no, it’s not the dreads! I have this expectation that corporate America and reality shows will be fake, unrealistic, intellectually insipid, and artistically dull or…corporate. But there’s a guy whose favorite artist is Ray LaMontagne, and he sings a Cohen/Buckley song to 30 million people. It’s refreshing to have my cynicism about all things corporate to be jack slapped periodically. The pathetically shocking thing is that if you go to the AI forums, you will read that so many people have never heard the song!

From the superficial to the enigmatic…

There are generational trends in church leadership, and there is a blatant asymmetry when you contrast these two particular tendencies. (I am not trying to make this thing generationally exclusive, because there are always beautiful exceptions)

1. Younger Leaders – This post explains the observations of young leaders who are in many ways at odds with seasoned leadership in the church.

And so goes the commentary when one is discerning where to “go to church.” It is amazing how many seminary students I converse with who have been “looking for a church” for a long time, with numerous false starts and trial runs in the process. We are seminary students for goodness’ sake ~ we are supposedly learning how to be leaders in this thing called the Church — but so few Churches out there make any sense to us. What is UP with that? There is a huge disconnect; and is anyone really paying attention?

It would seem not. While the best students can do is prayerfully select a place to just go and love people, and nothing can really get in the way of that, the fact remains that the movement of God’s Spirit in up-and-coming-leadership is very often at “odds” with the existing ethos and modus operandi of the local church. Lets face it. Lots of churches are led by old poops in my age group who don’t have a clue how to disciple anyone because they were told they were supposed to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and be CEO’s in order to “grow the church.” I’ve seen more than one exceptionally gifted young leader get barfed out of the local church for reasons as simple as they just don’t “fit,” don’t have the “chemistry” and so on. Fresh leadership is not all that welcome: it’s rather threatening, actually.

Many have noticed this trend to one degree or another, including the church plant guru himself, Ed Stetzer, who has noted on a national level, the booming number of young leaders planting churches.
Brad Bergfalk
PBS Story
Live Way Research

2. Seasoned Leaders – We also see veteran leadership trying like mad to get a grip on exactly what is going on with younger generations, and understand why so many are leaving their churches or not showing up in the first place. Noted by Out of Ur from a session at the recent National Pastor’s Conference:

On Wednesday I attended a session about how churches can attract and retain the younger generation. I was surprised to find this session absolutely packed: church leaders were standing in the back of the room and sitting on the floor hoping for some insight into this generational dilemma. From my vantage point I watched the room of mostly 40 and 50-year-olds furiously scribbling notes as the two 30-year-old presenters spoke about the traits of their generation.

It was clear from the popularity of this session, and others like it, that pastors and other church leaders have awoken to the disconnect between their church subcultures and those who have grown up in a postmodern environment. But what will this interest lead to? Will churches look for new programs and methods to attract this generation? Or will they be willing to adapt at significant levels, so that a new generation will see the church as a worthy investment of their lives? Time will tell.

With respect to 1 - Young pastors are frustrated with this tension: Hunger for revolution, something subversive, and Jesus implanted among the unchurched, and yet experiencing ministry (in thousands of churches) gives them a view contrary to that revolution.
- Work in a building for many hours during the week around other Christians, with the main emphasis and financial resources towards a service once or twice each week.
- A service which is common in churches around America along these lines: worship, announcements, offering, sermon.
- The same 4 act play as a means for weekly discipleship, and anything in the community outside the four walls is typically viewed with lip service, few resources, and the same 20 volunteers every time.

With respect to 2 – Why is there a hunger to understand the issues, perceive the times, and even listen, but not make significant changes?

I guess we could shrug our shoulders, but we should be curious.

Can we come to an understanding and bridge differences, or is this simply the typical cycle with paradigm shifts and church movements in history?

Cheers.