ARE WE A PEOPLE AT HALF TIME? - Leadership Network

THE FIRST THING TO UNDERSTAND
about the generation that followed the
Baby Boomers is that they do not like to
be labeled. While names like “Busters,”
“Gen X,” and “the 13th Gen” appear in the
popular literature, they are the creation of
older generations seeking to define and
describe the roughly 41 million people born
in the late 1960’s and early 70’s.
This is a generation born in an age of
multiple paradoxes and huge societal shifts.
The preceding generation started a
dialogue of idealism about love and
relationships in the 1960’s, yet lived lives
of unprecedented divorce rates and
materialism in the 70’s and 80’s.
Generation X is a generation shaped
from early childhood by television and
music, and they are the first post-Christian
generation in America. It is the first
generation that grew up without absolute
truths, believing that the highest virtue is
tolerance of the views of others.
This issue of NEXT focuses on the
recent Gen X forum sponsored by
Leadership Network and some of what
we learned about ministering to this
significant generation.
THE STAFF OF LEADERSHIP NETWORK
INSIDE NEXT
COVER STORY
ALT.MINISTRY@GENX.FORUM
■
BOOMERS & BUSTERS (page 6)
■
WEB.WATCH (page 7)
■
THE BOOKSHELF (page 8)
■
LEADERSHIP NETWORK RECOMMENDS
(page 9)
■
NETFAX (page 10 -11)
■
FAX FORUM RESULTS (page 12)
■
LEADERSHIP NETWORK FORUMS
(page 13)
■
LAY MOBILIZATION (page 14)
■
A VERY IMPORTANT
READERSHIP SURVEY (page 15)
■
EXTRAS (page 16)
V O L U M E 2 , N U M B E R 2 A P R I L , 1 9 9 6
F R O M L E A D E R S H I P N E T W O R K
It began as a small gathering of 25 to 50
people discussing the current state of
ministry to Gen X. The idea was to
have a few peers come together to share
what they were learning on the front edge
of ministry to a new generation.
Resources like researcher/author
George Barna, Buster pastors Tim Celek
and Dieter Zander, author and Gen Xer
Kevin Ford, and Gen X pastor Chris Seay
and the University Baptist Church worship
team were enlisted. Leadership Network
mailed invitations to Gen X leaders and
others involved in ministry to Generation
X. The forum was promoted in NEXT, and
then we waited for the response. It was a
long wait. As late as thirty days before the
scheduled date, we considered canceling
the Gen X forum for lack of response.
Then it happened. Through e-mail,
faxes, and word of mouth, suddenly what
began as a trickle was
transformed
into a
flood of
inquiries
and registrations.
After conferring
with the
staff at
Glen Eyrie
as to the
maximum number of people the
conference center could accommodate,
registration had to be capped at 200.
A waiting list was created and even on the
day the forum began, people were still
calling, wanting to attend.
Thursday afternoon, March 7, slightly
over 200 people gathered in the Great Hall
at Glen Eyrie for worship and focused their
attention on the needs, concerns, and
opportunities found in Generation X.
Emerging themes from the Gen X forum
1. The foundation for ministry to and
with Generation X is authenticity. Xers
have little use for hype. What they look for
in a person and a leader is authenticity.
Kevin Ford named authenticity as one of
the cornerstones in building community
among Gen Xers. “Be authentic. If I have a
real relationship with Jesus Christ, it means
I can admit that I am struggling. It means
I can be transparent. It means I can be
vulnerable with people.” The most authentic
leaders will come from within Generation
X, not be imposed from the outside.
2. Ministry to Gen Xers looks different
than ministry to Boomers. You cannot
take a Boomer model and “tweak it” to
work with Xers. While the themes of
rejecting institutions and “the establishment”
and the use of more contemporary
music are common to both Boomers and
Xers, Xer ministry is different. It looks
different and it sounds different.While
Boomers focus on a high quality performance,
Xers focus more on providing an
authentic experi- continued on next page