Why Mono-Generational Churches Are a BAD Idea

I hope I made that word up so I can copyright it! 😉

Mono-Generational Churches are the new wave in American culture. It’s the 20-something church or the 60-something church. It’s niche marketing run amok. We niche our ministry to fill a particular need and it draws people of like-minded ideas.

1. I find that simply boring.

2. I find a couple of things unbiblical about it.

First of all, it runs very close to Paul’s warning to Timothy about gathering certain teachers to you that say what you like. It’s a dangerous path. If I have a bunch of people I’m hanging with that all think very similar to me, I am not stretched. If I am hanging with people with similar life experiences, I am only GUESSING at how to move through the next part of life. (Believe me, I teach college part time and I hear snippets of these conversations. When I was in college I HAD those types of conversations. They are frightening!)

More importantly in my observations is when we get mono-generational we miss the rich heritage of faith that brought us to this moment. 1 Peter 1:10-12 addresses this. What we have in salvation today is incredible. It is something the prophets could only dream about. It is something angels longed to look upon. And we have it!

Then, Peter launches into how we should respond!

Us? We don’t give a rip what brought us to this moment of faith. We believe in God. Isn’t he lucky? What could an old geezer in his 40s possibly say to ME? (Or, what can a young punk in his 20s possibly say to ME?)

We are letting niche marketing ruin our full experience in Christ. Because those models are gaining numbers, no one cares to point it out. Good luck in 10 years when it implodes on you. But who cares about 10 years from now? We’re the steroid pumping generation. We want the victories NOW. Who cares what it does to our bodies 10 years from now? (Or our brains, for that matter.) We need that Super Bowl ring TODAY, not tomorrow!

Friends, let us hear the admonition of Scripture, an ancient text. Let us not ignore the generations around us!

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April 25, 2011

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7 responses to “Why Mono-Generational Churches Are a BAD Idea”

Gary Zimmerli

April 25, 2011 at 10:12 am

“…an old geezer in his 40s…”

You make me laugh, Dan! At 58 I’m still in the middle of the ages in my church. 🙂

But this is a very important subject! And you are doing well to point it out.

The church I am a member of has members from their childhood years all the way up into their 90s (Our oldest recently passed away at 102). We have a blended service with some contemporary music along with the old hymns. And the pastor preaches to everyone, no matter their age. Everyone is valued, whatever their generation, and we have a number of black, Hispanic, and Asian people in our congregation as well. And for what it’s worth I can think of four retired pastors who have chosen to worship with us regularly.

Our church is not perfect by any means. In some ways we aren’t even a healthy church. But with the Lord’s help we are getting better, and we are a stronger church because we have people of different ages and races.

(BTW, I love your new blog theme, Dan!)

Dan

April 25, 2011 at 10:14 am

Thanks, Gary. I also understand a multi-generational church is not perfection. It has problems, but many times they can be problems worth walking through BECAUSE we have generations together.

Lauren

April 25, 2011 at 11:04 am

I was thinking about this concept this morning as I was driving down the road and heard a “commercial” on the radio for one of these churches. The person on the radio said, “It’s like I’m a part of a family”.

Now, I think it is great that he feels like he belongs to a particular community but, a family is a group of people who are multi-generational. It is a group where you learn to respect and see value in people who are different ages than yourself. Yes, a family is generally a group of people who you love and you enjoy being with but… lot’s of times family member do not see eye. They have different styles and tastes and often family member disagree and down right get on your nerves.

But I believe that working through these conflicts is very important. It forces us to move beyond our own selfishness and see life how others might see it. Yes, my generation is a “microwave”generation. We want things fast and we want it our way, and I think one reason we are this way is because of the breakdown in “family” in our generation. So many of us do not have healthy relationships with our parents, and we have missed out on the guidance we need to see beyond ourselves. A multi-generational family is God’s design and there are many consequences our society is dealing with due to this breakdown of family. I hope that our churches don’t follow down the same destructive path.

Now with that said, I do think that with in a multi-generational church it is healthy to have contextualized ministries 🙂

Dan

April 25, 2011 at 11:06 am

Thanks for those great thoughts!

debbie

April 25, 2011 at 11:28 am

I really like when i go to churches that have all ages from babies to the 90 year olds and beyond. also with different cultures worshipping too. We can learn from every one and perhapes from us too. I am 49. one church i visit has many older people than me, with a pastor who is in his 40s. however, there are families with young kids and teens also that join (i visit the saturday service, I am sure on Sunday the services have a variety of ages). I like this. and the worship music is from contemporary to the hymns; and on occasion there can be woodwinds, guitar, drums, not just the piano.

Scripture Zealot

April 25, 2011 at 3:28 pm

How can a 20 year old be mentored or even influenced by a 60 year old in a Mono-Generational church? Mentoring/discipling is something soring lacking.
Jeff

1. Dan
  
  April 25, 2011 at 3:29 pm
  
  That would be my point. We’re missing some key opportunities by following this model.