The Missing and Forgotten Generation

The buzz around mainline denominational circles and specifically United Methodist Circles since that is my context is about how old we are. The average age of a United Methodist is 58 according to the latest research. The denomination has set a goal of lowering the average age to 48 by 2012. This is an admirable goal. However, I continue to question the means by which we are going about it. There have been many excellent articles about how to connect, reinvent church for the millennial generation. They are all coming of age now and this is certainly something the church needs to be ready for. But there is another demographic that seems to be lost in all of this. The people this decline started with in the first place. My generation. Generation X.

Not to sound like "what about me?" But what about me! or more appropriately us! There are millions of Gen x-rs in their 30's & 40's and, depending if you define the generation being born starting in 1961 or not, some approaching 50. What happened to us?

Well the first problem is that Gen X does not have numbers on it's side. There are only 46 million of us compared to 80 million boomers and 78 million millennial's. So in advertising you go where your biggest demographic is, I get that. The second thing is that our Silent and Boomer parent's have tended to, for some reason, not value our opinions. Most research that was conducted about 10 years ago referred to Gen X as generally whiners and complainers and lacking any initiative, but that there was not enough data to give a complete picture yet. Well ten years later it seems that that data has been neglected for the more populous millennial generation. So still Gen X is forgotten and pushed to the side. When we ask why, the message is the same, quit complaining.

Here is the problem in all of this. The forgotten 46 million of Generation X have so much to give to the church, but because their ideas were relegating to foolishness and youthful inexperience, many have long since fled from the existing mainline church (present company excluded). Many who stayed like myself have since left and have founded thriving ministries of their own outside the mainline denominations. As people who grew up along with the evolution the personal computer, cable/satellite TV, the Internet, and cell phones, but also remember what life was like without them, Generation X can build an important bridge in the church for the Millennial Generation. But there must be a concerted effort among boomers in particular to recognize God's gifts that are evident in them, value their opinions and to listen to them, and let new ministries flourish that builds bridges between all 3 generations.

Interpreter Magazine just published an excellent article to help people understand the Millennial Generation. It is a good read. However, Generation X, while not completely ignored, was referred to in passing as generally being pessimistic, and victims of the break up of traditional marriage. In another place it said that we used technology as tools, as opposed to Millennial's for whom it is an integral part of their lives. The problem with that line of thinking is this: the X-rs are the one's who developed this stuff in the first place.

In summary, if mainline church's do not recognize the Gifts for ministry that God has blessed them with, giving serious consideration to the role Generation X can and should play in the church, they do so at their own peril. Generation X will continue to go off on their own and start new churches that will attract both groups away from the main-liners.