We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
Rachel Held Evans on What Drives Millennials (and Others) Away from Church
David Clow via Compfight
Have you been wondering why so many churches are dwindling in numbers? Rachel Held Evans was asked to speak about what drives millennials away from church, but her response has struck a nerve with a whole lot of people who are not millennials. It’s time for the church to take a good hard look at more than “relevance”.
From Rachel’s reflection:
What millennials really want from the church is not a change in style but a change in substance.
We want an end to the culture wars. We want a truce between science and faith. We want to be known for what we stand for, not what we are against.
We want to ask questions that don’t have predetermined answers.
We want churches that emphasize an allegiance to the kingdom of God over an allegiance to a single political party or a single nation.
We want our LGBT friends to feel truly welcome in our faith communities.
We want to be challenged to live lives of holiness, not only when it comes to sex, but also when it comes to living simply, caring for the poor and oppressed, pursuing reconciliation, engaging in creation care and becoming peacemakers.
Yes.
Category: General
Tags: Authenticity, Church, Millennials, Rachel Held Evans
Related Reading
Lighten Up: Who Sees the Real You?
It’s a good question. Many times, as Christians, we can get stuck hiding who we really are because we think we’re not good enough or some other such nonsense. But the real you is the one Jesus loves. Honest.
Should churches have armed security guards?
Question: Recently (December, 2007) a security guard at New Life Church in Colorado Springs shot and apparently killed a man who was shooting people in the church parking lot. The pastor (Brady Boyd) hailed her as a “real hero.” Do you think churches should have armed security guards and do you think the pastor was…
Ashamed/Unashamed
Toni Blay via Compfight Rachel Held Evans posted this astounding reflection on her blog this week. Normally, we post a short excerpt of the blogs we link to, but this one MUST be read in it’s entirety. It reminds us of what is both ugly and beautiful in the church and ourselves and calls us…
Leaders in the Revolution: An Invitation
Kevin Dooley via Compfight Network Exploration Meeting There is a growing movement of pastors, church planters, and churches around the globe who have become convinced that the center of the Gospel is a Jesus-looking God who calls his people to partner with him to advance a Jesus-looking kingdom. They sense that God is pouring out…
The Problem with “Church”
Many people think of church as a religious building people attend once a week to sing, hear a sermon, take an offering and perhaps participate in the Lord’s Supper (or “take Communion”). Many refer to the church as “the house of the Lord,” imagining that God is more present in this sacred building and during church…
How To Fix The Church: The Kingdom of God (Part 4)
God has leveraged everything on the Church loving like Jesus loved, as outlined in our previous posts in this series. “By this the world will know you are my disciples,” Jesus said, “by your love” (Jn 13:35). By God’s own design, Christ-like love is supposed to be the proof that Jesus is real. In John…