Chasing the millennial generation--a how to

 

Just Google "church attract millennials" and you'll find

• 5 ways, 
• 10 ways, 
• why they don't,
•  how to attract, 
• what they want, 
• why we need them, and 
• where are they. 

And you'll also read nonsense, and appeals to buy a how-to book. 

• First, you need a very loud band, 
• second, casual attire like torn jeans and t-shirts, then
• no (apparent) theology (although it's there), 
• dramatic presentations highly entertaining, 
• something called transparency (which usually isn't there), and 
• if your church is growing, you probably have post modern architecture, or a repurposed building that doesn't look like a church, and 
• very important to pull it all together is a minister/pastor with a terrific personality who has no discernible credentials or ties to any church of the past or recognizable to their boomer grandparents because "non-denominational" sounds better to them. 
• And even though there are thousands of service/ministry opportunities already asking for their help, start something new they can support.

That's a quick summary, and I just skimmed the highlights. The Gen-X generation has hit 55 and the boomers are in their 70s, so every church is looking for millennials.

Imagine Jesus' apostles starting off with this check list.

Holly she bears a berry

          

Someone asked me about the pre-Christian images in many of our Christmas traditions--holly, mistletoe, trees, the timing with the Winter Solstice.  To simplify, I said the early church used them as evangelism tools to explain the birth, death, and resurrection of our Lord, and the people instead of having their heads chopped off the way the Muslims evangelized Africa, the Middle East and southern Europe as warnings for infidels, got to keep their favorite traditions and their heads.  Don't fear them, embrace.

The voice squad

Now the holly bears a berry as white as the milk,
And Mary she bore Jesus, who was wrapped up in silk:

And Mary she bore Jesus our Saviour for to be,
And the first tree that’s in the greenwood, it was the holly.
Holly! Holly! Holly!
And the first tree that’s in the greenwood, it was the holly!

Now the holly bears a berry as green as the grass,
And Mary she bore Jesus, who died on the cross:

And Mary she bore Jesus our Saviour for to be,
And the first tree that’s in the greenwood, it was the holly.
Holly! Holly! Holly!
And the first tree that’s in the greenwood, it was the holly!

Now the holly bears a berry as black as the coal,
And Mary she bore Jesus, who died for us all:

And Mary she bore Jesus our Saviour for to be,
And the first tree that’s in the greenwood, it was the holly.
Holly! Holly! Holly!
And the first tree that’s in the greenwood, it was the holly!

Now the holly bears a berry, as blood is it red,
Then trust we our Saviour, who rose from the dead:

And Mary she bore Jesus our Saviour for to be,
And the first tree that’s in the greenwood, it was the holly.
Holly! Holly! Holly!
And the first tree that’s in the greenwood, it was the holly!