They are the second largest generation in America’s history. At 74 million persons, they are only surpassed in size by the Boomer generation. Born between 1980 and 1997, they are shaping our businesses, our government, and our culture.
And they are shaping our churches.
As a Boomer, I remember well how pastors were viewed just a few decades ago. In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the “successful” pastors made it to large county seat churches. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the measure of success was leading larger churches in general.
The times they are a’changin’ (Bob Dylan for the uninformed).
To be sure, there are still Millennial pastors moving to larger churches. And these leaders are not averse to megachurches.
But more Millennial pastors sense God’s call to the smaller and mid-size churches. Why has their attitude been so different from their predecessors? I asked a number of Millennial pastors, and here are five of the responses they gave me.
- They want to invest their lives in a community. The Millennial pastors, as a whole, are highly community focused. It takes several years to get to know a community and to be embraced by the community.
- They want more stability for their families. To be fair, these leaders will not deny a call to another community or even another country if they sense God’s call in that direction. But any move has to be convincing, convicting, and compelling. I know. I moved my family four times in ministry. I am not sure I followed God as much as my own selfish ambitions.
- They don’t measure ministry success and fulfillment by numbers and size. Another caveat is in order. These Millennial pastors do indeed desire to reach more people. They truly want to make more disciples. But their worth and esteem are not measured by “nickels and noses.”
- They are financially locked into their homes. Many Millennial pastors bought their homes when prices and mortgage rates were much lower. Even though they could sell their homes at a gain, they would have to put all of their gains into their next home, which is now higher priced. And most of them would have to pay a higher mortgage rate and, thus, have higher monthly payments.
- They are leading church revitalization. They are sufficiently wise to understand that the turnaround of a declining established church is a long-term endeavor. They are willing to make such commitments to win trust and lead revitalization.
As with any generation, we must be careful with generalizations. There are always exceptions and differences. But, as a rule, Millennial pastors have a much longer-term perspective on church tenure. And they see their ministries fulfilled by lives changed and communities impacted. If the result is a larger church, they are fine with it. But numbers and size are not their measures of success, contentment, or obedience.
Let me hear from you. What do you think of these five reasons? What would add?
Posted on January 27, 2025
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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8 Comments
As a millennial minister, I’d say this is spot on, at least in my case. I’ve served in the same church for over 15 years. While there have been difficult times when I’ve wanted to throw in the towel, the Lord has kept us here. From day one I’ve always said we I’ll leave when I believe the Lord is tell us to go.
It seems like GenX got skipped over and many are now deeply disillusioned and part of the dones with the institutional church… the boomers held on to power and leadership until they realized that their churches/denoms were declining (gen x & z leaving due to abuses of power & spiritual abuses that they experienced) and they needed to hand over to Millenials for the institutions to survive for another generation.
Sadly, there are a number of significant concerns in the Church, where there has been a deafening silence, especially from those in leadership, that are harming the family of God in various ways.
Though I’m a “Boomer,” I have thought of and experienced these same reasons. As a United Methodist pastor, I moved several times early in my ministry. Thankfully, I have been at my current church for almost 15 years, and have found the community aspects very helpful. My church was founded over 100 years ago, and was on the decline. But God has helped us change our hopes and vision, and the church has seen steady, though slow growth. Our average attendance is around 70, but we’re about to build a larger sanctuary with faith that God will fill it! Oh…and I’m no longer “the pastor.” My wife and I are members of the Trinity FAMILY!
This hit home for me. I spent 10 years after Bible college in an assistant role. Everything from music to Christian school to youth group. I thought that I was going to be a “second man” my whole life because that’s where my talents were.
Out of nowhere, the door opened to two churches needing a pastor and I wasn’t even looking. One was a small dying church that I had a loose connection with, the other a large church with a brand new massive auditorium and growing Christian school that had reached out to me because of a recommendation from my pastor growing up. One was going to give me a name at one of the “county seat” churches and the other would leave me unknown and alone at the grinding wheel of church revitalization. I didn’t feel at all ready for either opportunity. I didn’t know if either would accept me anyway. My first contact had been with the smaller church so I pursued that one first. The desire was there and God never shut the door or said “no”.
You said earlier that turning around a declining church was a long-term effort. You ain’t kidding! I’ve been here over 6 years and we have seen growth, but I don’t know that I’ve won over the trust of all the original members that were here when I came. To some, I think I’m “the” pastor and still not “their” pastor. I am learning how to pastor, but I didn’t come here as a stepping stone to a larger ministry. Selfishly, I want to turn this church into the “county seat” church of our area. I wanted to learn how to grow an impressive church ministry, but instead, what I am learning is how to pastor my people… the ones God has placed here. It’s harder than just preaching great sermons. I’m putting down roots here. I don’t know how else I can be trusted and effective among my people. If we never have to build another auditorium because we outgrew this one, so be it. Could God call me elsewhere? Sure. Have I thought about what would have happened if I had pursued the larger church? Sure, but I believe I would have been overwhelmed by a ministry of that size.
Please pray that the Lord would do something great here, even it’s in the heart of just one individual. Pray that our family can remain faithful. Thanks for the article!
I will admit from the beginning that my comments will be biased and negative. My experience with a millenial pastor was that he decided to begin a new church plant which was fine. The problem was that he had no experience and literally said to me that I am “here to clean up the mess of the generations before me.” which included me as well by inference. There was not much humility in that statement. So he founded a new church with disenfranchised members from my church and other churches which is the wrong way to start a new church plant. Long story short, he is no longer in ministry. The church planted folded and it was not healthy from the start. This man had no theological training and no accountability. Which leads to my next point. Most the millenials I meet have no theological training. I realize that some seminaries have gone way left but there are many that have not. The points you wrote about also make the point that they are more focused on their finances than serving God. If your home becomes the focal point as to whether or not you will accept a call elsewhere, then I would truly question your call to ministry. I have been in ministry since I was 27 and I am about to turn 51. My wife and I have carried credit card debt that entire time as a result of being in ministry. We don’t like it but is the reality none the less. However, I know that I have served where God want me to serve. Serving the Lord means making sacrifices.
I can’t agree! I’ve seen churches close after Covid, ranging from small to large, and of different denominations!
This is a rough generation, and depending on the demographics it becomes a challenge!
I have faith, I will not give up…but times are changing and there is no interest in God, and Christianity. It takes a move of God to touch lives, but rarely can you find praying leaders! It’s all bout head knowledge and theological differences! Apostle leagues etc.
One of the biggest challenges is the pastors and leaders misleading and not preaching truth!
“Here is the great evangelical-disaster the failure of the evangelical world to stand for truth as truth. There’s only one word for this, namely, accommodation: the evangelical church has accommodated to the world spirit of the age.”F.Shaeffer
I disagree with you that there is no interest in God or Christianity. The Lord is working in Gen Z, I’ve experienced it firsthand. College and high school students are putting their faith in Christ and being bold in living for Him. There is a reason Bible sales have actually increased recently.
As a millennial pastor, and someone that has worked in many churches of many sizes (and that has helped a lot of churches hire and consulted in many as well), another reason is that larger churches are refusing to hire younger pastors in executive roles. A lot of larger churches view it as a “privilege” for a pastor to work there, and pay well below market for associate level roles, so young pastors can’t afford to work in those environments. A smaller church with less staff is paying 20K more for a solo lead pastor than a mega church is paying for an associate role.
A lot of medium/large sized churches have also simply moved away from younger staff. Most won’t publicly say it, but it’s part of their thinking. I have seen recently however, an alarming amount of churches that aren’t even hiding that anymore, requesting that anybody that applies be a minimum of anywhere from 45-55 years old. This works because they keep retaining older pastors well into retirement age.
So, at the end of the day, revitalizing churches is the only real option most millennial pastors are being given.