Theological Education and the Millennials

Co-authored with Whitney Bauman, Joseph A. Marchal, Maureen O’Connell, and Sara M. Patterson. Teaching Theology & Religion, vol. 17, no. 4 (2014): 301-322.

Christian Education Journal Research on Educational Ministry, 2011

This articles advocates for the renewal of Christian education as a culturally informative, formative, and transformative ministry of the Christian church in the third millennium. It proposes an intergenerational approach to counter the age-segregated character of contemporary life in the United States and globally. Psalm 48:12-14: "Walk about Zion, go around it, count its towers, consider well its ramparts, go through its citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is our God, our God forever and ever. He will be our guide forever." The psalmist invites our careful consideration of Zion's towers, ramparts, and citadels in order to tell the next generations the wonders of God who guides us. While approaching the completion of decades of teaching full time, we are conscious of the Christian legacy left for not just our grandchildren, but for those of the seventh generation who love and follow Jesus from this day forward. What can possibly assure the vitality and sustainability of the Christian community into the future? Our faith rests upon God's steadfast and unconditional love evidenced from the beginning of time and in the revelation of Jesus Christ resurrected and ascended. In this light, as conduits of God's grace, Christian educators of this time are called to address new challenges with wisdom, diligence, and joy while confronting divisive cultural trends with theologically intentional and formatively engaging educational practices. One of Zion's citadels includes the essential ministries of Christian education that require our faithful consideration as we rely upon God's guidance found in the Scriptures. However, all may not be well in Zion.

This paper looks at some of the unique cultural and philosophical characteristics of millennials with an eye towards teaching Christian discipleship more effectively. Rigid modernist discipleship paradigms will be contrasted with presuppositions, principles, values, and felt needs (broadly speaking) of millennials.1 I will contend that our best bet for discipling and teaching the young adults in our churches is by combining narrative identity theory and transformative education theory to help this generation find the self-awareness and self-realization that they are so desperate for in the grand narrative of God's work of making a people for his name, thereby intentionally supplementing and course-correcting the isolating combination of individualism and epistemological relativism. A curriculum will then be presented for a spiritual formation class titled "Discipleship in Community. "

Journal Didaskalia, 2024

The younger generation is the future successor of leadership in God’s church. For this reason, it is necessary to prepare by conducting education from an early age. The research method used is qualitative research with theological studies by utilizing the Bible and literature according to the subject matter, then analyzed and presented descriptively. Thus, a true and strong foundation will be laid for the spiritual growth of the younger generation, so that they become like Christ to do God’s will in their time. The education of the younger generation includes the example of leaders, teaching God’s Word, fellowship with brothers and sisters and also involvement in ministry in the church and community. So that the church can be a witness for Christ throughout the ages.

THE MILLENIALS IN AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY: AN ANALYSIS OF THEIR BELIEFS AND INFLUENCE, 2015

In personal discussions with many Millenials I have found there is much doubt and confusion over orthodox evangelical Christian beliefs and behavior. The majority of evangelical Millenials seem to form a cohabitation within themselves of believing in Jesus yet demonstrating contradictory ideas and behavior to what would be considered orthodox Christian belief and behavior. This analysis provides the data of millenials, a comparison between Christian and non-Christian Millenials ad their beliefs, and a proposal of how to respond and uphold biblical truth in the face of this wave of Millenial confusion of ideas and theology.

2012

What is the lived experience of Millennials in ministry, specifically those in their first ministry position? What factors affect the job satisfaction and retention of Millennials in ministry roles at local churches? Unique factors and perspectives affected the job satisfaction and retention of Millennials in ministry positions. In-depth interviews with fifteen Millennial graduates of a Christian university provided the data for this research. Each had served in ministry for a minimum of nine months. Interviews revealed a vision for the church that differed from some traditional church practices. Phenomenological aspects of this study produced an account of the lived experience of Millennials in ministry. Themes that emerged as important in the experience of participants included a sense of calling, relationships with leaders and colleagues, effectiveness in their role, and feeling meaning and fulfillment in their work. Relationships with leaders and colleagues on staff emerged as one of the most vital aspects of ministry experience. This study explored factors affecting job satisfaction and produced a grounded theory of the emerging vision and values of Millennials in ministry. It revealed a Millennial view of the church as family rather than church as business. It demonstrated working at a church that embraced and practiced their values proved important to job satisfaction and retention. Primary among the values expressed by participants were family and relationships. Millennials expected and appreciated engaged leaders. They desired mentorship and personal relationships with mature adults who encouraged and supported them as they navigated the uncertainties of young adulthood. Developmental theories helped illustrate the importance of these mentoring relationships. Millennials valued people over programs, relationships over products and conversations over presentations. Reciprocal and servant leadership theories provided insight into effective practices for leaders and churches seeking to maximize Millennial job satisfaction and retention in ministry.

2023

This research explores the factors affecting the spiritual formation of millennials within the context of Geylang Evangelical Free Church (GEFC). Recognizing the significance of spiritual formation as an ongoing process of growth, this study aims to identify the essential factors that facilitate the shaping of the GEFC millennials during their life transitions. The research incorporates a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative surveys and a qualitative focus group interview, to gather data from a sample of GEFC millennials. This study argues that the spiritual formation of millennials during life transitions is influenced by a combination of factors: awareness of God, connection with God, support and encouragement of communities, the ability to make meaning, busyness, distractions, lack of personal discipline in engaging in spiritual practices, and lack of connection with the world. In managing these factors, it can lead to either flourishing or floundering spiritual development. The implications of these findings call for strategic interventions at both the church leadership and ministry levels. Church leaders are encouraged to prioritize and address these challenges, creating a nurturing environment that supports millennials’ spiritual growth. Ministries should develop targeted programs, platforms, and resources that cater to millennials' unique needs and experiences, providing opportunities for them to deepen their connection with God, engage in meaningful practices, and build supportive relationships within the community. Furthermore, the study recognizes the need for future research, such as longitudinal studies and comparative analyses, to deepen the understanding of spiritual formation among millennials in diverse cultural contexts. Overall, this research contributes to the body of knowledge on spiritual formation and advocates for a more culturally relevant and contextualized approach to support millennials in their spiritual formation.

2002

A mother and daughter stood in a local shopping mall. With her finger wagging in the air for emphasis, the mother lectured the daughter: "When I was your age… When I was your age…." The daughter waited. Finally, she interrupted, saying, "Ma, you were never my age." The mother, stunned by the response, was silent. (Story courtesy of Tom Groome.) The story illustrates two points of entry for discussing patterns of generational and cultural change. The daughter represents Gen X and the Millenial generation. Gen Xers were born between the early 1960s and early 1980s, while Millenials include those born from the early 1980s to the present (Howe and Strauss 1993 & Howe and Strauss 2000). These two age cohorts have grown up in a world of intense change. As a result, their perspectives on life are often significantly different from those of Babyboomers and people of earlier generations (born during or before the early 1960s). For instance, in growing up in a "communication and computer age" Gen Xers and Millenials have been flooded with images and data and have needed to become much more sophisticated at processing information than youth in any previous age. Culturally, the complexities of contemporary life have triggered a shift from modernity to postmodernity. The modern worldviews that dominated from the Enlightenement to the recent past are grounded in the conviction that we as human beings can come to know our world and order our lives with reasonable clarity and confidence. During the modern era greatest emphasis was placed on the power of reason, objective thinking, and faith in progress. In contrast, the ebb and flow of our multi-faceted, often ambiguous, and ever-changing postmodern world of today provides the baseline of experience for Gen Xers and Millenials. From a religious educator's perspective, there is growing emphasis on efforts to explore the perspectives and stances of Gen Xers and Millenials, and to consider how education in Christian faith needs to be adapted for postmodern culture (Beaudoin 1998 & McAllister and Springle 1999). Reflecting on the mother in the story offers a second way of thinking about the changing nature of contemporary life. The mother represents those of us who have reached the generative stage of life, a time when a great deal of our energy is focused on being teachers, mentors and guides for those of younger generations. We were often shaped most significantly in our youth by modern outlooks on life rather than by the rising currents of cultural postmodernity. Consequently, as we become aware of the tremendous cultural shifts taking place today we might, like the mother in the story, be reduced at times to stunned silence. As religious educators we may find ourselves asking: "How can we contribute to forming people in faith in a world of accelerated change, a world in which the wisdom of the past may not be fully applicable or relevant in the present?" In this essay I address the challenge of mature Christians to find effective ways to mentor and guide others in an age that presents so many unexplored issues. I examine three significant shifts that characterize the currents of postmodern culture, and outline three paradigms for responding to these shifts. Finally, I suggest that religious educators evaluate these three responses in light of the hope they engender.

Theological education is facing new challenges in the postmodern context. These challenges range from denial of absolute truth in a situation where different groups socially construct their 'truths' which may be mutually exclusive and yet considered to be equally true. Other challenges include; the normalization of sin in the name of tolerance for diverse 'truths', 'realities', or 'orientations'; resurgence of a new syncretistic spirituality that combines various practices of different religions together as long as they produce 'results' for the practitioner in a situation that seems like the premodern time where people worshipped many gods and not a particular God; and the rejection of reason, metanarratives and authority as mask of power in hermeneutics of suspicion. With the ultimate aim of Christian theological education being the proclamation of the gospel, how prepared are theological institutions in Nigeria and around the world to provide the kind of theological education that will adequately equip graduates with appropriate knowledge and skills to live the Christian life and proclaim the gospel in this era of postmodernism. Using qualitative methods, this study explores the preparedness of theological institutions in dealing with the challenges of postmodernism. 12 faculty members from 3 different seminaries were interviewed for the study and 12 graduates were also interviewed regarding how prepared they were to face the challenges of postmodernism after their training. The findings of the research revealed that both the seminaries and their graduates agree that postmodernism pose certain challenges to the church today, however theological seminaries are yet to come to terms with how to prepare their graduates in order to adequately face and deal with postmodern challenges. Results showed that areas in which seminaries needs to improve upon in their task of preparing pastors to deal with the challenges of postmodernism, include among others, recruiting seasoned younger faculty members, realigning their curriculum to the current realities of church composition, maintaining constant engagement with their graduates and above all prepare pastors from a holistic perspective.