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Understanding Millennials and Generation X: On Religious Congregations

Explore the characteristics and challenges faced by Millennials and Generation X in religious congregations, highlighting their values, relationships, and media savvy nature. Learn about their similarities, concerns, and opportunities for engagement.

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Understanding Millennials and Generation X: On Religious Congregations

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  1. Generational Cultures Part II Millennials and Generation X:Challenge and Opportunity for Religious Congregations The Center for the Study of Religious Life

  2. Generational Cultures Credits • Text: Patricia Wittberg, SC • Slides: Patricia Wittberg, SC Sue Diemer Mary Charlotte Chandler, RSCJ • Photos: Microsoft Clip Art except where otherwise indicated in the note field of each slide.

  3. Except where otherwise noted quotations are from Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generationby Neil Howe and William Strauss, 2000.

  4. Who Are Millennials?

  5. Special

  6. “Mozart in the womb. French lessons at age 2. Software programming at age 4. SAT- prepping at age 10. Are we pushing our kids too hard?”

  7. Sheltered

  8. I wish I lived in the ‘50s and ’60s, when kids could run around outside and parents wouldn’t worry about all the things they need to worry about today. (Emily, aged 17 in 2000)

  9. When my parents were young, they had to do more for themselves. They had to ride their bikes or walk. We get rides every place. (Stephanie, aged 13 in 2000)

  10. Confident Hopeful

  11. I like to think of my generation, the Class of 2000, and the neighboring years around it, as the Millennial Generation. We’re the kids who are going to change things. (Shansel, aged 17 in 2000)

  12. At my local high school, only 28% of inductees into the National Honor Society this past spring were boys. When I go to award assemblies at my son’s elementary school, I always see girls march forward confidently to claim the prize, and seldom boys. (a parent)

  13. We Millennnials don’t understand why adults constantly push the issue when, in our eyes, gender equality has been achieved. (Michael, aged 17 in 2000)

  14. Team Oriented

  15. I think the thing that makes up a good community is having unity and working together. The bad thing is not working together, working against each other. That’s not gonna make any kind of progress. (Julia, aged 13 in 2000)

  16. Badges promote a sense of belonging… Badges provide unity since every student is put on the same level and required to wear one. . . Ready or not, badges are one of the keys on the road to becoming a more responsible adult. (Jessica, aged 17 in 2000).

  17. Goal Oriented

  18. A few months ago, I had a debate with a group of Gen Xers a few years older than me about how much control individuals have over their own lives. I stated (and several of my Millennial peers agreed) that how successful people are is ultimately a product of their own effort. The Gen Xers laughed at me. (Michael, aged 17 in 2000)

  19. The last thing I want for us is to be known as a bunch of losers like Gen X. (Amy, aged 17 in 2000)

  20. Pressured

  21. I don’t have a lot of time to do just whatever. (Molly, aged 11 in 2000) If I’m not at school or at work, I’m at home on my laptop, typing essays, looking up French words on-line, or researching for information. I took my laptop to Boston when I visited schools, and I took it to the beach. When I think of pressure, I think of school and its deadlines. (Kathryn, aged 18 in 2000)

  22. Conventional Our generation, my friends at least, are tired of hearing the negative aspects of society and are disgusted by the lack of moral values our leaders have, and we want to change. (Katherine, aged 17 in 2000)

  23. I just hope my kids aren’t as rebellious as you boomers were. (Michael, aged 17 in 2000)

  24. High Maintenance

  25. Home schooling all of us takes a lot of time, effort, and commitment on my parents’ part. As a consequence, my dad and mom do not have much time for themselves. I see them often working late at night in order to keep up with their own work. My mom has not gone to bed before 2:00 AM in a long time. (George Thampy, 12, the home-schooled winner of the 2000 National Spelling Bee)

  26. Reflection: Are there Millennials in your life? (born 1982-1995) • Do you have members in your congregation from this generation? • Are those doing vocation ministry in touch with this age group? • Are members of the congregations in touch with with age group through ministry?

  27. What Do Millennials and Gen XHave in Common?

  28. Value Relationships

  29. Media Savvy

  30. The most time I spent online was 218 hours in one month. (Jason, aged 16 in 2000)

  31. Consumerist

  32. When adjusted for inflation, parents are spending 500% more money on kids today than parents did on Gen X or the Baby Boomers. (David Walsh, psychologist) Honestly, what teenage girl doesn’t want to look cute and have the latest accessories? (Melissa, aged 16 in 2000)

  33. In Debt

  34. Volunteer

  35. Value Diversity

  36. Generational Spiritualities

  37. “One problem with these ancient customs is that many members of pre-Vatican II generations have attached to them their memories of an overly clerical and rigid Church. Once the Council initiated reforms, many people who experienced the pre-1962 Church wanted nothing to do with that kind of church again.” (David E. Nantais p.17)

  38. “The past has the potential to crush our future if we don’t address it.” (Mary Johnson, SNDdeN)

  39. Reflection: • What is exciting about the descriptions of these younger generations? • What is uncomfortable or challenging? • What are some of the implications for intergenerational community life? • What are some of the implications for vocation ministry?

  40. Implications for Religious Life Millennial and Gen XSpiritualities:

  41. Experientially Oriented When it comes to religion, people should do what they want. I shouldn’t be the one to say what they do.

  42. Image Focused When we asked young adults what spiritual practices they had engaged in during the last 2 years, a quarter of them have attended Eucharistic Adoration. (Mary Johnson SNDdeN)

  43. Value Community The most attractive aspect of church to me is the fellowship that comes with it. Going to church, and other church activities such as youth group, gives me the opportunity to congregate with people who become somewhat of an extended family. (Kwame, 17)

  44. Spiritually Hungry Yes, I have a nice apartment, a great job, a great degree, great clothing. But I feel empty inside rather often. (Tim, 24)

  45. Religiously Disconnected Vatican II, Vatican II, that’s all you ever talk about – like it happened yesterday. (a GenX novice)

  46. “In a mass-consumer, capitalist-shaped society, authority increasingly resides not in the church, nor in millennia of tradition, the prayer book, theological experts, or the scriptures. Rather authority resides in the individual human self. Religious knowledge and authority thus become increasingly privatized, subjectivized, customized, and therapeutically psychologized around the controlling authority of individual selves.” (Smith et al, p. 177)

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