Ministering to Millennials by Leveraging the Relational Power of Small Churches
Taught by Karl Vaters & Gary Garcia of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, Fountain Valley, CA
Premise: Millennials aren’t really a group, like Baby Boomers were, or like we wish they were
Which means: Millennials won’t build the kinds of churches their parent and grandparents built
- Builders and Boomers took relationships for granted and needed to build structures. Millennials take the structures for granted and need to build relationships.
Result: We have to minister with them as individuals not to them as a demographic group
Some principles behind working with millennials in a small church:
Don’t fight your small size, use it
It’s more about relationships than demographics
Know their names, not just their needs (The G.I.F.T. plan)
The “take a number” era of customer service is over
Go deeper, not just bigger
Connect them intergenerationally
Worship, work and play with them
Allow for hard questions
Listen before you talk
Challenges for the current and future church
- The way people give is changing
- The way people commit is changing
- The way people attend is changing
- The way people trust is changing
- Brand loyalty is dead
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Karl Vaters • CornerstoneFV.com