After I got a handful of predictable answers, I let them in on the secret. I told them that the question was a set up. I expected their answers. Why? Because most people have preconceived notions about ministry to young people, and I was playing toward that notion. I then said, “If your initial thoughts and answers about what Gateway would look like without Next Gen was about how its absence would affect the general adult experience, you’ve missed the point entirely.” Nearly every answer was in the context of how the adult service would be affected or about how the experience would not be attractive to adults. This led me to my first point:
POINT 1: Next Gen is Strategic, Vital, and Urgent.
I began telling the staff about George Barna and how he wrote a book on accident. I told how he was doing research and the results led him to see something he’d never seen before. He had an epiphany. This expert with more than 25 years of experience of studying everything about the church had a life-altering realization that caused him to write a book about it. You know the book. Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions.
Unfortunately, no one read this book. Let’s be real honest. No one is going to read this book but Children’s Pastors. That’s unfortunate. However, I shared the first couple of quotes from Barna about his realization…how he missed the boat and the ocean. I then gave some of the stats about how most Christ-followers come to faith while they are young people and set the stage for the punch to the gut.
So if most people feel that the absence of Next Gen is bad because it would affect the adult experience…we missed the point entirely. A church with no Next Gen would be removing the most effective and efficient arm of evangelism in the Church (I used a big C because I wasn’t just talking about Gateway). Yes, a strong and effective church needs a good children’s and student ministry. But it’s not just about having a good children’s ministry for the sake of the rest of the church. It’s about having a great children’s ministry because some of the greatest work of the Holy Spirit happening each weekend is happening in the kids’ building. Period.
I wrapped up this point talking abut the Strategic, Vital, and Urgent nature of Next Gen. It’s strategic because this is the age when people are open to Christ. There’s no better time. Although Gateway excels in reaching lost adults (half the church came to faith at Gateway), that doesn’t mean our biggest influx of new believers won’t still come from Next Gen. It’s Vital because the church does need a strong ministry to kids and students to bring in families. Last of all, it’s Urgent because if we don’t reach these kids before they hit the age of 13, statistically they probably won’t come to faith at all.
I ended this point by leading them into table discussion around this information.
