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You Want to Reach the Next Gen—Tech Can Help

The Barna Group released an email on October 15 with the headline, “How Technology is Changing Millennial Faith.” The findings in this study should make every pastor and church leader sit up and pay attention.

One of the biggest concerns of Christian leaders today is the fact that Millennials are disconnecting and leaving the church. They are our future, and the future is leaving the building!

David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group and author of two books on Millennials, points out the implications of this research: “Millennials live in an era of radical transparency, powered by social and digital tools. Any leader or organization who wants to engage Millennials must learn this—whether from the pulpit or the front of the classroom, whether fundraising or marketing.”

The Barna study discovered some amazing things about the faith practices of Millennials. Here are some interesting discoveries …

The most common way Millennials are blending their faith and technology is through digital reading of Scripture.

Seven out of 10 of practicing Christian Millennials (70 percent) read Scripture on a screen.

One-third of all Millennials say they read sacred Scripture on a phone or online.

One-third of Millennials are using online searches to scope out a church, temple or synagogue online.

Over half (56 percent) of practicing Christian Millennials do the same.

Nearly six out of 10 practicing Christians (59 percent) say they search for spiritual content online.

Three out of 10 of all Millennials are also searching for spiritual content online.

Fourteen percent of Millennials say they search to verify something a faith leader has said. A striking 38 percent of practicing Christian Millennials say the same.

Thirty-nine percent of Christian Millennials who donated say they donate to a church or faith organization each month using online giving.

The traditional tithing envelope or donation request mailings that have worked for their parents and grandparents don’t seem to work for a generation as mobile as Millennials.

Here are three things the church must do as a result of these findings …