Is the future of your sitting in your pews?

Maybe

… but probably not.

The future of your church isn’t the legacy generation. Your seniors, whether Boomers or Builders, have largely brought your church to where it is – for better or worse. But they won’t be around in a few years, most haven’t invited anyone to join them for worship in months or years. Your legacy generations are definitively not the future of your church.

And as hard as it is to swallow, the future of your church isn’t the youth. We know that at best 60 percent of them will leave the church forever at the first possible opportunity for the them to quit. And the 40 percent who remain involved in the church will almost certainly be involved in some other church in some other city. The youth may be the future of somebody’s church, but they’re not the future of your church.

Youth may be the future of somebody’s church, but they’re not the future of your church.

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The same goes for your children … children turn into youth who largely turn away from the church.

That pretty much leaves your young adults. It’s true that young adults are the hope and the future of the church. They’re the ones who buy houses and invest in the community, including their church. But are they the future of your church?

Not if they’ve been there for more than a year.

Young adults who’ve been members of your congregation for twelve months or more are unlikely to invite anyone into the congregation on a consistent basis (or even at all). Most of them have already invited “everyone” they know and they’ve lost their zeal for inviting. Which is to say, young adults may be the future of the church, but not if they’re your longer term members.

All that’s to say that the future of your church, should you plan on your church being around a decade or so from now, is in the hands of those who aren’t there yet …

What are you doing to connect future members to your church?

Share with us in the comments section below.