My son, Jess Rainer, and I recently spoke in Texas on the topic of the Millennials, America’s largest generation of nearly 79 million persons. Because we co-authored a book entitled The Millennials, we have had the opportunity to speak on the subject on many occasions.
We reminded this audience in Dallas of the birth dates of this generation, 1980 to 2000, and then proceeded to share our research. We had commissioned LifeWay Research to survey 1,200 of the older Millennials; the researchers did an outstanding job. We have thus been able to share incredible amounts of data and insights from these young adults.
The Question about Worship Style
As in most of our speaking settings, we allow a portion of our presentation to be a time of questions and answers. And inevitably someone will ask us about the worship style preferences of the Millennials.
Typically the context of the question emanates from a background of nearly three decades of “worship wars.” In other words, on what “side” are the Millennials? Traditional? Contemporary? Or somewhere on the nebulous spectrum of blended styles?
And though Jess and I did not originally ask those questions in our research, we have sufficient anecdotal evidence to respond. And our response is usually received with some surprise. The direct answer is “none of the above.”
The Three Things That Matter Most
You see, most Millennials don’t think in the old worship war paradigm. In that regard, “style” of worship is not their primary focus. Instead they seek worship services and music that have three major elements.
- They desire the music to have rich content. They desire to sing those songs that reflect deep biblical and theological truths. It is no accident that the hymnody of Keith and Kristyn Getty has taken the Millennials by storm. Their music reflects those deep and rich theological truths.
- The Millennials desire authenticity in a worship service. They can sense when congregants and worship leaders are going through the motions. And they will reject such perfunctory attitudes altogether.
- This large generation does want a quality worship service. But that quality is a reflection of the authenticity noted above, and adequate preparation of the worship leaders both spiritually and in time of preparation. In that sense, quality worship services are possible for churches of all sizes.
The Churches They Are Attending
Millennial Christians, and a good number of seekers among their generation, are gravitating to churches where the teaching and preaching is given a high priority. They are attracted to churches whose focus is not only on the members, but on the community and the world. Inwardly focused congregations will not see many Millennials in their churches.
And you will hear Millennials speak less and less about worship style. Their focus is on theologically rich music, authenticity, and quality that reflects adequate preparation in time and prayer.
But they will walk away from congregations that are still fighting about style of music, hymnals or screen projections, or choirs or praise teams. Those are not essential issues to Millennials, and they don’t desire to waste their time hearing Christians fight about such matters.
This article was originally published at ThomRainer.com on April 2, 2014. Thom S. Rainer serves as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. Among his greatest joys are his family: his wife Nellie Jo; three sons, Sam, Art, and Jess; and seven grandchildren. Dr. Rainer can be found on Twitter @ThomRainer and at facebook.com/Thom.S.Rainer.
There is no such thing as ‘worship wars,’ the two most damaging words in current use in church circles. There is only ‘worship preferences!’ One has a preference in worship style and most are NOT at war with such a demeaning term! For an article (short) detailing some thoughts on the subject, email me at bobburroughs@icloud.cloud.
You have obviously never been to a church where people literally have been yelling at each other about songs and style. Also, you must never have experienced people leaving the church either because they didn’t get their way…exactly what has happened over the past several months at my home church. When ‘worship preference’ turn negative they can become wars. and I can say for a fact that they do happen even if you may not have experienced them.
Like Millennials, each of us, no matter our age, that truly seek God in worship are striving to praise, honor and glorify Him. God’s Spirit validates our worship when we do this. An encounter with God must be authentic for all of us in every aspect of public or private worship, as Thom suggests. Any choral anthem, culturally relevant worship song, or a rich-texted hymn by a congregation can point us to God’s throne. But, we must individually enter into His presence to encounter Him. God forbid that any worship leader would distract His people from that kind of encounter-no matter what style is be demonstrated.
Hey Lee. I want to encourage you in one point. This is something the article, your response and most of the church does today. We over generalize worship when actually referring to the more specific forms of worship; praise. Worship is the proclamation of who God is by the way we live our life, thoughts, motives etc. Worship is the big picture of life and was redefined by Christ in John 4 when talking to the woman at the well and later by Paul in Romans 12:1-2. The danger in doing this is huge. If we generalize such an important concept we tend to also focus too much on Sunday as a time for an experience that becomes the sole part of our growth. The body in scripture never looked like that, but was called to come together to praise God, encouraging other believers, sharing the things God did throughout the week as they worshiped God through their life. What we have done, like the woman at the well, is again placed the sole focus on a place and a time. Tragically we miss the point that we are in the presence of God as His Spirit dwells in us. I hope this encourages you and challenges you as it has me for about four years now. Thank you.