IN THIS ISSUE:
1. REASON FOR THIS NEWSLETTER
2. CHURCH GROWTH
3. LEADERSHIP
4. CHURCH INTERNET WEB SITE
5. BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
6. SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE

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1. REASON FOR THIS NEWSLETTER
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The three generations of today's world are 1) Pre-boomer (born before 1946), 2) Boomer (1946 to 1964), and 3) Buster (born after 1964). In the last issue of the newsletter, 1964 should be replaced with 1946 for the division between Pre-boomer (sometimes called the Seniors or Builders) and the beginning of the Boomers. In the early 1960s as the Boomer became of age, most denominational churches started to decline. All three generations require somewhat different approaches in teaching style. Boomers learn more by videos (TV) than by books common to the Pre-Boomers.

Charles Arn in "How to Start a New Service" (pp 93 - 94) portrays the Pre-boomers as: loyal to societal institutions; believe that people serve institutions; relate to group goals; communicate ethics; finances focused on savings; standardization is valued; resist change; much religious heritage; willing to sacrifice self-interest for group benefits; motivated by responsibility and duty; and do the best you can with what you've got.

Baby Boomers relate to: individual goals; well-educated generation; "not enough time;" desire and search for meaning; value security; value affluence; appreciate free and open expression; distrust organizational institutions; not motivated by guilt; and given to self-analysis; questioning; comparing; and pragmatic.

On the other hand, Baby Buster have: a hazy sense of their own identity; quirky individualism; desire personal freedom; autonomy; "indifferent" generation; interests more important than work; cynical; disillusioned; skeptical; "have-nots;" slow to grow up; materialism outwardly rejected; and hopeless; hurt-filled; and lonely.

Mac Lynn in "Churches of Christ in America – 1997" (p 15) states: "The greater losses appear to [be] . . . the departure of a significant number of the younger generation. More of the younger generation appear to be attending other religious bodies than in past decades, when drop-outs tended not to align themselves with other churches."

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2. CHURCH GROWTH
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Hoge, Johnson, and Luidens in "Vanishing Boundaries" present some interesting conclusions on "Core Values" (pp 59 - 62). For a statement, "The Bible is God's Word and all it says it true," 36% of the Pre-Boomers believe it to 23% for Boomers. For "The Bible was written by men inspired by God, but it contains some human errors," 61% of the Pre-Boomers believe it to 69% for Boomers. For a man written Bible Pre-Boomers 3% to Boomers 7%.

To the question, "What do you believe about Jesus Christ – He was God or the son of God," 84% of Pre-Boomers believed it compared to 78% for Boomers. The other choices were he was only a man, did not live, or just don't know.

Many churches just have not emphasized the basic "Core Values" or are losing out to modern communication systems. Churches emphasizing "Core Values" have grown faster or declined less than church emphasizing other agendas.

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3. LEADERSHIP
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John Ellas has an excellent chapter on "Neglecting a Generation" (chapter 2) in "Clear Choices for Churches: Trends Among Growing and Declining Churches of Christ." This is a must read book for church leadership and is recommended below.

Ellas has found that churches MUST attract members between 20 and 29 years old. Ellas states "growing churches had a larger percentage of members in the 20 - 29 age range while declining churches had fewer in this range but a larger percentage in the 50 - 64 and over 65 age range." (p 26) John Ellas' Center for Church Growth analyzed new membership trends for twelve churches. Ellas states: "FINDINGS REVEAL THAT GROWTH STRONGLY DEPENDS UPON ATTRACTING YOUNG ADULTS (his emphasis). A full 65% of all new members were between the ages of 18 and 39 . . . . and this percentage does not include the additional children of married couples (p 29).

Ellas further emphasized that the average age of growing church members must be younger than the community average. Churches that are on average five years older than the community are more likely to plateau or decline.

In 1997, Mac Lynn stated "General observations based on returned questionnaires indicate that the average age of members of Churches of Christ may be over 40 years, several years older than the national population. Churches in the South (and older congregations generally) tend to have more seniors and an older population. The ramification is that as a body, Churches of Christ reflect the outlook of older Americans more than that of the youth" (p 13).

In 1999, George Barna in "One Out of Three Adults is Now Unchurched" states that the median age of the churched is 42 years compared to 35 years for the unchurched. http://webminister.com/growth01/plan0081.htm .

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4. CHURCH INTERNET WEB SITE
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A number of web sites have or will crash a computer due to the usage of Java, Javascript, VBScript and applets. The reason is technology advancements over the last three years have left many behind and a few too far ahead of the pack. When Microsoft developed its Internet Explorer, it created some new HTML tags that Netscape and a consortium of 50 + web software developers had not discussed or accepted as Internet standards. Standards were changing so fast with new ones added and old ones being diminished (not recommended for future use) because a better way existed with new technology. Microsoft was even sued for changing Java coding.

Netscape and Microsoft played leapfrog. Who released the latest web browser had the best browser for use. The problem was that older browsers could not handle many of the changes. Most web surfers are content with older browsers and have updated reluctantly. About 80% are using Netscape or Microsoft browsers 4.0 and later. They are about equally divided. Netscape is about equally divided between 4.0 and 4.6

The point is web pages need to be tested for function and appearance on at least four browsers from these two companies from 3.0 until the present. Remember 20% are still using 3.x browsers.

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5. BOOK RECOMMENDATION
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John W. Ellas "Clear Choices for Churches: Trends Among Growing and Declining Churches of Christ" is the second in a series of books on church growth in churches of Christ. With Ellas' insight into what has helped some churches to grow, he presents what most likely works for growth. He discusses the generation gap, choices in leadership, worship, involvement, outreach, and church identity.

"Clear Choices for Churches" will aid in developing a strategy for growth. The book can be bought from Center for Church Growth for $12.95 plus shipping and handling at their web site http://4churchgrowth.com/chur2000.htm .

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6. SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE
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Keith Wishum asks "I'd be interested in . . . resources and suggestions for developing personal evangelism training at the church level. I'm working on a class and training program here, but I'm not finding many models. There are some books designed to motivate and some to provide practical suggestions for individuals, but not much that I've found on how to train members to be effective in reaching and teaching others." If you can help, e-mail him at kwishum@gcedunet.gcsu.edu . A latter newsletter will share the results.

Visit http://webminister.com and its links.

I need your comments, so e-mail me at webminister@webminister.com.

Let me know if you want to "unsubscribe."

In His Service,