The research is out and the verdict is in. Only a small percentage of younger Southern Baptists are attending the annual Convention. The LifeWay research confirms what others have been noticing about the attendance at each year’s meeting.
What are some ways that we can bridge the Generation Gap in the SBC? I humbly offer several suggestions for young and old alike:
1. Let’s take each other seriously.
Younger leaders are not taken seriously in the SBC. A pastor in his late thirties is having coffee with a pastor-friend in his fifties. Up to the table comes a pastor in his fifties, who immediately assumes that the 30-something pastor is “on staff” at the 50-something pastor’s church. When older pastors find it hard to imagine younger leaders serving as senior pastors, we have a problem.
I am a 26-year-old Minister of Education and Missions. I believe I have something to offer in service to our Convention. Regretfully, I must accept the fact that I will probably not be considered a serious voice within the SBC until I am well over 40. That’s okay for me personally; I’m not on an ego-trip trying to propel myself in Convention matters. But if the above story accurately describes the mentality of most older leaders, we are in trouble. Are there no younger leaders who have something of value to offer? Shouldn’t younger leaders be taken seriously?
On the other hand, younger leaders need to take the older generation seriously too. Many of these men fought for the Conservative Resurgence we tend to take for granted. Most of these men have been pastoring and teaching for decades now. We have much to learn from the Pauls and Peters of the SBC. Should we choose to spend all our time listening to other Timothys and Tituses, we will impoverish our future ministry. The older generation deserves to be appreciated and commended.
Young leaders should not be written off as too young and inexperienced. Older leaders should not be seen as men with nothing more to offer, men whose time has passed.
2. Let’s not assume the worst about each other.
I fear that older leaders in the SBC will see the LifeWay reseach numbers about declining attendance among young leaders and assume that the younger generation is completely indifferent to Convention matters. There are many reasons why younger people have not been going to the SBC in recent years (perhaps that will be the subject of another post), but indifference to SBC life is not the primary one. I encourage the older leaders of our Convention to not automatically assume the worst about us younger leaders.
On the other hand, younger leaders need to stop assuming the worst about the older pastors. We have a tendency to peg the well-known pastors of the older generation as being consumed by personal ambition, political maneuvering and Convention power. Perhaps that is true of some leaders (just as the “indifference” charge might be true of some young pastors), but it is a vast overstatement to claim that the entire generation of older leaders has incorrect motivations.
3. Let’s Get Together
Did Jimmy Draper’s initiative in putting together the Younger Leaders’ Summits help bridge the generation gap? Yes and no.
Yes, the Summits were helpful because they gave attention to the younger generations. But we should ever be asking: why is this necessary? Is there anyone calling for an Older Leaders’ Summit? No… because, unfortunately, many of the SBC’s main events might fit that category.
We need to spend more energy in rubbing shoulders with one another, not in setting up different camps. The SBC resembles a gigantic family reunion. Pastor-friends of one generation get together and talk about old times. Young pastors connect with fellow-bloggers and seminary-friends.
I don’t want to burst the familial bubble, but wouldn’t it be more rewarding for the Kingdom if older pastors took an active interest in mentoring the upcoming generations? Wouldn’t it be more rewarding if younger pastors sought out the members of the older generation for advice and prayer?
4. Let’s preach together.
If you want to see increased participation of young people at the SBC, put young preachers up on the platform next to old preachers. (And when I say “young,” I’m not referring to men in their forties). Yes, you might hear some complaints from some of the older-generation messengers who are upset they didn’t get to hear all fifteen of their favorite pastors who are over 60. But after several years of consistent generational variety in preaching, even those messengers will be proud to see the next generation accepting the SBC mantle. And even better, we will see a marked increase in younger-leader participation.
My brothers, we preach the same gospel! Whether we’re 20 years old or 70, we believe in and preach the crucified Jesus as Risen Lord of the world. Let’s put the gospel on display by showing that our preaching spans the generations. What a testimony it would be to see the 80-year-old preacher shouting ”Amen” to the 25-year-old preaching the gospel!
5. Let’s heed each others’ warnings.
Younger leaders need to heed the warnings of those who have gone before us. We need to watch out for liberalism. When the older leaders tell us that liberal teachings might be creeping into the Convention again, we need to be careful not to write off such warnings as the result of paranoia. We need to keep our ears open.
Older leaders would do well to heed the warnings of the younger generation. When the younger leaders complain that conservatives are now turning on each other, fighting the same battles, tightening parameters of cooperation, older Southern Baptists should take note. Let’s not kill each other over non-essentials. After all, legalism is as poisonous as liberalism.
Can we bridge the generation gap in the SBC? I believe we can. It will take humility, patience, and exhortation from both sides. Let’s put our hands to the plow together for the sake of Christ and his kingdom.
written by Trevin Wax. © 2008 Kingdom People Blog
Trevin – Well said, humility and love for one another would go a long way to resolving any conflict among Christians. I’m not sure younger and older Southern Baptist are even speaking the same language sometimes, much less trying to listen to one another.
Comment by Tony Kummer — January 7, 2008 @ 7:06 am
[...] Trevin Wax has posted the best article to date on the struggles of the Southern Baptist convention to involve young leaders. His piece is titled Bridging the Generation Gap in the SBC. [...]
Pingback by Southern Baptist Generation Gap | Said At Southern Seminary — January 7, 2008 @ 8:44 am
Well, this is the first year that I get to go to the Convention and I am quite excited.
This is a very good post! Not only did you state the problems, you gave great advice on how to overcome this problem! Mark Driscoll is the best guy I know on this topic, but he obviously is not SBC. But we all need to learn from him.
The best person I know within the SBC on this topic is Dr. York. He has a blog post about Millennials. He kind of rails younger, kind of arrogant pastors and college students. But I work very closely to him and he respects younger leaders more than anyone I know. His staff is young, gifted ministers who he trusts fully! He respects them greatly and treats them accordingly. He does not look down on them or think they can only do so much… Maybe we ought to be looking to Dr. Yorks leadership on this topic!
Comment by Matt Svoboda — January 7, 2008 @ 9:11 am
[...] that the SBC is leaking leadership talent. LifeWay has documented the increasing apathy among young leaders toward the denomination. Albert Mohler has earned respect from the new generation of Southern [...]
Pingback by 16 Reasons Dr. R Albert Mohler Jr. Would Make A Great SBC President | Said At Southern Seminary — January 7, 2008 @ 12:52 pm
Excellent. One of the best posts I have read in a long time. Thanks for the insightful commentary and for taking us through your thought process.
Comment by Jimmy Fine — January 7, 2008 @ 6:33 pm
I must say as a young pastor (30) I agree with your synopsis. I went the the convention in San Antonio last year and felt as if I was somehow inadequate to be there because my church only had 115 members and only baptized 10 last year. As if in order to be a “real” pastor I had to pastor a church of at least a couple thousand.
How about adding a small church pastor (less than 300)to the preaching lineup for the pastor’s conference?
Comment by Jason — January 7, 2008 @ 7:31 pm
Thanks for your comments, guys.
I agree, Matt, that Dr. York does well in reaching out to younger leaders. I thoroughly enjoyed his preaching class at Southern.
Jason, I think having pastors of smaller churches speak at the Convention would be encouraging to pastors – the majority of whom serve in smaller churches.
Comment by trevinwax — January 7, 2008 @ 9:25 pm
Trevin,
Good post.
Not to defend the 50 year old pastors necessarily but I had this experience. When I graduated seminary at 25, I didn’t feel myself or anyone in my graduating class had the sense to be a “senior pastor” or much of a pastor at all. “Presbyter” after all has a literal meaning of “old man”. So there’s something about age that should yield spiritual maturity instead of calcified stupidity, but the reality is often different than the ideal. This isn’t to say every pastor needs to be over 40, but I now am sick of my crazy ambitions as a teenager of being a pastor at 16 because I’d heard a well known conservative had – by title at least – been a “pastor”. I’m sure he was as amusing to watch as a dog standing on his hind legs.
Older leaders should be helping younger men and this should be reflected in the numbers above but evidently they’re not.
They’re not just an SBC problem. They are systemic in the US Church. We’ve lost 18 to 35 year olds in general.
Comment by Charles — January 7, 2008 @ 10:39 pm
Amen, Trevin.
This is the best post I’ve read to date on the story. Thanks for saying it.
- Andy
Comment by Andy Atkins — January 7, 2008 @ 11:07 pm
Well said Trevin. I want to also point out that Dr. Mohler was only 33 years old when took the reigns of Southern Seminary.
Comment by bryant — January 8, 2008 @ 2:00 am
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