In the almost fifteen years I served in youth, college, and campus ministry, I would often hear about how those in the church did not expect big things from the generations they saw as too far gone from religion. These younger generations were not showing up at church, they were not coming back when they had children, and they were not as interested in talking about faith as older generations would have liked. As a student/campus minister I was often tasked with “getting them back” and often had to field negativity when it didn’t happen “fast enough.”

In the almost five years I have served as a Senior Pastor I’ve tried to buck the trend I’d encountered. I’ve had to caution congregants from making similar remarks as those I’d heard, while also encouraging them to empower those that were showing up.

The response within the congregation I’ve served has been amazing. Amazingly, without ripping out pews or renting a storefront, we’ve seen young adults stepping up alongside their older counterparts as they’ve served together. We’ve seen committee chairs and deacons coming into office that were the youngest in 138 years of the church’s existence. We’ve been able to give space to younger ministers exploring calls to ministry for serving, and we’ve done it often.

Now, I won’t paint the picture that everything has been perfect. I learned long ago that the best way to lead is to not swoop in and solve every issue that might arise. Instead, we’ve given space for the kinds of missteps one would expect from those who’ve not led before as we’ve counseled in the resulting situations (not to say that we haven’t made our own missteps, I certainly have!).

The beautiful thing is that we’ve seen God work in all kinds of amazing ways within our congregation as we’ve not stood in the way of God’s call in the lives of those younger adults that have come our way.

As we’ve empowered, we’ve seen the church more willing to take risks, have difficult conversations, and even put funding toward the future of the capital “C” Church, even though we know that the long-term return-on-investment is not going to be seen within our walls. In our congregation, we’ve seen young families getting more involved, done more child dedications than I can count, rearranged the nursery multiple times, and hired multiple interns/staff who are under the age of twenty-five. It’s definitely been an “immeasurably more” kind of work!

Now, you might be expecting me to write out the formula for how we’ve done this in our congregation. You might be wanting the ten step plan toward a purpose driven future.

I don’t have that for you.

The real secret is to be the church. It is to not stand in the way of anyone serving in leadership due to age. It’s to recognize the value in a variety of opinions and to try to give space for authenticity in conversation and idea sharing as much as you can.

Really, it’s to lead as Jesus did. The twelve disciples likely represented a multi-generational leadership board. They were not all middle-aged men as depicted in the paintings, movies, and more that seek to share their stories. They were young and old. They were from every walk of career, life, and family situation.

Jesus didn’t expect them to grow up before they could serve. Jesus didn’t expect them to have all the answers or be perfect. Jesus simply asked them to follow him and then learn from his teaching.

That’s it. That’s the only formula.

Every local congregation is different. I can guarantee that what works for one congregation will work for another. One thing I can say is that all congregations have the opportunity to invite everyone to the table. Every congregation has the ability to give space for call exploration. Every congregation has the ability to admit that no generation in its ranks has all the answers.

No, this is not easy work. No, it won’t have everyone seeing eye-to-eye. No, it won’t always be easy conversation.

That said, it is redeeming work. It is hopeful work. It is authentic work.

In all the ways, it is kingdom work.

So, let’s get to it.