Springfield | More than 200 leaders from Illinois churches focused on reaching the next generation in a two-day conference at the IBSA Building. With four keynote speakers and 21 breakout sessions, pastors and church leaders gleaned insight on connecting with young people now coming of age, leading them to faith, and training them for leadership.
Instead of calling this “reaching the next generation,” pastor and author Andy Addis recommended “stewarding the current generation.” Addis is pastor of a Kansas church that grew into a multi-site church with video preaching venues in rural settings.
In that unlikely location, Addis connected with young people. “The median age of Christians is 54,” Addis pointed out. “In the average congregation, more than 40% percent of the congregation are over 60.
Churches are aging faster than the American population. That’s not the fault of the older members, but the failure to make younger disciples.
Addis identified as major issues
- Replacement failure (few newer members)
- Cultural time-locking (holding onto a certain timeframe and letting the world go by)
- Program gravity (so many programs that they steer the church)
- Leadership aging (matching the age of the pastor)
- Conflict avoidance
“Pursuing the next generation is good, but stewarding the current generations is a more biblical response,” he said.
Addis was a featured speaker at the Midwest Leadership Summit, the larger multi-state version of the event.
The other keynote speakers were Rayden Hollis of Red Hill Church in Edwardsville, Seth Conerly of Metro Community Church in Metro-East, and Nate Adams, outgoing IBSA Executive Director.
Videos from each keynote presentation will be posted at IBSA’s YouTube channel.
The Illinois Baptist will print a series of articles featuring the main speakers and the ministry ideas they presented at the Summit.