Millenials, Continued...

Let's dig a bit deeper into The Millenial Generation by Donald E. Miller and Richard Flory (Worship Leader Magazine, September 2007.)

Miller and Flory have just written a book entitled Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of the Post Boomer Generation where they identify four different responses to cultural change in America. Let's take a look:

Appropriators
"...tend to embrace the latest cultural fad in their style of worship and programming...tend to cater to a younger generation of teens and their parents. Indeed maybe the only way to get these kids into the church is to present the gospel in a package that is competittive with other cultural options. However there is a grave danger to this approach in that it often ignores the radical teachings of Jesus in favor of Jesus logos, hip happenings and politically conservative politics. Furthermore, it is not clear that hyped-up forms of Christianity are sustainable when these teens start to have families and begin to encounter some of the deeper challenges of life, although many mega-churches for the moment seem to provide a Disneylandesque sort of refuge from the challenges of suburban life."

Resisters
"...a much smaller group - who focuses on the primacy of beliefs over any attempt to embody the Christian faith in contemporary cultural forms...tend to hide out in places such as various seminaries issuing their critiques of postmodernism and seeking a rational defense of the faith. They are caught up in an Enlightenment dualism that separates mind and body and places the emphasis on right beliefs with little regard to the fact that transformative religious experience may involve all the senses, not just cognition. The attempt by the Resisters to reclaim the faith has legitmacy, but is appeal will only be to a small group of intellectuals or philosopher wannabe's. It has the feeling of a sectarian response - trying to create a 'pure' form of Christianity - without respect to the complex ways in which Christian faith and practice have always been culturally and politically embedded. Furthermore, the Resisters may use computers to write their tomes and send e-mail, but they have little appreciation for the potential of digitally generated art or music in worship."

Reclaimers
"...they seek to resurrect various liturgical forms and practices from the past (e.g., the 'smells and bells' of the Orthodox or Anglican traditions), finding the worship in many mega-churches to be shallow and entertainment oriented...the Reclaimers are reacting to the sterile worship locations of most mega-churches and the emphasis on entertaining worship. They happily forego the skits and jokes and Hawaiin shirts of Appropriator clergy in favor of a gothic cathedral, flowing incense, candles on a well worn altar, robed priests and dim light streaming through stained glass. They believe that tradition has value - that the saints of ancient times developed liturgical and meditation practices that have the potential to bring one closer to God. While they are backward looking, they are surprisingly postmodern in their desire to unite mind and body in mystical union with the Holy. Although some Reclaimers seek out Orthodox churches (e.g., Greek, Russian, etc.) in which to worship, a much larger group of people are turning to the Anglican tradition and especially to those congregations that prize the sensuality of 'high church' liturgy. In terms of digital revolution, Reclaimers typically see the church as a refuge from the bombardment of the commercial world. Worship is a time to shut out the external buzz of contemporary life and move inward to a place where God's presence can be felt more than proclaimed in words."

Innovators
"...not simply packaging cultural elements are rebranding them with a Christian label, (Innovators) are seeking to embody the message of Christianity in geniuinely authentic ways that relate to the culture..."
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Note that no lengthy description was given of the "Innovators" as the point of that particular label is meant to communicate very specific ministry approaches that vary from church to church.

Okay, gang...what do you think of these four classifications? Totally right? Totally wrong? Biased or no? And...WHICH ONE ARE YOU?