Millennials

Consider for a moment the prevailing profile of this generation. Who are the millennials? Demographically, while there is no unanimity regarding precise dating of this generation, millennials generally are considered to be those born between the early 1980s and the mid 2000s. In the United States, encompassing as they do all those from the late teens to the middle 30s, millennials now number nearly 80 million, replacing the baby boomers as the largest single generation in this country. In fact, according to some estimates, by 2015 millennials in the United States will make up “half the workforce and by 2020 they’ll make up 75 percent.” ^{2Patrick Spenner, “Inside the Millennial Mind: The Do’s and Don’ts of Marketing to this Powerful Generation,” in www.forbes.com/sites/patrickspenner/2014/04/16/inside-the-millennial-mind-the-dos-donts-of-marketing-to-this-powerful-generation-3/ (accessed June 17, 2014).}GOP 370.3

Clearly they are already a societal force to be reckoned with—economically, socially, and certainly spiritually. Who are they? The Pew Research Center in its March 2014 study of millennials offered this profile:GOP 370.4

The millennial generation is forging a distinctive path into adulthood. Now ranging in age from 18 to 33, they are relatively unattached to organized politics and religion, linked by social media, burdened by debt, distrustful of people, in no rush to marry—and optimistic about the future. They are also America’s most racially diverse generation. In all of these dimensions, they are different from today’s older generations. And in many, they are also different from older adults back when they were the age millennials are now. Pew Research Center surveys show that half of millennials (50%) now describe themselves as political independents and about three in ten (29%) say they are not affiliated with any religion. These are at or near the highest levels of political and religious disaffiliation recorded for any generation in the quarter century that the Pew Research Center has been polling on these topics. ^{3Pew Research Center, “Millennials in Adulthood: Detached From Institutions, Networked With Friends,” in www .pewsocialtrends.org/files/2014/03/2014-03-07_generations-report-version-for-web.pdf (accessed May 20, 2014).} GOP 370.5

Unattached, disaffiliated, burdened with debt, ^{4College-educated millennials are carrying nearly $100,000 in student loans into their future. NPR's Morning Edition reported: “Almost two-thirds of [millennials'] responses [to what their biggest worries are] had something to do with college debt. At more than $1 trillion, student loan debt in this country is bigger than credit card debt” (www.npr.org/2014/04/10/301242410/many-millennials-are-drowning-in-student-loan-debt [accessed May 22, 2014]).} in no hurry to get married, and yet optimistic about their future—no wonder millennials represent the challenge they do to business, education, politics, and religion.GOP 371.1

But their profile is hardly a negative one. Consider what David Burstein calls their “pragmatic idealism”: “In his book Fast Future Burstein describes millennials’ approach to social change as ‘pragmatic idealism,’ a deep desire to make the world a better place combined with an understanding that doing so requires building new institutions while working inside and outside existing institutions.” ^{5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennials (accessed May 20, 2014).}GOP 371.2

Writing for Forbes magazine, Patrick Spenner reflects on this optimism and opportunity millennials bring to the world of business and finance:GOP 371.3

Everyone seems to be talking about millennials today. It’s not just because they are the largest generation by population size—though that certainly doesn’t hurt. It’s because we’re all fascinated with them—news coverage, political campaigns, and of course, marketers trying to figure out how to reach them. But beyond their size, what is it about this generation that has everyone so captivated? It’s their unique sense of self (for lack of a better word), their surprisingly optimistic outlook on life (despite the harsh economic realities they face), and their less than traditional approach to life stages. ^6Spenner.GOP 371.4

Surely this optimistic idealism is reason enough for the church to strategically reach out to and proactively interface with this generation that could become the critical key to God’s endgame for this civilization. ^{7Lest we hastily conclude that millennials are only a generation of teenagers, Spenner reminds us that “most people assume that millennials are all 25-year-olds, un- or under-employed, back home in Mom and Dad’s basement. But when you look at the generation holistically—as we define it, 19-36-year-olds—you see a variety of life stages and lifestyles within this group. Among the most overlooked: the fact that older millennials have, in many ways, ‘grown up.’ About half of older millennials are married, and about half have kids (although not necessarily the same half). When we think about millennials, most people talk about ‘when they grow up,’ but what they miss is that it already happened for a lot of them—just not in the way that ‘growing up’ looked in the past” (Ibid.).} GOP 371.5

But that mission will not be easy. Activist in their mentality, diverse in their ethnicity, steeped in their technology, eclectic in their theology, morality, and sexuality—millennials arguably represent the most significant generational challenge the church has faced.GOP 371.6

So how shall we present the writings of Ellen White to this generation? How can the apocalyptic gift of the Spirit of Prophecy be attractively packaged to millennials (both within the church and the wider society) in such a way there is a connect between the gift and the generation? Is there an effective strategy for the church to invite this generation to examine the writings of this nineteenth-century woman author and to experience the divine blessing embedded within her books?GOP 371.7