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Postboomers (Generation X)

Post-Boomers, Also Known as Gen X

The baby boom has various definitions, and is generally taken by statisticians to consist of those people born between 1946 and 1964. Post-boomers are those born between 1965 to 1976.  Americans born in this period grew up in a world very different from that of their predecessors:

  • where women started becoming a substantial portion of the workforce (on a continuing basis)
  • where the (contraceptive) pill had caused (or permitted) substantial changes in sexual ethics as actually acted out (the sexual revolution)
  • where divorce rates had risen rapidly  -- causing many or most post-boomers either to experience divorce of their own parents or to see the parents of close friends divorce
  • where illegal drugs were freely available in high schools and even some junior highs and primary schools
  • where separation of church and state became rigorously practiced in the classroom
  • where more childhood hours per day were spent watching television than in the schoolroom
  • where church attendance dropped, and the church and clergy were portrayed negatively on television.
  • where per capita discretionary (i.e., above-poverty) disposable income became widespread for the first time in the history of the world, but giving as a percent of income went down substantially
  • where staying with a network of friends became more important than career advancement

The Census Bureau reports that of Americans in 1998 between the ages of 18 and 34 (post-boomers), only 38.5% were married and living with their spouse, and 61.5% were not.  Compare the 1998 Americans aged 35 and older -- 64.5% were married and living with their spouse.  Thus the over-35s and the under 35s are almost reversed in the percentage who are married.  (But even in the over-35s, about one-third are single.)

In the baby-boomer generation, many left the church (including many who felt driven out either morally or socially because of their divorces).  Thus, more and more of the subsequent-generation  post-boomers have grown up with absolutely no direct experience of the church.  Many post-boomers do not know the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament, and have no idea who Judas Iscariot was.

The birth rate of Episcopalians fell off sharply after the baby boom.  The comparative positive growth of membership in some denominations (e.g., Latter Day Saints, Southern Baptists) can be explained to a significant (but nowherer near total) extent by their substantially higher birth rates (other factors include a substantially greater emphasis on evangelism, including evangelism of  one's own children).

Because most adult Episcopalians are over forty, if we do not begin evangelizing the post-boomers soon, there will be fewer and fewer Episcopalians left to do it.  For instance, of our 17,000+ clergy, fewer than one in twenty (i.e., less than 5%) is under 35 years of age.  Fifty years before, most people who were ordained became so before the age of 30.

The Episcopal Gen X clergy group, known as Gathering the NeXt Generation (GTNG) has recently reformulated itself as a Gen X clergy and lay ministry network.  For their 4/14/00 press release, which contains the address of their website, click here.

Characteristics of the "Bridger" generation (born 1976-94), sometimes called Gen Y or the "Echo Boom"), are given here.  The Bridgers do not have the same characteristics as either the Boomers or Gen X.

Inputs about Gen X from two ENE listmembers, Maria Hoshaw and Kay Collier-Slone:

1.  Maria Hoshaw has a website for (post-boomer) searchers at http://surf.to/the ec .  Maria also had the following to say to someone with questions about reaching post-boomers (sometimes called GenXers and GenYers).  The << and >> symbols are where Maria quotes from the other person's message.  Maria is in purple, the other person in green:

Ted Mollegen forwarded your email to me. Perhaps I may offer even a grain of help. I, too, am interested/engaged in young adult ministry, albeit as a volunteer right now in my life. My degrees were to specialize in youth and young adult ministry. I was also born in the '61 - '81 timeframe.

<<-- As the Associate Rector for Young Adult Ministry at XXX Episcopal Church, I am naturally interested in the development of evangelism strategies, particularly with people born between 1961 and 1981. I was most concerned a few months ago when I went searching for continuing education on this subject and found nothing! By this time next year, I plan to have a nation wide conference on evangelism with young adults, and I would like your input.-->>

Hopefully you have connected with ECUSA's Ministries with Young People Cluster http://ecusa.anglican.org/myp/ out of the Episcopal Church Center in NYC.  Although their young adult ministry is predominantly with the traditional college age, they have hosted some conferences and forums to attempt to put their arms around young adult ministry, in all its diversity of race, class, and culture.

There are also a number of excellent ecumenical e-magazines out there that focus on your "target" population. Here are just a few. These websites also have links to still other sites.

<<--If the Episcopal Church, and in fact most mainline denominations, have not been successful in reaching "Generation X", who has? -->>

I guess I need to understand your definition of successful. Is it drawing in large numbers of young adults? Or is it inviting young adults to establishing deeper relationship with our Lord? Depending on your definition, success is measured differently.

Xers look to many boomers who called themselves Christian by talking and dressing and speaking Christian, yet don't walk the Christian walk. Many Xers view Christianity as an ancient fraternity club that is dying out, kinda like Elks or Lions. Xers want authenticity.

IMHO, the problems run much deeper than simply offering "programs" for young adults. Young adults need to be invited/encouraged to serve on Vestries and councils. Young adults need to be given voice in worship, music, and outreach. And of course, young adults need to have an active role in young adult ministry. Actually, parishes and dioceses should be people focused and not program focused at all, but that is another issue entirely and I'm rambling enough here as it is.

<<--[some] conservative evangelical churches draw young people with glitz & glamor, but I'm frankly not anxious to go that route. -->>

Right! I can guarantee you'll fail if you went that route. If you've been watching, the evangelical churches which use glitz and glamor attract more of the boomer crowd. Xers want/need authenticity. Xers want/need depth, mystery, relationships, and spirituality. Unfortunately, many young people are misguided. They want depth and mystery and get addicted to "The X Files." They want spirituality and  borrow from a dozen contradicting religions as they try to fill their spiritual cavity, creating some a la carte religion for themselves. They want relationships but don't have many role models/positive examples of healthy relationships.

Fortunately, many Xers want/need many things the Episcopal Church has to offer, at its roots, minus all the political in-fighting. Unfortunately, most Xers don't speak "church" and can't verbalize what it is they want/need. They need to experience "it" first, then will say "that's it!" when they've stumbled onto worship or music or whatever which taps into their deep sense of longing.

<<--However, I am convinced that there are resources and industries who have been successful, namely the entertainment and computer industries. I would like to invite marketing strategists from these and other structures to impart some insight on marketing to Generation X and perhaps glean some evangelism applications.-->>

"Warning, Will Rogers!!!" DON'T go glitzy. DON'T look to the entertainment industry. "Marketing" will be perceived as another ad campaign. Great images, false promises. Fake. No depth. No personal relationship. Don't approach young adult ministry as a program. Young adults need to be approached as individuals searching for meaning and depth in their lives.

You hit on something with computers, though. Many Xers have used the computer since grade school. Email is the primary vehicle for communication. The Episcopal Church has WAY underutilized the Internet. The Internet needs to be used to help young people get connected. One of my favorite Christian websites that illustrates this is http://www.Frontline.to/home.htm  -- FrontLine Ministry -- or a church for 18-35 year olds within the larger McLean Bible Church. Their website offers mechanisms for young adults to get informed, connected, and stay connected. They have attracted tens of thousands of young adults from all over the Washington DC area in just a few years. A huge percentage of their attendees never attended any church before. I personally know a young couple who left my home parish to attend FrontLine. They told me they miss all the sacraments and ritual of the EC but love the ministries, outreach, and young adult leadership at Frontline. They told me they wished the EC offered something with the energy of Frontline. They wished they could have a voice in what the EC was and where it was going. They'd come back in a second.

I take that as promising. That reaffirms the fact the EC has much to offer.

BTW, check out my evangelism website geared towards young adults as well. My webmaster skills are still evolving, but by the traffic to the website and the kinds of "discussions" I've had with visitors, I know I'm making a tiny impact on the lives of some young people.

God be with you in your ministry.

Stay in touch :-)

Maria Hoshaw
http://surf.to/the_ec

2.  The other responder to the same inquiry is Kay Collier-Slone, PhD, who is the author of Singles in the Church, an Alban Institute book (see this site's singles page for more info on Kay, her book, and her Solo Flight ministry).

Ted Mollegen passed your letter on to me. My name is Kay Collier-Slone. I am Director of Ministries with Single Adults in the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, Ky. and run a singles' conference which includes young adults at Kanuga (North Carolina) eery Labor Day weekend. Our diocese is actively working on this issue through what we call a "bridge ministry" approach between Youth/Young Adults and Singles, as both, we believe, inform the work.

I am curious as to the age span you want to address  -- the national church tends to say 19 to 29 or 30. We include the 19 to roughly 22-23 as "post-formal education" whose issues are very different from those roughly 24-35. There are also differing opinions about combining the always-single and the coupled, whether married or in relationship, as there are some areas of commonality, but many that are different.

Generally speaking, we have found that some young adults mix ok with the general population of young adults; others mix with those who are always-single and the coupled without children with success.

 It is much more difficult to include the married with children, as their focus is entirely different, despite their ages. Likewise the young single parent.

So, like the large body of ministry with single adults, the population is vast and the needs many, which makes the church want to throw up its collective hands! There is also no training for working with this population, although the new program on young adults at General is a start. [ed. note: There is a also a program starting at Seabury-Western] .

 I do have some fears about some of the directions and assumptions in what literature there is, however, compared to our own research. I had a 24 year old young man -- life long Episcopalian, youth worker in the church -- tell me recently that his parish had a mixed all types of young adults group and he had tried it repeatedly, but would not be going back. He feels totally excluded, as they are all coupled, through marriage or simply dating, so he feels "odd" (although a very self-confident young man), and out-of-step because he is not in relationship. He also feels out of the loop because he is not in a so-called "professional" position with BMW or Volvo, aspiring to country club membership.  These are some of the things we have to face.

It also helps us to be aware that if we base what we are doing for this population on social activities as opposed to spiritual awareness, we will not succeed. We have to be aware that this is a ministry with a theological and spiritual base (We use Matthew's Feeding of the 5,000) not a program of activities.

We have had some success in getting info through bi-annual focus groups, from which we have learned a great deal.  For instance: we are told (by young adults themselves) not to lump young adults into one category concerning worship style choices, because they have as many differences among them as the general population, dependent upon personality type and personal choice.  We also have learned a great deal about our service times, and how to combine the info we have from single adults of all ages and types about turning the prevailing loneliness of Sunday afternoon and evening into a time for worship and fellowship.  

We have been told that this age group recognizes that they are the first to stay single for so many years (average age for first marriage changing from 21-23 in 1980 census, to 27 1/2 in 1990 (these including high school drop outs), to projected near 30 for 2000.  They resent that they are not considered adult until married, although they have adult jobs, mortgages, etc.  Most will also have 20 post-puberty years before marriage, leading to choices concerning lifestyle that are a part of the church's famous "discontinuity."

I have found that giving information of this sort in an upbeat presentation to young adults (and there is a ton more of it) in an upbeat way helps them, like their older counterparts, understand more why they are feeling what they're feeling.

It is a tough thing to program for this age group--as well as for singles of all ages. It is definitely a theological and spiritual issue for them, and for the church. I have one book out on this issue (Single in the Church - Alban) and a second I have co-authored (A Singular Spirituality) due out this winter from Morehouse. I would be very interested in getting our heads together, and being a part of whatever you are planning. We need to combine forces to strengthen our position in the church at large!

I hope that you will consider attending Solo Flight at Kanuga, Labor Day weekend. You can call me at 606-252-6527 (diocesan office), fax 606-231-9077 ,and e-mail at diolex@aol.com. My e-mail is at home and is checked morning and evening.

I am also wondering if you are aware of the Young Adult gathering at Kanuga on Memorial Day weekend. The Coordinator is Fran McKendree. You can locate him through Kanuga.

Faithfully and with anticipation of shared ministry,

Kay Collier-Slone

Web Site Which Explains Gen X to older Episcopalians

1/7/00 Connecting with the post-Boomer Generations: A guide to our postmodern context for mainline Christians (Episcopalians especially) -- http://get.to/pomo -- is a web page by the Rev. Beth Maynard, a parish priest involved in Gathering the NeXt Generation, the national network of Episcopal clergy born after 1960. The site drew over 2000 visitors in its first 3 months. She describes its contents site as follows:

Since the 1960s, the West has gone through a tremendous cultural shift. For the most part, however, leaders of liturgical and main(old)line Christian churches haven't paid much attention.

The shift has been called a lot of different things, depending on whom you ask. But whatever you call it, it has landed institutional Christians in a very different context than the one for which our institutions were originally designed. Phyllis Tickle, in her presentation at the 1999 Trinity Institute, spoke of a "huge generational disconnect" in our culture.

Because I'm on the other side of that disconnect, because I'm a postmodern person myself, because I love my church, I feel -- OK, I'll say it, I feel very urgently -- that Christian institutions need to do some really serious listening to and learning from the postmodern, post-Enlightenment generations.

This page is a gift from me to, first and foremost, my own community, the Episcopal Church... but also to anyone in the main(old)line churches who is beginning to suspect something is happening that they just don't have a handle on. This page is an offering to those who nurtured and formed my generation. It is not here to give you easy answers or methods, but to point in the direction of some good questions. This is basically a resource site, for you to use in whatever way you find most helpful.

You'll find information here about postmodernism, about Generation X and Generation Y, and about Christian communities that are reaching the postmodern generations effectively. You'll learn about some online Zines by and for post-Boomer Christians, and discover some basics of generational theory. There's a page on our spiritual climate and one listing newest additions by date. The site also includes an online bookstore where you can expand your library on all these topics. It's at http://get.to/pomo -- see you there.

Conference on Reaching Gen X and Subsequent Generations

 The Evangelism Office of the Episcopal Church Center and the Diocese of Maryland co-sponsored a conference on reaching NeXt Gen people.  The meeting was February 9-12, 2000.  For details, visit their website, which is being updated with transcripts of the speakers' presentations.  This site also contains other materials describing issues in reaching this generation.

return to ENE home page

go to Gen Y (Bridgers) page

This age last updated 3/6/00 4/17/00.