God has been tugging at my heart on what a Millennials ministry looks like. At my extended family’s Christmas party, my cousin showed me a SNL-style parody of a faux WorldVission organization that supports struggling millennials. I politely laughed along.  However, the jokes are stale and I’m getting tired of hating on my generation. There are only so many gluten-free, man bun, selfie and entitlement jokes that are original.  After the parody concluded, I rolled my eyes, shut my laptop and went on enjoying the Christmas party.

Selfie of a young man in a Millennials Ministry program

I’ve worked with hundreds of young adults in leading Summer Festival Camp. The quest for meaning and purpose in a workplace is not a bad one. The enjoyment of social media isn’t evil. I’m not naive enough to think that there are not unique challenges in working with my generation. When I flipped back open my laptop, youtube jumped to the next video that the search engine found related to Millennials Ministry. I was delighted to come across a video that really had some interesting points on how to understand millennials in the workplace and I found it super helpful. The video is an excerpt of Simon Sinek from an episode of Inside Quest.

Here are some discussion questions for anyone who might want to use it for leadership fodder for their ministry.

  • What is the role of the church in helping young people achieve the two things Simon said there isn’t an instant fix for? (job satisfaction and real relationships)
  • In what ways is the comparison of social media habbits and allcholasim helpful? not helpful?
  • What are ways we can help friendships develop in those awkward or boring moments that people tend to pull out phones?
  • If you are a millennial, how do you practice the discipline of patience in your ministry?
  • What are the main objectives in your millennials ministry? How does the context that Simon laid out shape how you strategize to reach those goals?