ChurchPulse Weekly Conversations: Grant Skeldon & Luke LeFevre on Next Gen Discipleship

In a recent ChurchPulse Weekly episode, Grant Skeldon (Next Gen Director at Q Ideas, speaker and author) and Luke LeFevre (director of Consecrate and speaker) join Joe Jensen (VP of Church Engagement at Barna) to talk about next generation discipleship, the differences between Millennials and Gen Z and the key faith questions younger generations are asking right now.

Key themes from the episode:

• Most teenagers around the world—and across faith groups—have a positive perception of Jesus (2:07)
• Most teenagers are open to making a difference in the world (2:45)
• Gen Z is hungry for and open to the Gospel (3:22)
• The distinct differences between Gen Z and Millennials worldview and approach to faith (5:45)
• The importance of discipling Gen Z’s whole life, not just their faith life (12:38)
• How one’s giftings, calling and career is a way to do God’s work (20:14)
• Important questions that Gen Z are asking of the church and of leaders (24:25)
• Why it’s important to have Gen Z leadership in the Church (29:19)
• The importance of not doing ministry through Gen Z, not to Gen Z (34:34)

Key quotes from the episode:

• “Gen Z is very hungry for the Gospel—and every generation is, right? It’s what everybody’s looking for. But there is a particular openness [with Gen Z] and when they get it and lay hold of it, they’re really radical about it.” —Luke LeFevre (3:22)
• “I think one thing that’s changed from Millennials and Gen Z is all the talk about the prosperity gospel about 10 years ago. It was like, we’ve got to get against the prosperity gospel. … I don’t see a lot of Gen Z buying into the prosperity gospel. I would say they’re kind of buying into maybe a purpose gospel. … It’s about your calling and your gifting.” —Grant Skeldon (7:15)
• “We need to stop making church all about, ‘Hey, come and listen to me [week after week].’ Mentorship is ‘Come and meet with me.’ Jesus said, ‘Come and follow me.’ That’s discipleship. … Luckily the next generation is ready for something more than just sitting down and listening to someone. So how do we get back to Ephesians 4:11 in a church, where the church should not hinge on our success in our leadership. Rather, it should hinge on the congregation.” —Grant Skeldon (18:10)
• “I think a common complaint is that there are no young people that [leaders] feel they can pass the baton to. I think if there are no leaders within our churches or organizations that are ready to lead, that’s more of an indictment on us as leaders than it is on the next generation. … We have a leadership pipeline problem. [We need to be] identifying that, raising it up and giving feedback.” —Luke LeFevre (32:45)

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About Barna
Barna is a private, non-partisan, for-profit organization under the umbrella of the Issachar Companies. Located in Ventura, California, Barna Group has been conducting and analyzing primary research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors since 1984.

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