Generational Cultures

Part II Millennials and Generation X:

Challenge and Opportunity for
Religious Congregations
The Center for the
Study of Religious Life
Generational Cultures Credits

Text: Patricia Wittberg, SC

Slides: Patricia Wittberg, SC
Sue Diemer
Mary Charlotte Chandler, RSCJ
Photos: Microsoft Clip Art except where
otherwise indicated in the note
field of each slide.
Except where otherwise noted
quotations are from

Millennials Rising:
The Next Great Generation
by Neil Howe and William Strauss, 2000.
Who Are Millennials?
Mozart in the womb. French
lessons at age 2. Software
programming at age 4.
SAT- prepping at age 10.
Are we pushing our kids too
hard?
I wish I lived in the 50s and
60s, when kids could run
around outside and parents
wouldnt worry about all the
things they need to worry
about today.
(Emily, aged 17 in
2000)
When my parents were
young, they had to do
more for themselves.
They had to ride
their bikes or walk.
We get rides every
place.

(Stephanie, aged 13 in
2000)
I like to think of my generation,
the Class of 2000, and the
neighboring years around it, as
the Millennial Generation.
Were the kids who are going to
change things.

(Shansel,
aged 17 in 2000)
At my local high school, only 28% of
inductees into the National Honor
Society this past spring were boys.
When I go to award assemblies at my
sons elementary school, I always see
girls march forward confidently to
claim the prize, and seldom boys.

(a parent)
We Millennnials dont
understand why
adults constantly
push the issue when,
in our eyes, gender
equality has been
achieved.

(Michael, aged 17 in 2000)

I think the thing that
makes up a good
community is having
unity and working
together. The bad
thing is not working
together, working
against each other.
Thats not gonna make
any kind of progress.

(Julia, aged 13 in 2000)

Badges promote a sense
of belonging Badges
provide unity since
every student is put
on the same level and
required to wear one.
. . Ready or not,
badges are one of the
keys on the road to
becoming a more
responsible adult.

(Jessica, aged 17 in 2000).

A few months ago, I had a debate
with a group of Gen Xers a few
years older than me about how
much control individuals have
over their own lives. I stated (and
several of my Millennial peers
agreed) that how successful people
are is ultimately a product of their
own effort. The Gen Xers laughed
at me.
(Michael, aged 17 in 2000)
The last thing I want for us is to be
known as a bunch of losers like
Gen X.

(Amy, aged 17 in 2000)

I dont have a lot of time to do just
whatever. (Molly, aged 11 in 2000)

If Im not at school or at work, Im at

home on my laptop, typing essays,
looking up French words on-line, or
researching for information. I took
my laptop to Boston when I visited
schools, and I took it to the beach.
When I think of pressure, I think of
school and its deadlines.
(Kathryn, aged 18 in 2000)
Our generation, my friends at least, are
tired of hearing the negative aspects
of society and are disgusted by the
lack of moral values our leaders have,
and we want to change.

(Katherine, aged 17 in 2000)

I just hope my kids arent as
rebellious as you boomers
were.
(Michael, aged 17 in 2000)
Home schooling all of us takes a lot
of time, effort, and commitment on
my parents part. As a
consequence, my dad and mom do
not have much time for themselves.
I see them often working late at
night in order to keep up with
their own work. My mom has not
gone to bed before 2:00 AM in a
long time.

(George Thampy, 12, the

home-schooled winner of the
2000 National Spelling Bee)
Reflection:
Are there Millennials in your life?
(born 1982-1995)

Do you have members in your

congregation from this generation?
Are those doing vocation ministry in
touch with this age group?
Are members of the congregations in
touch with with age group through
ministry?
What Do Millennials
and Gen X
Have in Common?
Media Savvy
The most time I spent online was
218 hours in one month.
(Jason, aged 16 in 2000)
Consumerist
When adjusted for inflation,
parents are spending 500% more
money on kids today than
parents did on Gen X or the Baby
Boomers.
(David Walsh,
psychologist)
Honestly, what
teenage girl
doesnt want to
look cute and have
the latest
accessories?
In Debt
Volunteer
Value
Diversity
Generational
Spiritualities
One problem with these ancient
customs is that many members
of pre-Vatican II generations
have attached to them their
memories of an overly clerical
and rigid Church. Once the
Council initiated reforms, many
people who experienced the pre-
1962 Church wanted nothing to
do with that kind of church
again.
(David E. Nantais
p.17)
The past has the potential
to crush our future if we
dont address it.
(Mary Johnson,
SNDdeN)
Reflection:

What is exciting about the descriptions

of these younger generations?
What is uncomfortable or challenging?
What are some of the implications for
intergenerational community life?
What are some of the implications for
vocation ministry?
Millennial and Gen X
Spiritualities:

Implications for
Religious Life
Experientially Oriented
When it comes to religion, people
should do what they want. I
shouldnt be the one to say what
they do.
When we asked young
adults what spiritual
practices they had
engaged in during the
last 2 years, a quarter
of them have attended
Eucharistic
Adoration.

(Mary Johnson
SNDdeN)

Image Focused
Value
Community

The most attractive aspect of church

to me is the fellowship that comes
with it. Going to church, and other
church activities such as youth
group, gives me the opportunity to
congregate with people who become
somewhat of an extended family.
Spiritually Hungry
Yes, I have a nice
apartment, a
great job, a great
degree, great
clothing. But I feel
empty inside
rather often.

(Tim, 24)
Religiously Disconnected

Vatican II, Vatican II,

thats all you ever talk
about like it
happened yesterday.
(a GenX novice)
In a mass-consumer,
capitalist-shaped society,
authority increasingly
resides not in the church,
nor in millennia of tradition,
the prayer book, theological
experts, or the scriptures.
Rather authority resides in
the individual human self.
Religious knowledge and
authority thus become
increasingly privatized,
subjectivized, customized,
and therapeutically
psychologized around the
controlling authority of
individual selves. (Smith et al,
Service Oriented
Intolerant of Hypocrisy

Baby Boomers
are hypocrites.
(Bobby, aged 17)
Unschooled in Catholicism

When I was a student here [at Notre

Dame], most students, 90%, had
been through Catholic parochial
schools from the first grade. So you
came here with a ghetto Catholic
inculturation that was really
enormous. The trick in those days
was to break out of it. By contrast,
now, kids are coming with a
longing for a faith tradition. (Rev.
Patrick Gaffney, CSC)
In my public high school, there was no
such thing as truth Here in our
theology classes, theyll say This is
what the Catholic Church teaches.
At a lot of schools, people wont say
that, out of fear of offending others
or out of some sense of political
correctness. But thats not what I
wanted. Not to be rude and not to
say, Youre not with me so I dont
like you, but really to know what
the Catholic Church teaches.
(Jason, a student at Notre
Dame)
Looking through
Generational Eyes
Strategies for Inviting the Next
Generations
Proclaim Our Rich Heritage
Strategies for Inviting the Next
Generations
Proclaim Our Rich Heritage
Reclaim Our Spiritual Traditions
Strategies for Inviting the Next
Generations
Proclaim Our Rich Heritage
Reclaim Our Spiritual Traditions
Create Opportunities for Common Life and
Common Ministry
Strategies for Inviting the Next
Generations
Proclaim Our Rich Heritage
Reclaim Our Spiritual Traditions
Create Opportunities for Common Life and
Common Ministry
See the Externals of Religious Life from Their
Perspective
Strategies for Inviting the Next
Generations
Proclaim Our Rich Heritage
Reclaim Our Spiritual Traditions
Create Opportunities for Common Life and
Common Ministry
See the Externals of Religious Life from Their
Perspective
Understand the Way They Process Information
Strategies for Inviting the Next
Generations
Proclaim Our Rich Heritage
Reclaim Our Spiritual Traditions
Create Opportunities for Common Life and
Common Ministry
See the Externals of Religious Life from Their
Perspective
Understand the Way They Process Information
Distinguish Between Them
Come and See
Reflection:
What was the most surprising?
Are members of the congregations in
touch with with age group through
ministry?
The End of Part II
Some Resources
Beaudoin, Tom. 1998. Virtual Faith: the
Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X.
San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Brink, Laurie, OP. 2007. Can We Allow a
New Generation to Shape Religious Life?
Horizon 32(2):16-31.
Davidson, James, Dean Hoge, William V.
DAntonio, and Mary L. Gautier. 2007.
American Catholics Today. Lanham, MD:
Rowman and Littlefield.
Foley, Gertrude, SC. 1999. The Generation
Gap in Religious Communities. Horizon
24(3):20-26.
 Grossman, Lev. 2005. Grow Up? Not So
Fast. Time, January 24, 2005, pp. 43-53.
Harris, Frances Jacobson. 2005. I Found It on
the Internet: Coming of Age Online. Chicago:
American Library Association.
Howard, Margaret M. and Mary Bendyna,
RSM. 2002. A New Generation of Catholics:
Catholic Youth in the Context of Other Catholic
Generations. Horizon 27(2):18-24.
Howe, Neil. 2005. Harnessing the Power of
Millennials: New Educational Strategies for the
Confident, Achieving Youth Generation.
School Administrator 62(8):18.
 Howe, Neil, and William Strauss. 2000.
Millennials Rising: The Next Great
Generation. New York: Random House.
Irvine, Martha. 2007. Material Kids Want
More. Indianapolis Star. January 2, 2007,
p.2.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn41
88/is_20070123/ai_n17150410
Johnson, Mary, SNDdeN. 2001. Building
Bridges Between Young Adults and Members
of Religious Communities. Horizon 26(2):9-
15.
Keating, Michael. 2004. Understanding and
Serving Young Adults in a Changing World.
Horizon 29(1):20-23.
 Mannheim, Karl. 1952. The Problem of
Generations, in Essays on the Sociology of
Knowledge, pp. 276-320. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Nantais, David. 2002. Retro-Catholicism.
America (May 20):16-18.
Prensky, Marc. 2001. Digital Natives, Digital
Immigrants. On the Horizon 9(5):1-6.
Riley, Naomi Schaefer. 2005. God on the
Quad: How Religious Colleges and the
Missionary Generation are Changing
America. New York: St. Martins Press.
 Sammons, Sean, FMS. 1999. Helping Insure
a Future for Your Congregation: Vocation
Promotion. Horizon 24(3):13-19.
Smith, Christian and Melinda L. Denton.
2005. Soul Searching: The Religious and
Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. New
York: Oxford University Press.
Spanbauer, Lori. 2002. Snapshot of the
Millennial Generation. Horizon 27(2):13-17.
U. S. Department of Health and Human
Services. 2003. Celebrating Americas
Youth: The Facts are Positive. [National
clearinghouse on Families & Youth, Silver
spring, MD]