Number 8 of Ten Major Changes

The last major shift I mentioned was a combination of large numbers of people born and reborn into the world since the Jesus Movement. These facts, along with the radical changes in Christian life and understanding, form a foundation that has never been seen before. Just think, huge numbers of born again Christians, living for a very long time and eager to unleash their knowledge, experience, spiritual gifts and talents into the world. It boggles the mind.

At this time, there are some 125,000,000 persons in America who are over 50 years of age. If only 30% of the group, some 40,000,000 people, was filled with the Holy Spirit and eager to share God's love, truth and power with others, the impact would be phenomenal. I am thrilled to imagine forty million Spirit filled Christians serving Christ and their fellow citizens with joy and fervor.

The next shift is in education, transportation and mobility. It is one that allows us to think creatively about the kinds of services that such people could offer. If the First Reformation was unable to consider all the members as ministers it was because so few of the members could read, write or travel outside the village. However, the fact that churches are still organized as though the people in the pews are ignorant and stuck in a country village is to cripple our creativity and keep God's love from reaching most of the world.

We now live in the era of short term missions when tens of thousands of ordinary men and women have spent time over seas in ministry. As Seasoned Believers her God's call to minister many of them will find their dream fulfilled in an expanded or full time ministry.

How many of you readers have been on a short term ministry:

National:_____ Where?

International: _________ Where?

More People Living Longer

Not only are we seeing an ageing Boomer population that is used to having life adjust to them, this group is living longer and better than any generation in history. At the turn of the 19Th to 20Th Century people lived on average about 60 years. Now that has stretched to almost 80 years.

The baby boom generation is a demographic term for the population born between 1946 and 1964. Data from the 2000 U.S. Census estimates that the group that holds the “boomer” moniker is made up of at least 82,826,479 individuals. The members of this group range from 41 to 59 years old, which means this demographic behemoth, has started leaving the workforce. What will this exit mean to your organization or group or church? To answer this question, you need to look at major age shifts that alter the demographic landscape of the U.S. labor force.

The aging of the baby boom generation makes pre-seniors this decade’s fastest-growing age group, expanding nearly 50 percent in size from 2000 to 2010.

The 45-to-54 year-old group will continue to grow as well, as the larger, later end of the baby boom cohort (born between 1956 and 1965) replaces the emerging pre-seniors. The inflated sizes for the 65-and-older population over the next two decades is enormous and we can expect these two groups continue to age.

Are you ready? Is your organization ready? Will you want to retire? Can your afford to retire? Who will take the place of all the retiring Boomers? Illegal immigrants? There will be a crisis in the workforce.

Who Are the Seasoned Citizens?

A couple of posts ago I listed the names and numbers of the various population groups. For the most part, Seasoned Citizens are in the five oldest groups.

WWI Generation has 430,000 people
WWII-GI Gener has 17,000,000
Pioneer Gen has 34,000,000
Boomer Gen has 73,000,000

Total People in all generational cohorts 125,000,000 people

These folks are not all the same, but many have similar characteristics. They have experienced many things in life and have learned great lessons. It seems to me that we need to learn from them individually and corporately.

Second, it is a group that are quite open to hearing and responding to the good news of Jesus Christ. Why would we not develop innovative ways to witness to them and care for them.

Third, This group has enormous wealth and resources that can be used to help others around the world.

Top Ten Changes

The changes just still keep on happening as a result of the Great Revival of the Sixties and Seventies. The drama continues and we shall never be the same, in the church or out.

The six changes we mention before are at the heart of what God has wrought. However, the list of changes would not be complete without mentioning some of what God was doing in society. From the year after WWII ended 1946 to the beginning of the Sixties, 64, the world saw the greatest population explosion in history.

All those GI's came home after being away from their wives and girl friends for years and the natural thing happened. "Love and marriage, love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage". And, along came Michael, Melissa and Margo, children who filled the schools and churches of America and brought changes to every organization they touched.

They are still touching and changing insitutions. These Baby Boomers are living longer and better than any other group that has ever lived. Historically, people worked until they could work no more. Now, people work as long as they want and then quit to work or retire as they want. Retirement will never be the same as a result.

Change is Not Strange

So, here we are in the New Millennium, living among the massive changes that have come about over the past forty years. The current variety of worship styles, musical preferences and the diversity of worshipers is vastly different from what they were not long ago.

The changes among Protestant Churches has been mirrored or even more pronounced among Roman Catholics who spoke Latin in their services until John XXIII's Second Vatican Council of 1962-65.

The Pope prayed that the Holy Spirit would revitalize the Roman Church and in 68 the Charismatic Renewal hit the Church with a of enthusiasm and lay involvement. The result was almost as dramatic as the First Reformation by Luther and Calvin.

We are used to hearing about the many "Mega-Churches" among Evangelicals. The growth of large churches with TV shows, publishing firms, international missions and famous leaders has certainly happened. However, before the Jesus Movement, mega churches were largely in Mainline Denominations. Riverside Church in New York and The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. are examples of the old order that is being overthrown much to the dismay of those formerly in power.

Even mainline churches have seen enormous changes in music, style, lay involvement, diversity and community activism. This came about through human networks of friends and fellow travelers rather than organizations that stressed intentional ecumenical cooperation.

My boss for many years at College Hill Church was Jerry Kirk, a dynamic preacher and spiritually anointed leader. His favorite song was, "Lift Your Vision High" and it was prophetic.

Lift your vision high We're in a way we've never been before Lift your vision high, higher And you will see the glory of the Lord

That is certainly true today for God is doing a new thing but it is an old process of renewal, revival and reformation.