The Millennials Are Coming/Leaving! Series

The Millennials are Coming/LEAVING!

The below is a roadmap to understanding the Millennials depicted in statistics. May this serve as your roadmap as you chart new territories with today's largest generation. Venture on.

The Millennial Generation

A new breed of American is about to impact everything you hold sacred: from giving orders, to your starched white shirt and tie. They are called, among other things, "millennials." There are about 80 million of them, born between 1980 and 1995, and they're rapidly taking over from the baby boomers who are now pushing 60.

They were raised by doting parents who told them they are special, played in little leagues with no winners or losers, or all winners. They are laden with trophies just for participating and they think your business-as-usual ethic is for the birds. And if you persist in the belief you can, take your job and shove it.

TECH Savy, Multitasker, Clever Resourceful and ready to change the world

* Approximately 10,000 Millennials turn 21 everyday in America. [TIME] The Millennials are the largest generation on our planet.

* By 10/2013 Millennials accounted for 1/3 of the Adult population in the United States

* will transform society as it passes through.

Millennials are Consumers

* By 2018, Millennials will have the most spending power of any generation.

* Their annual spending in 2015 is expected to be $2.45 trillion and by 2018, they will eclipse Boomers in spending power at $3.39 trillion.

* 41% of Millennials have already made purchases with their smartphones.

Millennials are Students

* Millennials are the most educated generation in American history with over 63% of Millennials having a Bachelor's Degree.

* 50% of Millennial college students say they don't need a physical classroom.

* 53% believe that online colleges are reputable. 39% view the future of education as being more virtual. What does that say about Sunday schools, worship centers?

Millennials are TECH SAVY

Millennials are Entrepreneurs

* Millennials are capitalizing on their talents and passion with today's technology and connected economy. Find your side hustle.

* 90% of Millennials surveyed think being an entrepreneur means having a certain mindset rather than starting a company. [Odesk]

Millennials are the New Employee/IW's

* By 2025, 3 out of every 4 workers globally will be Millennials. [Time] Why not starting building your company culture to appeal to Millennials now...since it's going that way anyway.

* Millennials would prefer to choose when and where they work rather than being placed in a 9-to-5 position and will choose workplace flexibility social connectedness over pay.

Millennials are the Next Leaders

* 63.3% of U.S. executives will be eligible to retire in the next 5 years. Many Millennials will have to leap frog into these positions. Have you prepared them?

* In the last 5 years: 87% of Millennial workers took on management roles, vs 38% of Gen X & just 19% of Boomers.

Millennials are often viewed through a Negative Lens

But Did you Know. . .

* 96 percent of Millennials believe they will do something great with their lives?

* Millennials define greatness as serving others, rather than as making money or seeking status.

Millennials are leaving the church in record numbers.

LifeWay Research found seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 who went to church regularly in high school quit attending by age 23. A third of those had not returned by age 30. That means about one-fourth of young Protestants have left the church.

BUT

28% The percentage of Millennials who stay in church who have an intentional (usually "mentoring") relationship with an older Christian.

Only 11% of Millennials who leave have a mentor.

Mentoring was identified as the #1 most appealing "form of leadership development for young adults. "People in their 20's and early 30's are actually more likely than are older adults to think of themselves as leaders--and they are much more likely than mature generations to want additional training to become better leaders."

Barna.org

So. . . How do we reach them?

Unleash the boomers as undercover mentors.

Crete, Paul and Titus.

The Situation in Crete.

Titus 1:5-6

5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished . . .

Heard the gospel at Pentecost.

Acts 2:7-12

Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs -- we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"

Paul may have visited after being released from prision in Rome