Thom Rainer is dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. In his book, The Bridger Generation, published in 1996, he describes the generation who have eclipsed the ‘Busters’. This generation, he writes, were born between 1977 and 1994 and are the largest generation in the United States.
My first reaction in reading this was a slight resentment that Generation X were being squeezed into a small time frame, thus discounting their significance for the future. Forget them, pay attention to the next generation. Not a helpful approach as far as I was concerned. I guess his readership in 1996 would have been Boomers who were concerned about their teenage kids.
There are some useful angles to Rainer’s material. At the end of each chapter he explores the response of the church to the realities faced by the Bridgers. He tackles the apathy expressed by many churches who think that young people are just too hard to work with.
Like many Evangelical Boomer authors, Rainer tends to paint the emerging culture in dark hues. I was disappointed in some of the responses suggested by Rainer – they seemed like more of the same ‘reach these young people with the Bible” without consideration of what form the Christian gospel might take if it was to be grown up in the emerging culture of Bridgers.
Rainer draws heavily on observations by Susan Mitchell’s Official Guide to Generations, American Demographics, Walt Mueller Understanding Youth Culture, Edward Cornish of Futurist Magazine and George Barna (Generation Next).
The link below will take you to a summary of the book from Thom Rainer’s consultant company, Rainer Group
The Rainer Group | Rainer Online