In the Generations in Conversation course we acknowledged that healthy engagement between generations happened best when people related with poise.
Once again we drew on Rick and Kathy Hicks who say that sharing from personal experience helped participants understand their unique values, giving them something to compare and discuss with others in their life. They stress that it is best for people to do their own assessment. We were assured that we may not related to the dominant values of our own generation, perhaps because we had aligned with particular Biblical values or because of a unique experience of growing up. We were given the challenge of developing an enjoyable process of sharing answers and telling stories, listening with open hearts and minds. Our goal was to understand not judge the values of others, not trying to persuade them out of their values.
As a group we talked through ten questions for reflection and discussion.
Where did you grow up during your childhood and teen years? Did your location have any particular impact on your values? How?
What was your family situation like during your growing up years?
What was the status of your parents’ marriage?
Describe your siblings and how you related to them
Did you have any extended family members closely involved in your life?
How would you describe the emotional climate in your home?
How was discipline handled in your family?
What was your family’s economic situation? What was your family’s attitude toward money? How was the reflected in your values?
What was your relationship with your parents like when you were a teenager?
What role did religion/church/faith play in your upbringing and value development?
Were there any significant people in your life (outside your family) who had a significant influence on your? Who were they and what did you learn from them?
What events in your growing-up years had an impact on you (personal, political, social, economic, inventions/new technology, etc.) and how did it affect you?
What were the schools you attended like? What factors in your school environment had an impact on your values, and how did they affect you? (educational methods, racial mix, economic factors, teachers, extracurricular activities, personal success or lack of it, etc.)
When you were about 10 years old, who were your heroes (or who impressed you)? What did you want to be when you grew up?
What forms of media were you exposed to most in your growing up years? What types of TV shows, movies, music etc. did you enjoy most? What were some of your favourites? How do you think they influenced you?
Who or what in your life most influenced your attitudes or beliefs about the following:
Marriage/family, Money, God, Work, Education, Government/authority?
Have you had a significant change in any of your values as you’ve grown up? What caused that change?
The Generations in Conversation course recently looked at the formation of values, with the role of parenting, family styles and environment on those values. Our concern was that much of what we read about generational formation glosses over the distinctive values developed in different settings. A clear example for the course members was the difference between those growing up on the coast of Australia (East for us in Queensland) and those growing up in the country (West).
We took a look at the work of Rick and Kathy Hicks in their 1999 book, Boomers, Xers and Other Strangers. Hicks outline eight factors in the development of values: family, formal education, other formal & informal teachers, religion, media, friends, income and geographic location. Rick and Kathy draw on Morris Massey’s book, “The People Puzzle” to outline the chronological development of values. In the first seven years children are likely to be imprinting by observation or patterning. From eight to thirteen years of age children are likely to be modelling through heroes or identification. In the teen years socialisation by peers or significant others. From the age of 21 and on early adults are likely to be influenced by significant emotional events in the changing or replacement of values.
Sexual Attitudes and New Generations
We asked why we were seeing changing attitudes to sexuality. Education and the media certainly played a significant role. But even more so parents played a significant role in the development of values in emerging generations.
We considered the impact of sexual abuse on under sevens. Recent studies had shown that even though schools had developed vocabulary and training for children at a young age, even pre-school, it was the parents who needed to be developing an environment in which children could safely talk about what was happening for them. We heard about Australian and NZ research on
sexuality training for mums in preschools in the 1980s and 1990s. The development of the Life Education van on campus took sexuality education out of the hands of parents.
We talked about the impact of school environments on children. A text for the conversation was a recent awards night at an independent school. Awards were given to a select few from each level for achievement in academic work, sports and community service. We reflected on the values espoused by the school, with particular reference to a culture of conformity. What would happen if a school promoted values of social justice as much as academic excellence?
The reality for most young adults was that as they left school they realised that the values of high school education were not all they were ‘cracked up to be’. The high pressure to perform for Year 12 was rejected by many who chose different priorities. However there were those who carried the high-achievement culture through into a life time of workaholism and materialism.
Gen X and Y
We looked at some of the emerging faith-related values being developed by churches focused on Generation X and Y. We were seeing more alternative faith communities that did not buy into the cult of largeness. Spirituality was being emphasized rather than conformity to orthodox beliefs. We noticed that Gen X expressions of church in the Uniting Church were more likely to focus on participation rather than spectacle. Communication was more likely to be through interactive dialogue rather than monologue. We noticed the development of a smorgasbord spirituality in which people could pick and choose the elements of their own version of faith.
Creation of culture
I told the story of the funeral of my daughter. As a family we had experienced a wide variety of Polynesian grieving processes and put together our own version of a tangi (New Zealand Maori). Rather than meeting at home or the ‘marae’ we held a three day extended funeral at the church in which young people and family lived, ate and slept in community. Kristen’s body was able to be seen and touched during the day. People could come and go. The Samoan, Cook Island, Maori and Irish communities knew what this was all about. However there were those who were puzzled that this model did not fit with the orthopraxy of any one culture. We were creating culture.
We explored the concept of orthodoxy - a concept that is usually linked with the survival of the institution. One generation’s view of orthodoxy could be threatened by the cultural creativity of emerging generations. What was needed was a sense of self awareness for members of each generation - a sense of history, personal story and ongoing value development.
At the third session of the Generations in Conversation course we took as our text the recent meeting of the Queensland Synod, held on the Gold Coast in September. Our goal was to reflect on the ways in which generational values were exhibited in the planning of the meeting, as well as in the responses of those in attendance.
We began with the first event, the convocation of clergy. One of the members of the reflection group had taken a leading role in the planning and leadership of the day. The goal was to develop an atmosphere of mutual respect, achieved as people in specified ministries told their stories with honesty, referring to their own issues rather than the issues of others. We reflected on the cynicism held by many beforehand that turned to gratitude and expectation through the day. Authenticity was the value of the day - a value that made the event accessible to those from younger generations. It was an intergenerational event that was marked by story telling and listening rather than sermonising. Was it counter-cultural for older generations?
We wondered how the event might have developed if it had been around tables rather than in rows. Would future convocations focus on specified ministries or would future generations focus on leadership in other ways?
We moved on to the Synod celebration and induction of the Moderator. The group was not so gentle with this event. There was a sense of disappointment that this event did not live up to its potential to provide an experience that modelled intergenerational and multicultural celebration. In one sense there were clear symbolic moments that attempted to include many people. Language was spoken without verbal translation - a sign that we were moving beyond tokenism.
But the overall feel of the event was that of a post-War generation. The seating arrangement perhaps mitigated against the development of a sense of accessibility. The space was far too large. There were far too many seats. People in the back half of the congregation would have felt like observers rather than participants. Group members commented on the proportion of pre-prepared text, spoken, printed and projected, to drama, conversation.
So what would this group do if it was developing an intergenerational induction of moderator in the future? We reflected on the recent Assembly in which formal proedure was brought alive by weaving into it an ongoing story told in dance, drama and visual imagery. We thought about the need for a space in which people would be part of the experience rather than ‘watchers’. We would develop a number of points around the room at which action was happening. We would think about the educational process as we planned, integrating worship with engagement, thinking, dialogue and the asking of questions. We would attempt to do so develop multi-sensory engagement tying together touch, taste, hearing, smell and sight.
From Saturday morning on, Synod members sat around tables, with mints to eat, coffee and tea to drink, and the capacity to draw, converse and listen during the proceedings. We noted how life-giving this had been for younger representatives.
We looked at one of our participants sketches, outlining the faces of about twenty Synod members. We noticed that she had chosen mostly older faces. Many of them wore glasses. We considered their relaxed face muscles and how easy it was for younger people to assume that they were feeling unhappy or angry when in fact they were merely relaxing. We noted that there were very few obvious tattoos or alternative hair styles. They were mostly white. Why, I asked, do we send “elders” to Synod? Perhaps we want to value the reliable, respected, steadfast and loyal members of our congregations, knowing that they have developed the capacity to see the ‘big picture’.
There were ten youth representatives on the list of Synod members. Only six turned up. Four had other calls on their time at the last minute. On reflection I remember that many of the older members also pulled out in the last few weeks. We wondered why many of the youth representatives did not engage in the activities or networking made available to them. Later in our conversation we thought about the ways in which the ‘mobile generation’ communicate. Perhaps we needed to be looking at the ‘flash crowd’ approach in which mobile phones are used to mobilise and coordinate gatherings in the minutes before rather than days before.
Twenty somethings affirmed the setting of tables, appreciating and using the opportunity to get up for a drink whenever needed. They related well to the idea of ‘communal munchies’. But we heard that the younger generation would have related to a more ‘to-the-point’ shorter experience. We noted that those from older generations were more interested in debating process. Younger ones just wanted to get on with it. David Pitman’s explanation of process at the beginning was helpful, particularly when outlining the peramters of acceptable behaviour. The involvement of Gen Xers in the multimedia department had led to a sense of humour that lightened the mood of the gathering.
We looked at the ‘Time of Listening’ in which people from migrant ethnic groups, many of them young, were invited to talk at tables about how their group viewed the issue of homosexuality and ministry. We found that the interaction with other people was significant for all. However the underlying agenda seemed to widen the gap between people of different ethnic groups. We reflected on the hard line taken by the two Tongan ministers and wondered how much their agenda had been affected by their seniors in the Methodist church in Tonga. We wondered about the young people who had been told to express the party line. Was this an example of colonialism and serfdom? (See next post on Doing Theology Ourselves). However we were impressed by the capacity of thirteen and fourteen year olds to communicate with older people as they struggled to express themselves in response to theological questions. “This is what our church has taught us”.
So how would we want to take the next step in a time of listening between people of different ethnic origins? What would it look like for emerging generations? Perhaps we would be careful to distinguish listening for the sake of decision making process, with its capacity for manipulation, and listening for the sake of encounter of the other. We noted that NCYC (National Christian Youth Convention) in 2011 would be held in Queensland. How would we start now to build a foundation for a multicultural expression of worship, prayer and community?
We considered the Presbytery reports. They have become dynamic pieces of communication over the years, partly because of their budget but also because of their brief of inspiration. We noted the danger that reports could become technically brilliant but substantially bankrupt. We acknowledged that written reports provided detail while visual reports provided inspiration. But substance for us would be found in evidence of intention and effective action.
We noted the lack of decisions to be made. What would the Synod gathering be like if we were to honestly share our engagement with the future?
Many people did not attend the guest lecture. Why? We could see that many people had felt exhausted after the first full day of business and were keen to explore the night life of the Gold Coast. But what would we do to inspire participants to engage in a process with the guest speaker? What would the engagement with the Guest speaker look like? Maybe she/he would be on at a more high-profile time.
We finished with the recognition that the Synod gathering was continuing to develop. And we would have a role in empowering emerging generations in that process.
On Tuesday I met with six staff from YACMU, Youth and Childrens Ministry Unit of Queensland Synod, Uniting Church, to start on an eight week course on emerging generations in conversation. The seven people in the room (+ one on speaker phone) were in their twenties, thirties and forties. We need a few older participants but we managed OK.
One fascinating reflection on Generation X centred around the impact of the Grim Reaper AIDS television commercial in 1987. In the government commissioned advertisement a cowled, bowling-ball-weilding Reaper knocked down men, women and children in a bowling alley.
The solemn voiceover: At first, only gays and IV drug users were being killed by AIDS, but now we know every one of us could be devastated by it. That’s why you should always use a condom, because you can never be sure just how many people you are really going to bed with.
We reflected on how that ad, more than anything else, got people talking about AIDS in Australia. People who came of age later on have not had the same fear of AIDS.
Here’s a press release from 2002 highlighting the multi-dimensioned impacts of the Grim Reaper ad.
AIDS Pioneer Regrets “Grim Reaper” Demonization of Gay Men
Australia’s 1980s “Grim Reaper” advertising campaign was pivotal in changing heterosexual behavior but had the regrettable consequence of demonizing gay men, according to the country’s leading AIDS pioneer.
Dr. Ron Penny, who diagnosed Australia’s first case of AIDS 20 years ago, was on the government body that approved the campaign’s release in 1987. The Simon Reynolds-designed campaign featured a cowled, bowling ball-wielding Reaper knocking down men, women and children in a bowling alley. The campaign was one of the most effective ever launched in Australia, said Penny, who recently retired as head of Immunology at Sydney’s St. Vincent’s Hospital. But it struck an unfortunate blow to the gay community, which had already taken the lead in AIDS awareness and safe sex practices. “The downside was that the Grim Reaper became identified with gay men rather than as the Reaper. That was what we had unintentionally produced — [the belief] by some that the Reaper was people with HIV infection, rather than the Reaper harvesting the dead,” said Penny.
However, in terms of being “a wake-up call to Australia,” the ad’s impact was astounding, Penny said. “I think there’s never been anything on television or any media that has ever matched it in terms of impact, but no advertising can be without some downside, and that was never intended. But it at least made people aware and probably did change sexual practices of heterosexuals.”
“Prevention is still important, and I think that the new generation of gay men see AIDS as an uncommon disease and therefore taking risk has reappeared,” said Penny. “We’ve got to talk about what is a floor level that you accept — like motor vehicle accidents. You can’t guarantee that people won’t die on the roads, but you’ve got to do better than you’re doing.”
Talking with the seminar group over the weekend, the question of dominant values came up. We had no problems accepting the idea that people who came of age during the Great Depression came to place a high value on financial security. But it was a bit different when considering people who came of age in the 1950s, a time of conformity. Schewe and Meredith say that this generation came to value independence and rebellion. But what about the many people in that generation who still toe the line?
We used the bell curve to explore the spread of values throughout a generational cohort. A minority push the boundaries of new thought and behaviour. Another minority attempt to live out the values of previous generations. And in the middle are the people who gradually adopt and adapt emerging generational values.
Next time we look at this I’ll bring in Everett Rogers’ innovator theory, published in his book, “Diffusion of Innovations”. Rogers classifies consumer attitudes towards purchasing products into five categories according to how quick consumers are to purchase new products. The results are mapped in a bell curve.
1. innovators (2.5%),
2. opinion leaders or early adapters (13.5%),
3. early majority (34%),
4. late majority (34%), and
5. laggards or late adapters (16%).
The chart is often used to describe the adoption of technologies. The same could be used for adoption of generational philosophy, values and behaviours.
The Bell Curve is also the name of a controversial book published in 1994 by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray exploring the role of intelligence in understanding social problems in America. The title is a reference to the bell-shaped graph of IQ scores. The book purports to chronicle the rise of a “cognitive elite”, a social stratum of persons with high intelligence and an increasingly high chance of succeeding in life. (From Wikipedia)
Spent yesterday afternoon with a workshop of church leaders considering healthy relationships in regional churches (generally churches over 150 people).
We started with two tastes of culture guaranteed to bring generational conflict to the surface.
We looked at the Carlton Draught Big Ad, considering the fact that thousands of people have seen this short film on the internet, before its official release on television. As expected, I got a bite from one or two who could not understand why people spend so much time online. “How can you have real community with people who aren’t in the same room?”
We worked through material by Schewe and Meredith, considering the move from mass marketing towards one-to-one marketing. Schewe and Meredith break down the generations into smaller cohorts, helping us read generational differences with more subtlety.
We looked at the values of people who came of age in the years after World War II - values linked to ‘building a future for our children’.
The second half was spent looking at the sociological approach to congregational life provided by Jackson Carroll and Wade Clark Roof. On reflection, some of the material was too technical. If I present that material again I’ll try and present it with my own words and examples.
One of the ‘ouch’ points of the afternoon was the lesson given by George Barna on large regional churches and younger generations. He points out that large churches are preferred by older Baby Boomers. Busters, he says, are often too busy to get involved in the busy program and worship life of such churches.
From my observation it’s also about values. Younger generations tend to favour environments characterised by flexibility, intimacy, honesty and humility.
Barna provides a summary of generational differences in relation to activities, faith, and self descriptions at his site, The Barna Group.
Looking through De Bono’s book, “The Six Value Medals”, I’m finding some very useful material for my work with communities discerning their shared core values. In particular, I’m finding material here that addresses the deep concerns of people who have been through company value clarification exercises that only focused on organisational values or paid only lip service to human values.
In this book De Bono takes a similar approach to his work on “Six Thinking Hats” and “Six Action Shoes”. Using “Six Value Medals” helps people look at their values again and again, developing a healthy depth to the bases of their shared decisions.
The six value medals:
Gold - human values - values that affect people
Silver - organisational values - related to the purpose of the organisation
Steel - quality values - related to intended direction
Glass - values of innovation, simplicity and creativity
Wood - environmental values - impact on environment, community and others
Brass - perceptual values - how might it be seen?
De Bono finishes with an exploration of values conflict. How do we make decisions when it is clear that some values will need to be sacrificed or diminished in significance?
The second contribution to PostMission starts with the U2 song title, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”. Peter Stephenson WEC Spain UK, Joanne Goode Africa Inland Mission UK and Carolyn Cole, YWAM UK, write on why Generation X struggle to find a place in mission agencies.
A point to note here - the mission agencies referred to in Postmission are Evangelical organisations with an emphasis on global mission. The concerns outlined here could be applied to other parachurch organisations as well as denominational agencies, whether Evangelical or not.
Another point - “Generation X” and “Postmodern” are used interchangeably throughout the book. It would be fair to say that the authors would now have moved on from that point to include ‘millennials’ in the mix, and to acknowledge that not all Gen Xers buy into postmodernist values.
Clue 1: Attitude to Authority
The Holy Island Roundtable remind us that ‘postmodern Christians’ do not have a natural respect for leaders, nor a willingness to turn a blind eye to faults. They are less likely to respond to those they see as strong, confident, aloof hero/parent figures. They are more likely to focus on the ‘fellow traveller’. and are prepared to learn from even the most junior co-worker. Xers are not impressed with leaders who are preoccupied with looking the part and holding their own. They would rather link with authentic leaders who are honest about their own failings and open to accountability.
Clue 2: Morality
The authors ask the hard questions:
Are the moral values of your church/mission determined by scripture or by evangelical subculture?”
To what extent can morality be contextualized or enculturated?
With an increased number of potential postmodern recruits with a blotted moral history and outlook, how will we assimilate them without marginalization?
They examine the modernist Evangelical focus on individual morality, with its preoccupation with sexual sin. Holiness, they say, has been reduced to personal individual sins linked with sexual behaviour, dress codes, divorce, alcohol taboos, tithing, abortion, swearing, and dirty jokes. Postmoderns are more concerned with moral issues such as weapons of mass destruction, environmental destruction, womens rights, Third World debt, racism, exploitation of child labour.
Clue 3: Spirituality
Postmodern spirituality can appear threatening or lax to modernist Christians. Traditional evangelicalism is focused on a personal walk with the Lord, expressed in a daily quiet time (ideally in the morning), self discipline, church attendance, and learning from teaching. Postmoderns seek to involve God in every aspect and moment of life at least in principle. They express a longing for an intimate experience of God, privately and in gatherings of the church. They express a distrust of ability of selves and others to faultlessly interpret Scripture.
Clue 4: Truth and Honesty The Roundtable authors once again pose challenges to mission organisations:
Do we put at risk the integrity of our agencys ministries by not telling the whole story?
To what extent are agencies driven by the need to appear successful in order to please their donors?
The authors express their concern for integrity in Evangelical mission organisations. Mission agencies, they say, often exaggerate the results of their work. Does this reveal an idol of success? Some agencies have been changing their image without changing the reality.
Clue 5: Reducing Struggle Unity in Diversity
Is there room for people working from a postmodernist perspective in mission organisations? Could Galatians 3:26-28 be expanded to say that in Christ there is neither modern or postmodern? The authors say that we face a situation similar to the Galatian context. A Jewish majority was imposing their cultural norms on the nascent Gentile churches. In Rome the situation was in the reverse, with Jews returning to Rome being required to fit in with a Gentile church with little respect for Jewish customs. Just like the New Testament church, we need to listen to one another, respecting one another. At times, however, postmoderns and moderns will need to challenge one another about syncretism with the dominant culture.
In January 2004 I wrote a brief review of PostMission: World mission by a postmodern generation, published by Paternoster Press, 2002. The book is the result of a roundtable conference of seventeen Gen X mission leaders at ‘Holy Island Roundtable’, Lindisfarne Island in March 2001. They’ve published the book and continue a web presence.
Bevan Herangi, from Open Doors New Zealand, opens the book up with an exploration of Generation X values and their implications for mission organisations.
Flexibility and Freedom Bevan writes about the desire to see work as a means to an end. We work to live. He sees a growing trend of paying others to do housework and gardening to free up time for other activity. Play and work tied together. Gen Xers are not tied to traditional expectations regarding gender, work and income. I choose to preserve the things I love in life at the expense of not becoming rich.
New experiences and positive change
Bevan points to the growing extreme sports industry and reality television as an indication of Gen Xers’ seach for new experiences. Gen Xers, he says, are keen to see things happen.
Doubt and Humility
Gen Xers, Herangi explains, are reluctant to show too much certainty about their abilities or the abilities of others. They are reluctant to receive up-front credit and prefer to work in teams. In cross-cultural situations they are reluctant to promote their own lifestyle to others.
Authenticity
Herangi says that Gen Xers must know the truth, even if it is painful. They listen for real-life stories of normal people from normal families. Many leave the church disillusioned because of the behaviour of fallen Christian leaders. Bevan cites the inspiring example of William Wallace at the end of Braveheart refusing mercy and choosing to stay with vision of freedom despite the cost.
Mentoring
Xers, Herangi says, are open to caring, one-on-one personal mentoring by stable secure people. They are open to receiving input, directions, accountability, in a transparent truth-telling environment. They are willing to receive advice from people who will share from their own experiences both success & failures.
Distrust
Herangi picks up on the scepticism and cynicism of Gen Xers. Because of disappointment many Gen Xers are suspicious about promises about future, and consequently will not fully commit themselves to the schemes or vision of other people. They are cynical about ideologically driven agenda such as the continuation of the Cold War.
Tolerance and Diversity
Gen Xers, Herangi writes, tend to be more accepting of the views of others. The are open for suggestion on their own views. They see the need for many colours, not just black & white. They are not afraid to mix as equals with people of different cultures. They value the opportunity to share faith in two- way conversations that respect the opinions of the other person. Herangi concedes that Gen Xers can become indifferent to the impact of “un-Christian practices”.
Real leadership, not controlling authority
Gen Xers, Herangi writes, respond best to leaders who inspire through courage. He gives the examples of Peter Blake (NZ yachtsman) & Brother Andrew (Open Doors). They are cynical about leaders who sacrifice families and friends for the sake of their cause, or leaders who act as though their authority means ultimate lordship. Once again Herangi quotes from Braveheart: “Men dont follow titles, they follow courage”.
Community and Sense of Belonging
Herangi writes about an awareness of the boundaries between neighbours in suburbs. Gen Xers choose small communities where people can be themselves rather than large communities where conformity is expected.
Implications
This list of values takes us to the heart of many points of contention between generations. Time and time again I’ve seen older leaders discount the contribution of emerging leaders, because of their lack of a driven work ethic. Likewise I’ve seen Gen Xers leaving churches in disgust as they see older leaders attempting to cover cracks in organisation or character.
No doubt churches or mission organisations started by these emerging leaders will exhibit characteristics that seem strange to older leaders with more traditional values.
Dawson came from Peoria, Illionois. He graduated from Bethel College in Minnesota and then studied at Talbot Theological Seminary. While in seminary, McAllister worked as a youth pastor and began a coffee house ministry in the late 1960’s to runaways who had come to Southern California. He founded Shepherd Productions in 1973 to market the manuals he was using alongside his public speaking in schools and conferences. In 1991 he started his talk show, Dawson McAllister Live. He is still active as a radio host.
Dawson starts his book writing about his experience of talking with high school students over time, witnessing changes in youth culture. He introduces his readers to the Millennials, the generation that comes next on the chart outlined by Tim Celek and Dieter Zander in their 1996 book, Inside the Soul of a New Generation. (see chart on right) The Millennials, (born 1982 on) would be the high school graduation class of 2000. From his experience Dawson identifies emerging traits of this generation: plugged in, passionately tolerant, spiritual, but without focus, not quick to trust adults, and hard to shock.
McAllister goes beyond the generational culture to explore what he calls continental shifts. In particular he explores the move toward postmodern and post-Christian perceptions. The Millennials are growing up in a new environment. Parents being more attentive. Education, he observes, has become marked by both back to basics and political correctness. Government programs have become more pro children.
Dawson explains the growing weakness of institutions by drawing on Strauss and Howes period of unravelling. The period of unraveling is highlighted in high levels of abortion, growing drug abuse, divorce, teen pregnancy, deepening anger, and an anti-USA feeling in world. This was two years before the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. As a citizen of New Zealand, I found the reference to the anti-USA feeling a little disturbing. I grew up with a distrust of American imperialism, a distrust made even deeper by the United States refusal to dialogue with New Zealand over its nuclear free policy.
Having identified a number of major shifts in societal attitudes, McAllister reminds us that adolescent development is still basically the same. Early adolescents thirteen to fifteen year olds still tend towards concrete thinking, black & white, all-or-nothing, have difficulty with ‘why questions’, are self absorbed, and see God in terms of transaction. Older adolescents tend to be less tied to self and derive their identity from affiliation with a peer group. Their thinking is becoming more abstract and reflective. They are more comfortable with ‘why questions’ and are prepared to explore nuances of meaning, looking for a richer and deeper spirituality. God is seen more as approachable.
McAllister takes us on a tour of youth culture, giving us examples of the corroded values found in music, television, movies, sexual activity, drug use, technology and education. He tells us that trust has been eroded for the Millennial generation. There is a lack of a clear defining purpose that can be picked up by young people. Their role models are all fallen. McAllisters approach here tends to be alarmist and glass half empty. He comes across as someone standing on the outside of a strange and dangerous culture.
McAllister is conerned that online culture is exposing young people to more and more options without developing wisdom. Young people are growing up playing online games, accessing dangerous information, being corrupted by smut. The increasing speed of internet connection is leading ironically to prevalent attitudes of impatience and isolationism.
McAllister at this point expresses his deep anxiety at the corrosion of truth in the emerging generational culture. He sees young people growing up believing that experience is the ultimate measure of meaning. Evangelical, Bible-believing Christians are being regarded as anti-progress, reactionary, stupid and dangerous. As an Evangelical, Bible-believing talkback host, he tries to model being a real representative of God who loves passionately, is reasonable and compassionate, but doesnt shrink back from drawing lines in the sand. Dawson here outlines what he sees as the contemporary battle lines for truth.
McAllister gives his readers three choices in how we respond to Millennials
Condemnation, which turns people off
Accommodation, which is not respected
Empathy the model of Jesus.
We need to be straight, be real, McAllister says. Young people value experience more than propositional truth. They respond to interviews and encounters rather than lecturing. They need the opportunity to apply scripture in everyday life. The traditional model of youth ministry, focusing on knowledge, communicates content, entertaining and teaching, with a youth minister as hub. The spiritual formation model focuses on intimacy with God and facilitates experience, equipping people to notice, name and nurture Gods hand at work. Its led by a team of mentors.
At this point, McAllister reveals his theological approach, Hold fast to the truth. He outlines Pauls experience at Athens in which he engages with a clearly misguided culture. Christs resurrection, he says, is the watershed issue. Apologetics are required for a new generation that had little regard for the inerrancy of the Bible. If young people could hear about Jesus and his death on the cross, the Holy Spirit would follow up with the work of truth telling.
McAllister writes on the challenges of discipling the Millennial Generation, helping young people find a meaning that goes beyond entertainment. He cites the mentoring approach modeled by Jesus and Paul. We need competent volunteers who are appropriately vulnerable, experts in affirmation, and actively involved in meeting the needs of young people. We need new heroes for the emerging generation.
In his section on church for Millennials, Dawson cites the wisdom of Don Richardson on cross cultural mission. We need to keep to the core truth of the gospel. We should recognise three stages in cross-cultural mission experience: initial enthusiasm, discouragement and adjustment. We need to perservere so that we can find common ground with the Millennials.
McAllister finishes with a chapter for parents of Millennials. Parents need to be more attentive than before, keeping in touch with a wider youth culture, affirming, and avoiding the extremes of control and permissiveness. They would need to practice active listening skills, practicing spiritual formation at home.
Millennials, Dawson reminds us, need adults to model spiritual authenticity, demonstrate intentional direction, and live as genuine mentors and heroes.
Duncan Macleod posts on life, faith and culture in Australia, drawing from his involvement in the creative industry, the Uniting Church, the blogosphere, generational research, the emerging church and life on the Gold Coast.
One fascinating reflection on 
Dr. Ron Penny, who diagnosed Australia’s first case of AIDS 20 years ago, was on the government body that approved the campaign’s release in 1987. The Simon Reynolds-designed campaign featured a cowled, bowling ball-wielding Reaper knocking down men, women and children in a bowling alley. The campaign was one of the most effective ever launched in Australia, said Penny, who recently retired as head of Immunology at Sydney’s St. Vincent’s Hospital. But it struck an unfortunate blow to the gay community, which had already taken the lead in AIDS awareness and safe sex practices. “The downside was that the Grim Reaper became identified with gay men rather than as the Reaper. That was what we had unintentionally produced — [the belief] by some that the Reaper was people with HIV infection, rather than the Reaper harvesting the dead,” said Penny.
We looked at the 
Looking through De Bono’s book, “The Six Value Medals”, I’m finding some very useful material for my work with communities discerning their shared core values. In particular, I’m finding material here that addresses the deep concerns of people who have been through company value clarification exercises that only focused on organisational values or paid only lip service to human values.
Bevan writes about the desire to see work as a means to an end. We work to live. He sees a growing trend of paying others to do housework and gardening to free up time for other activity. Play and work tied together. Gen Xers are not tied to traditional expectations regarding gender, work and income. I choose to preserve the things I love in life at the expense of not becoming rich.
Dawson McAllisters 1999 book on the Millennial generation is aimed at parents and youth leaders. The title tells us quickly that those parents and leaders are concerned about the emerging generation and culture:
McAllister at this point expresses his deep anxiety at the corrosion of truth in the emerging generational culture. He sees young people growing up believing that experience is the ultimate measure of meaning. Evangelical, Bible-believing Christians are being regarded as anti-progress, reactionary, stupid and dangerous. As an Evangelical, Bible-believing talkback host, he tries to model being a real representative of God who loves passionately, is reasonable and compassionate, but doesnt shrink back from drawing lines in the sand. Dawson here outlines what he sees as the contemporary battle lines for truth.
