We know this scenario – churches with congregations where the young adults are missing or disengaged. And yet there are a few which are full of young and vibrant disciples of Christ. Has the church, by and large, failed in their understanding and engagement of the young (the Millennials in particular)? What are Millennials passionate about and what are their thoughts on church leadership? How do they prefer to approach faith exploration and how do issues of social justice concern them?
”The Connected Generation in Malaysia: Engaging Millennials in Leadership, Evangelism, and Social Justice” is a joint initiative of Alpha Malaysia and World Vision Malaysia, together with Barna Group, to understand the perspectives of Malaysian Millennials aged 23 to 37. It is published in tandem with the Faith for The Future 3.0 forum, which is the third forum in the Faith for the Future series. In a way, this is the most significant forum thus far, as the analyses are based on data collected from a survey carried out solely among Malaysian Millennials.
It is a study undertaken to serve the Malaysian church in discovering how we as Christian leaders can make our ministries more welcoming to the needs, desires, and efforts of Millennials, in hope that the faith we profess today is one that will continue to endure in the future.
The three aspects covered in this report as to engagement with Millennials are not just interesting, in fact, they are very crucial. In the area of leadership, it is common for church leadership to have an age demographic that is disproportionate to that of the church congregation.
How can current church leaders mentor and prepare a generation of Millennials to be the future spiritual shepherds of congregations?
In the area of evangelism, how do we share faith with the globally connected and informed Millennials, who are searching for goodness in a chaotic world?
Finally, and it may come as a surprise to some, Millennials are very much interested in questions of social justice! But how do we marry this interest with a general disinterest in these issues displayed by churches in general?
We pray and trust that this research and the dialogues from “Faith for the Future 3.0” can be used by the Lord to bridge some of these gaps in our churches.
When we conducted The Connected Generation study, an investigation into the resilient faith of 18 to 35 year olds in 25 countries, a profile of a global generation began to emerge:
Young adults today are living in an anxious age, longing to engage with spirituality, and desiring to make a meaningful impact.
Since that 2019 project was released, we have heard stories from Christian leaders around the world about how those findings made a meaningful difference in their daily work or ministry.
No single piece of research is exhaustive and all research creates the need for more research. In partnership with Alpha Malaysia and World Vision Malaysia, Barna Group has produced this follow-up report. Our goal is to further our knowledge of what is often called the Millennial generation, specifically by exploring their experiences of leadership, evangelism, and social justice. How is this generation leaning into these three areas? How can Christian leaders address their needs, desires, and efforts?
This study represents the perspectives of Malaysian Millennials (ages 23 to 37) through a study of 1,845 young adults in Malaysia. Of those, 1,000 are from a randomised representative sample, and 845 are Christians who were interviewed through local churches. The data is representative by age, race/ethnicity, gender, and region of Malaysia.
We hope the following research and insights continue to nurture a faith for the future in your context.
Visit here for more information and download the research. The research is available in three languages – English, Bahasa Malaysia, and Mandarin.
