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The Multigenerational Church Crisis: Why We Don't Understand Each Other and How to Unite in Mission
It may seem hard for younger Christians to believe that people over 50 were raised during an era when 90 percent of Americans identified as Christian. These older believers were once part of a majority group that understood the mission of the church was to take control of our culture to halt its evils. At the same time, Christians under 50 have lived their entire lives perceiving themselves as a minority that needs to make credible their faith to a secular, pluralistic culture.
These distinct experiences and perceptions have a profound impact on the priorities different generations have for church ministry. It's no wonder that younger and older believers don't always see eye to eye! But imagine what could be accomplished in the name of Christ if we could better understand each other and turn that understanding into shared purpose and aligned priorities?
Backed by thorough research, this eminently practical and hopeful book from pastor and scholar Bryan Chapell shows you how to open the lines of communication, appreciate the experiences that shaped each generation in your church, and unite in one mission to impact your community and the world.
These distinct experiences and perceptions have a profound impact on the priorities different generations have for church ministry. It's no wonder that younger and older believers don't always see eye to eye! But imagine what could be accomplished in the name of Christ if we could better understand each other and turn that understanding into shared purpose and aligned priorities?
Backed by thorough research, this eminently practical and hopeful book from pastor and scholar Bryan Chapell shows you how to open the lines of communication, appreciate the experiences that shaped each generation in your church, and unite in one mission to impact your community and the world.
208 pages, Paperback
Published May 6, 2025
13 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Bryan Chapell
64 books86 followersBryan Chapell is the president of Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, the denominational seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America. He began teaching at Covenant in 1984 after ten years in pastoral ministry. Chapell has a BSJ from Northwestern University, an MDiv from Covenant Theological Seminary, and a PhD in speech communication from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Before becoming president in 1994, he served for six years as vice president for academics and dean of faculty. He is a speaker in churches and conferences around the country, preaching and lecturing on topics including grace, marriage, and journalism. Chapell's online broadcast ministry, Living Christ 360, contains additional resources in his areas of expertise.
Before becoming president in 1994, he served for six years as vice president for academics and dean of faculty. He is a speaker in churches and conferences around the country, preaching and lecturing on topics including grace, marriage, and journalism. Chapell's online broadcast ministry, Living Christ 360, contains additional resources in his areas of expertise.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 25, 2025
The latest book by Bryan Chapell (pastor, seminary president and denominational leader), is designed to help churches fulfill their biblical responsibilities to each generation so that churches maintain faithfulness for many generations. In this book, he aims to help different generations grasp why they may have trouble understanding each other, and at the same time to help them treasure and steward the contribution each can make to Christ’s mission in their particular time and context. He tells us that the overall goal of the book is to help churches understand how our changing culture is affecting generations of faith. He wants to help churches understand how our changing culture is affecting different generations within their midst so that we can work together for future health and mission. He wants to help us understand generational differences so that we may celebrate how God has differently gifted his people for the purposes of his church at this critical time and so that we may respond with a unified mission.
The author tells us that the reason churches should celebrate faith that passes from one generation to the next is obvious – any church that does not become multigenerational dies. He tells us that unless a church makes the nurture of the next generation a high priority of its mission, the preferences and priorities of the dominant generation will limit that church’s witness to the lifespan of those presently in charge.
He writes that it is critical for our churches’ future that contemporary church leaders recognize that no group has been more challenged by the consequences of this dechurching than our young people, which he refers to as the “rising generations”. If we do not address their plight and pressures, there is little hope that our churches will experience multigenerational health. On the other hand, he writes that churches are experiencing an unprecedented loss of mature Christians, which he refers to as the “Moral Majority generation”, who used to be churchgoers in a dominantly Christian culture.
Overall, there is no age category in which church membership has not shrunk over the last four decades. He tells us that the cultural ground has shifted beneath the feet of all of us - young and mature - with remarkable swiftness.
The author tells us that ever since childhood, Christians in America who are now age fifty and older have perceived themselves to be in a majority Christian culture. Their children and grandchildren have not. Christians who are in their forties or younger have never known a day in their lives when they considered themselves to be in a Christian majority culture. Always they have perceived themselves to be a minority in a secular, pluralistic culture. Such differing perceptions have profound effects on what each generation and its leaders consider their church’s cultural engagement responsibilities.
Is there hope for the church in the U.S.? The author tells us that in post-COVID America, Millennial adults (those in their thirties and forties), are the generation most likely to attend church. He states that the best reason for hope is the Lord Jesus’s promise, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). He tells us that since we know that young people are simultaneously most open to the gospel and most likely to retain the faith that they embrace in their teens, focused efforts to make Christ known to this younger generation are likely to have the greatest impact on the future of our faith. He states that what should give us hope in this present evil age is the openness rising generations in this country and throughout the world have to the claims of the gospel.
Among the subjects the author addresses in this book are the impact of parents, church hopping, online worshipping, identifying religious convictions on the basis of political associations, the troubling drop in the percentage of those in the U.S. who identify as Christians, the “Nones”, the “Evangelical Uniform”, a comparison of Evangelical Generational Expectations and Issues, Christian Nationalism, church leaders on social media, immigrants, and Christianity outside of the U.S.
The book is loaded with statistics and includes questions for review and discussion at the end of the book - though they would have been more helpful at the end of each chapter.
This helpful book about the multigenerational crisis in our churches, would be a good one for church leaders to read and discuss together.
Here are some of the most helpful quotes from the book:
• Church youth programs are great, and Christian teachers, coaches, and peers are invaluable, but nothing more powerfully engenders lifetime faithfulness than consistent and caring Christian parenting.
• My experience also teaches that teens are often most profoundly influenced by role models a half generation older.
• In one generation, American culture has shifted from 90 percent of the population identifying as Christian to less than half belonging to any church and 95 percent not engaged in weekly Sunday worship.
• Different conclusions about how the Evangelical church should now engage cultural issues often divide churches, and often the divide is along generational lines.
• Different generations may perceive the church’s priorities differently without necessarily being disloyal to Scripture.
• To get a sense of how deep and visceral the divisions may be, ask leaders in each group who their heroes are in the ongoing battle for the soul of America.
• My heart aches for the younger pastors and church leaders who spend so much time performing for the applause of their peers by trying to scandalize others.
• Though there are many variations of Christian Nationalism, its core ideas seek to make Christian norms the standards of American society.
• Ultimately, any hope of gospel progress depends upon the witness of Christians living faithfully in the body of Christ.
• Christianity remains the largest religion in the world with 2.6 billion adherents and growing.
The author tells us that the reason churches should celebrate faith that passes from one generation to the next is obvious – any church that does not become multigenerational dies. He tells us that unless a church makes the nurture of the next generation a high priority of its mission, the preferences and priorities of the dominant generation will limit that church’s witness to the lifespan of those presently in charge.
He writes that it is critical for our churches’ future that contemporary church leaders recognize that no group has been more challenged by the consequences of this dechurching than our young people, which he refers to as the “rising generations”. If we do not address their plight and pressures, there is little hope that our churches will experience multigenerational health. On the other hand, he writes that churches are experiencing an unprecedented loss of mature Christians, which he refers to as the “Moral Majority generation”, who used to be churchgoers in a dominantly Christian culture.
Overall, there is no age category in which church membership has not shrunk over the last four decades. He tells us that the cultural ground has shifted beneath the feet of all of us - young and mature - with remarkable swiftness.
The author tells us that ever since childhood, Christians in America who are now age fifty and older have perceived themselves to be in a majority Christian culture. Their children and grandchildren have not. Christians who are in their forties or younger have never known a day in their lives when they considered themselves to be in a Christian majority culture. Always they have perceived themselves to be a minority in a secular, pluralistic culture. Such differing perceptions have profound effects on what each generation and its leaders consider their church’s cultural engagement responsibilities.
Is there hope for the church in the U.S.? The author tells us that in post-COVID America, Millennial adults (those in their thirties and forties), are the generation most likely to attend church. He states that the best reason for hope is the Lord Jesus’s promise, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). He tells us that since we know that young people are simultaneously most open to the gospel and most likely to retain the faith that they embrace in their teens, focused efforts to make Christ known to this younger generation are likely to have the greatest impact on the future of our faith. He states that what should give us hope in this present evil age is the openness rising generations in this country and throughout the world have to the claims of the gospel.
Among the subjects the author addresses in this book are the impact of parents, church hopping, online worshipping, identifying religious convictions on the basis of political associations, the troubling drop in the percentage of those in the U.S. who identify as Christians, the “Nones”, the “Evangelical Uniform”, a comparison of Evangelical Generational Expectations and Issues, Christian Nationalism, church leaders on social media, immigrants, and Christianity outside of the U.S.
The book is loaded with statistics and includes questions for review and discussion at the end of the book - though they would have been more helpful at the end of each chapter.
This helpful book about the multigenerational crisis in our churches, would be a good one for church leaders to read and discuss together.
Here are some of the most helpful quotes from the book:
• Church youth programs are great, and Christian teachers, coaches, and peers are invaluable, but nothing more powerfully engenders lifetime faithfulness than consistent and caring Christian parenting.
• My experience also teaches that teens are often most profoundly influenced by role models a half generation older.
• In one generation, American culture has shifted from 90 percent of the population identifying as Christian to less than half belonging to any church and 95 percent not engaged in weekly Sunday worship.
• Different conclusions about how the Evangelical church should now engage cultural issues often divide churches, and often the divide is along generational lines.
• Different generations may perceive the church’s priorities differently without necessarily being disloyal to Scripture.
• To get a sense of how deep and visceral the divisions may be, ask leaders in each group who their heroes are in the ongoing battle for the soul of America.
• My heart aches for the younger pastors and church leaders who spend so much time performing for the applause of their peers by trying to scandalize others.
• Though there are many variations of Christian Nationalism, its core ideas seek to make Christian norms the standards of American society.
• Ultimately, any hope of gospel progress depends upon the witness of Christians living faithfully in the body of Christ.
• Christianity remains the largest religion in the world with 2.6 billion adherents and growing.
July 11, 2025
I was very disappointed with this book. When it seemed it was supposed to be, was not what it was.
I thought the book would touch on some differences between various generations, then emphasize how to unite together in church and for the mission of bringing the gospel to all nations. This was barely present.
The book seemed to mostly be: Data overload, axe-grinding, and low-hanging fruit.
The data and research present was remarkable, but a point comes where, "we get it." Much of this data has already been reported on, and, while useful for a book like this, my impression was the majority of the book was about this data.
Chapter six was focused on the axe-grinding. And, to be honest, they were mostly things I would grind my axe about as well. He passionately defended Tim Keller and called out those criticizing him until his dying breath. He warned of the dangers of Christian nationalism and those flirting with it. I'm actually on board with Chapell, but I fail to see the significance for a project like this.
The low-hanging fruit included basic advice on what Millennials are looking for in church, a blending of styles and a focus on mission. Chapell at times tried to unite common concerns across his generation and Millennials and Gen Z, but, again, it was limited and basic. At times it felt like he was content to throw his generation under the bus (I say this as an elder Millennial). Other times it seemed to drift into church growth-lite strategies.
The book wasn't terrible, and there wasn't a lot I disagreed with. Unfortunately, it wasn't the book I was expecting, and I was really excited to read the book I was expecting.
I thought the book would touch on some differences between various generations, then emphasize how to unite together in church and for the mission of bringing the gospel to all nations. This was barely present.
The book seemed to mostly be: Data overload, axe-grinding, and low-hanging fruit.
The data and research present was remarkable, but a point comes where, "we get it." Much of this data has already been reported on, and, while useful for a book like this, my impression was the majority of the book was about this data.
Chapter six was focused on the axe-grinding. And, to be honest, they were mostly things I would grind my axe about as well. He passionately defended Tim Keller and called out those criticizing him until his dying breath. He warned of the dangers of Christian nationalism and those flirting with it. I'm actually on board with Chapell, but I fail to see the significance for a project like this.
The low-hanging fruit included basic advice on what Millennials are looking for in church, a blending of styles and a focus on mission. Chapell at times tried to unite common concerns across his generation and Millennials and Gen Z, but, again, it was limited and basic. At times it felt like he was content to throw his generation under the bus (I say this as an elder Millennial). Other times it seemed to drift into church growth-lite strategies.
The book wasn't terrible, and there wasn't a lot I disagreed with. Unfortunately, it wasn't the book I was expecting, and I was really excited to read the book I was expecting.
May 22, 2025
Filled with research, Chapell does an excellent job painting the picture of the dramatic shift that has occurred in the past generation in American Christianity. It's fallen off a cliff. This means the expectations and mindset between the 50+ crowd (his main target audience) and the younger generation is vast.
Chapell effectively puts his finger on why there is so much unrest and disappointment among older evangelicals who have stayed in the church, while the goals and approach of the younger generation may be quite different.
The biggest threat that Chapell always guides to only indirectly is the ongoing culture wars--making the church the battleground to try to regain political and social influence by any means necessary. It's understandable that we would be grieving a secularizing culture and populace, but simple and clear focus on Jesus, missions, the means of grace, and a faithful and genuine Christian life are the most powerful long term "strategies" the church should employ.
It's a smooth and easily digestable read, though I don't know that it adds anything particularly new to the conversation about these trends. Perhaps that's not the point. Perhaps the best outcome is Chapell's status and respected voice being useful to speak directly to the older generation about ways the church can exacerbate its decline rather than revitalize.
Chapell effectively puts his finger on why there is so much unrest and disappointment among older evangelicals who have stayed in the church, while the goals and approach of the younger generation may be quite different.
The biggest threat that Chapell always guides to only indirectly is the ongoing culture wars--making the church the battleground to try to regain political and social influence by any means necessary. It's understandable that we would be grieving a secularizing culture and populace, but simple and clear focus on Jesus, missions, the means of grace, and a faithful and genuine Christian life are the most powerful long term "strategies" the church should employ.
It's a smooth and easily digestable read, though I don't know that it adds anything particularly new to the conversation about these trends. Perhaps that's not the point. Perhaps the best outcome is Chapell's status and respected voice being useful to speak directly to the older generation about ways the church can exacerbate its decline rather than revitalize.
October 11, 2025
Quite an important topic (the future survival of the church! at least from a human perspective) yet a book strangely devoid of any spark of passion. I think I know Chapell enough not to be surprised by his staid demeanor, but what was more surprising was the relative lack of depth of insight.
You could outline the book in three main sections. The first comprises all the "bad/scary/doomsday" statistics. Next is a very long discussion of topics that are important to old people, and how they differ from those important to young people (I wish this description were a simplification, but it is not). Then lastly some more encouraging statistics.
It's as though Chapell wrote the book via an algorithm rather than via any grave concern. He's seen a ton and remembered it all, so I was hoping for more.
You could outline the book in three main sections. The first comprises all the "bad/scary/doomsday" statistics. Next is a very long discussion of topics that are important to old people, and how they differ from those important to young people (I wish this description were a simplification, but it is not). Then lastly some more encouraging statistics.
It's as though Chapell wrote the book via an algorithm rather than via any grave concern. He's seen a ton and remembered it all, so I was hoping for more.
July 7, 2025
I didn't actually get a chance to read this as thoroughly as I wanted, but what I did read was well done... practical, factual, loving and Gospel centered
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews