No, I haven’t been fired (yet), so this is not a plea for churches to hire me.

A Millennial is anyone born between 1980 and 1995-2000, depending on who you ask; I tend toward 2000. That would make the oldest Millennials 35 and the youngest 15ish. Very few churches have senior pastors age 35 or younger, and most pastors on staff at a church under 35 are probably going to be youth pastors, which is fine. That’s normal, and there really isn’t anything wrong with that.

There isn’t a problem with a church not having many Millennials on its staff, because most of them are still pretty young—even as young as 15. I’m in the middle of the Millennial generation and I’m only 24, which is pretty young for a pastor of any type.

One of the best ways to attract more Millennials is by hiring Millennials into church leadership.

The problem arises, however, when churches are unwilling to hire Millennials and the demographic of church leadership isn’t reflective of the community.

If your church is large enough to have more than just a senior and an executive pastor, you should really consider hiring someone born between 1980-2000. Why would you ever want to hire a 24-year-old guy like me? Three reasons:

1. Millennials make up 27% of the adult population, which is equal to that of Gen Xers.

Your church is most likely dominated by Gen Xers—those born between 1965-1980—unless you’re a church of 80 people in Nowheresville, Arkansas, in which case your community is likely dominated by Boomers.

Here’s the thing: your church is likely dominated by Gen Xers, but Gen Xers make up the exact same percentage of the adult population as Millennials: 27.

The reason your church is dominated by Gen Xers is probably because your church leadership is primarily made up of Gen Xers, and like I said above, there’s nothing wrong with that.

The thing is, the general population is more “Millennial” than the population of our churches, and most churches want to change that and attract more Millennials. One of the best ways to attract more Millennials is by hiring Millennials into church leadership.

2. Having a wide range of ages represented in church leadership is practical.

Let’s be honest—it makes more practical sense for a responsible 24-year-old to be a youth pastor than it does for a 55-year-old to be a youth pastor. If you had to choose between a 24-year-old and a 55-year-old, and everything but age was equal, I hope you would choose the 24-year-old.

It just makes sense. People of all ages, not just youth, usually make better connections with their peers than someone much older or younger than them. This isn’t always the case—there are a lot of great 50-year-old youth pastors out there, I’m sure—but it’s common.

We need to be more intentional about developing the next generation of leaders to lead the next generation of the church.

I wouldn’t expect you to hire a 55-year-old for youth ministry as much as I wouldn’t expect you to hire a 24-year-old for senior adult ministry. Again, neither one of those things is wrong or bad, it’s just understandable that you would hire someone to minister to people of similar ages.

Also, you have to remember, reaching people various ages is going to be tough if various ages aren’t represented on the stage and in church leadership.

The church community tends to reflect the leadership of the church. If your church is led by a bunch of 45-year-old white men, don’t be surprised when your church isn’t diverse or young.

Don’t complain about not reaching Millennials until you’re willing to represent them in church leadership.

3. Leadership development is important for the future of your church.

One of the best ways to ensure that you hire Millennials is by raising them up and discipling them in your church.

This is where my heart is. This is what I think the Lord has created me for at my core. I am most joyful when I can sit down with a friend or talk with a friend on the phone and walk him through a difficult season or help him pursue Christ-likeness.

Pastors and church leaders, what are you doing in your churches and your ministries to disciple the next generation, not just to make them faithful followers of Christ, but to make them the future leaders of your churches?

We need to be more intentional about developing the next generation of leaders to lead the next generation of the church.

This was a huge part of the ministry of my high school youth pastor. He wasn’t perfect, no pastors are, but he did a remarkably good job of discipling young men and developing them into future church leaders, and I am a product of that.

A Call to Action

A lot of older Gen Xers and Baby Boomers are probably fed up with young people. I get it. We get all the attention, youth is wasted on the young, etc.

But, Gen Xers and Boomers, you can have a say in the futures of your church. Develop and disciple the next generation so that the ministry you’ve poured your life into doesn’t die with you.

Hiring Millennials can be scary. It will require you to consider changing. It will require you to listen to someone younger than you. It will require great humility. But your church will be better for it, and I think you will be too.

Pray and consider how the Lord may have you develop the next generation of church leaders.

This post was originally published on millennialevangelical.com

You can hear Chris Martin’s full interview on Austin Hill in the Morning below:

3 reasons why your church should hire a millennial