May 16, 2025 • 54 mins
Culture is an ever-evolving intangible that moves so quickly it often feels impossible to keep up! And just when we’re beginning to feel like we’re starting to get our heads around Gen Z, a new generation emerges…. meet Generation Alpha. So, who are Generation Alpha, what are the hallmarks of this coming generation, and how might understanding them shape how we lead and minister in the years ahead?
National Director of Limitless and specialist lecturer at Regents Theological College, Tim is devoted to equipping leaders and communicating the gospel. He is the author of ‘Leadership 101’
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Good to see you all welcome along.
My name is Tim and I'm part of the team at Limitless.
Limitless is the national children's and youth ministry of
Eden Pentecostal churches acrossthe UK and Ireland.
I've been part of the Limitless team for 1/4 of my life.
I just realized recently, but somebody who's I'd like to
(00:22):
introduce you to somebody who's only been part of the Limitless
staff team at least for two weeks.
This is very, very exciting news.
I want to introduce you to to Naomi Nelson.
So Naomi, would you stand up andgive us a little, a little wave
now, Naomi, friends, this is very exciting is for the first
time ever on our staff team fulltime, our new Limitless kids
(00:44):
leader. That's exciting, isn't it?
So we just, we love children's ministry.
We want to invest and support you guys who are working with
kids and Naomi is here to help us as a ministry and to help our
Limitless Kids team to do that. So it's very exciting.
It's something we've been hopingfor and praying for and working
towards for years actually. And so it's really super
(01:04):
exciting. So Naomi's here, and I'd
encourage you before the day is out to say hi to Naomi and
connect, particularly if you're doing kids ministry in your
local church. Do say hi to Naomi.
All right. So I wonder if you can picture
the scene it, it's a scorching hot summer's day.
One a little bit like today, except hotter.
(01:26):
You know, those kind of days where you just spend the whole
day feeling kind of claggy. Do you know those?
It's, it's one of those days. And so I'm wearing like a light
pair of sports shorts and like one of my running vests.
OK, just to try and keep us cooltall as possible on this boiling
hot day. And I come down the stairs into
(01:49):
my kitchen and they're sitting at the table is my at the time 6
year old daughter Aria. OK.
And she looks up at me in my vest and my sports shorts, and
she goes like that just, I mean,a look of utter disdain and
(02:12):
disgust. And then she goes.
You are desperately, desperatelybad at fashion.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Generation Alpha, the next
generation to shape our future. OK, but I'm getting ahead of
myself. Before I introduce you to
(02:32):
Generation Alpha, what I want todo is a little bit of broader
generational exploration and forus to consider why it's
important that we understand thenuances and the nature of each
coming generation. OK, so here we go.
Here's a little whistle stop tour from 1925 to 1945.
(02:57):
We have the builders. OK, anyone in the room?
No. OK.
Also called the traditionalist, the Silent Generation, or the
Greatest Generation. They were shaped by the Great
Depression and by World War 2. They're known for strong morals.
And hang on a second. They're known for oh you want oh
(03:25):
the screen? Sorry, I got confused.
They're known for their strong morals, work ethic.
They had an authoritarian parenting style because many of
them served in the military during the war.
They built the post war cities that we have today.
They rebuilt our economy and ourinfrastructure.
(03:47):
And for the builders, screen time was only occasional at the
cinema. Next we've got the baby boomers.
Okay, born from 1946 to 64. Anybody in the room?
All right, here we are, the babyboomers.
And they were named after the economic and the baby boom that
(04:08):
followed World War 2. They lived through the Cold War
learning that life could be overat any moment.
And so therefore came this kind of carpe diem, live for the day
mentality. And from that, under the
oppression of the Cold War, camethe sexual revolution,
(04:28):
experimentation with drug use, and with that came increasing
divorce rates. The moon landing was a defining
event for that generation. But did it really happen though?
Yes. Screen time was TV in the homes,
initially in black and white before moving to color in the
(04:49):
mid 70s. Next we've got Generation X,
born between 1965 and 1979. Where are you in the room?
We've got a few XS in the room. So this was the first generation
to see computers in schools and in the home.
New technologies for Gen. X were the VCR.
(05:11):
Anyone remember the VCR recording movies off the TV?
Let's go. Cassette tapes.
Come on now. The mixtape.
Woo. Who needs a Spotify playlist
when you got a mixtape? Walkman's the Commodore 64.
Did anyone in the room own a Commodore?
Here we go now I feel like therewas more passion than that
(05:33):
Commodore 64 than there was in our worship earlier on.
Guys, I love a Commodore. Goodness me, MTV was defining.
This was the first generation that had both parents going out
to work. They were starting to marry
later on in life. Again, higher divorce rates even
than the baby boomers before them and before them.
(05:53):
And now screen time was TV's andpersonal computers.
And then Next up, we've got the anointed generation, Generation
Y or so-called millennials. Any millennials in the room?
Did you have avocado and poachedeggs for breakfast this morning?
I love it. I do love an avocado, I've got
(06:15):
to say also. Yeah.
So they're called millennials because they came of age in the
approach to or during the new Millennium, grew up in a strong
economy, became used to everydayluxuries, the September 11th
attacks and the War on Terror, with the fining for this
generation signalling a loss of innocence.
(06:37):
It's a tech savvy, entrepreneurial generation
generation many of you will knowthat were just locked out of the
housing market. I like this one.
Prefer lifestyle priorities to working ones.
Don't say Amen, just give me a job screen.
(06:57):
Should I ask that one in the interviews name?
Screen time was laptops, the Internet a little bit dial up.
Anyone remember parents? And they and these millennials
are the parents of Generation Alpha.
OK. And then we've got Gen.
Z from 95 to 2010, Gen. Z in the room or Gen.
(07:19):
Z if you're cool. You say it like that.
They were recession marked, of course, COVID marked, Wi-Fi
enabled, known generationally for declining mental health,
less time spent outdoors than inprevious generations, visually
oriented learning styles, sexually fluid.
They were self starters, globally connected and aware,
(07:42):
very climate, climate conscious,active in social issues.
It it's the first truly post Christian generation in that
it's the first generation to have been raised largely by non
Christians, so known for being spiritual but not religious.
And now for the first time, of course, the birth of the
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smartphone came. So screen time was now on
smartphones, on tablets, apps, social media.
And now with millennials reaching adulthood and with Gen.
Z coming of age, Generation Alpha is the next generation to
shape our future. But before we get there, very
(08:27):
quick discussion time with the person next to you. 2 questions
for you. How do you think that the
generation you grew up in shapedyou there should be AD Why is it
important to understand the cultural hallmarks of each
coming generation? Do you think 2 minutes of
discussion, go for it. If you see someone on their own,
(08:54):
move across the room and and talk to them because we're going
to do a few bits of discussion include people around you.
All right, so just wrap that up.We got a lot to get through this
afternoon. Welcome.
If you've just joined us, by theway, you missed some amazing
(09:15):
jokes at the start. We had a nice time.
OK, All right. OK, so the Scripture, it says
this of the men of Issachar, that all these men, they
understood the signs of the times and therefore they knew
the best course for Israel to take.
(09:37):
And I believe that the men of Issachar serve as examples for
you and I today. Why?
Because they led according to anunderstanding of the times in
which they were ministering, theculture in which they were
ministering, they were able to perceive of the shifts and the
subtleties, the nuances and the nature of the culture around
(10:02):
them, and crucially, to allow those paradigms to inform their
practice. They, in other words, could lead
effectively because they engagedwith and understood the signs of
the times. Think of it this way, Because
(10:23):
every generation is shaped by the culture in which they were
raised, it follows then that themethodologies and models that
worked for previous generations won't necessarily translate for
the next. And so we've learnt how to open
(10:43):
up our Bibles and to do biblicalexegesis.
But I believe that if the churchis to flourish and thrive in our
day, we'll also need to learn how to do some cultural exegesis
right, to understand the signs of the times and to know the
best course for the church to take.
So what are the signs of the times?
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What are the hallmarks of the next generation that we are
seeking to reach? Who are generation alpha?
Those are the questions we're going to dip our toes into over
the next few moments. And the way we're going to do it
is this. We're going to do 3DS.
OK. So first we're going to do data
(11:30):
and we're going to look at what the social studies and the
social sciences are telling us about this generation.
Then we're going to do a bit of discussion so that we can learn
from one another. And now I'm going to give a
little bit of direction as to how I'm interpreting the signs
of the times and reflecting on how that might affect how we
lead a minister today. So that's where we're going.
Sound OK If it doesn't, you're welcome to go to Queen Suite 2
(11:51):
and see what's going on there. OK, so Generation Alpha, right?
Beginning in 2010. Generation Alpha is so-called
because they are the first generation to be fully born and
and fully shaped in the 21st century, that they've also been
called Generation C because of what, COVID you've got it.
(12:13):
Yeah, they've been called generation glass up ages, global
Gen. multi modals, but they're now widely designated as
Generation Alpha. Courtesy of the Australian
social scientist Mark Mcgrindle.Now, quick little plug here, I
had the privilege of interviewing Mark Mcgrindle, who
came up with the name GenerationAlpha, which is now used all
(12:35):
over the globe on the Limitless Youth Ministry podcast.
And it's brilliant. He is so insightful.
So I'll give you a little prey see today.
But if you want to go further, please just get on your podcast
feed, find the Limitless Youth Ministry podcast and listen to
that conversation with Mark Mcgrindle, who is the world's
leading expert around GenerationAlpha.
I really encourage you to do that.
You'll find it really helpful. OK, so as I mentioned earlier,
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Gen. Alpha, they're the children of
millennials with 2.5 million Gen.
Alphas being born into our worldevery single week.
Today they number in our globe nearly 2 billion.
But by 20-30 in five years time that the Generation Alpha will
be the most populous generation on the planet.
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A 2024 study into Generation Alpha conducted by 1 Hope
concluded with these four headlines about Generation
Alpha. They said that they are diverse
#1 Gen. alpha and preteens are consuming vast amounts of global
media, are growing up in varied and changing family situations,
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and are reflecting greater racial and ethnic diversity.
They are #2 connected. Young people are spending most
of their free time online and indicate they would spend more
if they could. The online landscape parents are
like, I know the online landscape is shaping their
future social, educational and professional lives in ways we
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cannot yet anticipate #3 they'revulnerable.
Jen Alpha reports high rates of mental health challenges and
early exposure to sex and pornography.
They are young people growing upfast in an adult world.
We'll say more about that. Rooted #4 preteens express a
high level of satisfaction with their family life.
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Many say that family members parents are their number one
source for guidance on life's important issues.
Sounds good, doesn't it? And just for fun, would anyone
like to hazard a guess at the most popular baby names for
Generation Alpha? I reckon you can get these.
Come on, shout them out. No, Yes, it is one of them.
(14:46):
You got it. What else we got, boys and
girls? George.
No, not George. close, though. Oh, yeah, No, Yeah, no, not
those Oliver. Here we go.
We've got an Oliver. OK, I'm going to tell you.
So. For boys, it's Oliver, Noah and
William. So close for the whole Harry
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situation. And for girls, Charlotte, Amelia
and and Olivia are the most popular baby names.
Okay, it's not particularly relevant, Just be fun, right?
Let's let's take a little bit ofa deeper look at some of these
things. There are so many things that we
could talk about when it comes to Generation Alpha.
(15:29):
But with the time we have available, what I want to do is
delve just briefly into five, what I think are five key
headlines as it comes to this generation.
And as I say, data discussion direction, that's how we're
going to go. And there's really only one
place we can start in a surpriseto no one at Generation Alpha
and technology. OK, so as with Generation Z
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before them, technology will be the defining hallmark for this
generation. They are and will continue to be
the most technologically savvy generation ever.
They are growing up in a world where there are seven times the
number of devices as there are people on the planet.
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They don't know a world without the iPad and have become a part
of an unintentional and likely extremely harmful global
experiment where screens were placed in front of them as
children at the same time as pacifiers to act as pacifiers to
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give us parents just a brief moment of peace.
And so their first toys were mumand dad's smartphones, right?
In fact, 57% of Generation Alphaown a tablet of their own, and
43% own a smartphone. 66% started using tablets before the
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age of 5 and 34% before the age of 4.
But one school teacher is quotedas saying Gen.
Z grew up watching YouTube, whereas Gen.
Alpha grew up being babysat by YouTube.
And it's not just smartphones and tablets.
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Unlike Gen. Z before them, AI has been an
ever present in Generation Alpha's childhood, with 41%
speaking to smart speakers from the age of 6 or younger.
One MIT study found that children say AI is friendly,
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trustworthy, and smarter than themselves.
And I have, on more than one occasion, addressed my wife as
Alexa. Can I have a cup of tea?
Social media use is not so surprisingly high, despite the
fact that the minimum age requirement for most social
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platforms is 1346% of 11. Sorry, 7 to 12 year olds have a
social media account, and for 11to 12 year olds that that figure
is 68%. Even though the recommended age
is 13, they're all younger than that.
And I've yet to mention the single most pervasive technology
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for Generation Alphas, which is anyone you've said about social
media gaming. Exactly.
Gaming is humongous. 73% of 8 to11 year olds play video games
most days or every day. And for 11 to 12 year old old
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boys, that's 90% who play every single day.
Now, what's common in all of this?
It's like, yeah, I've been to the Gen.
Z seminar and I've heard pretty much the same thing.
What's common in all of this is how alphas are using these
technologies differently from their parents generation and
(19:09):
even from Gen. Z before them, because
Generation Alpha are more tech creators than they are tech
consumers. So rather than like showcasing
their holidays and their pat lunches on Instagram, they are
creating reels and putting theirown spin on trends on TikTok
rather than gaming solo. You know this.
(19:30):
They've got their headsets and their mics on and they're
connected to their friends as they're gaming.
Rather than participating in preconstructed digital worlds, they
are creating through platforms like Roblox and Minecraft.
By the way, I took my son to seethe Minecraft movie and I will
never get those two hours of my life back.
(19:53):
Oh my goodness, I still haven't recovered.
Anyway, what was I saying? OK, so whilst technology is is
shaping this generation, the point is they are also shaping
it. Which isn't to say that the
impact isn't net negative overall.
We know that on average, Jen Alpha U screens for 4.6 hours a
(20:17):
day outside of schoolwork. With 51% saying they feel good
about the amount of time they spend on screens, 40% saying
they'd do more than that if theycould, and only 9% of generation
alpha reflecting that they use it too much.
But what you and I know is that study after study after study
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has demonstrated the negative impact of excessive screen time
on a child's mental health, on their social skills, on their
creativity, creativity, on theirbrain development, on their
relational intimacy. There is a far greater risk of
exposure to pornography and to cyberbullying.
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It's training our kids to anticipate instant
gratification, which then circumnavigates the opportunity
to develop resilience and critically, to learn self
regulation. If you work in a school or in
children's ministry, you've experienced that to be true.
How do we regulate without a screen in front of us?
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And all of that's really well trodden ground, and it requires
A seminar or probably 3 or 4 on its own to get into that stuff.
And so today, what I want to do is focus on 2 aspects of
technology that are unique, I think to Generation Alpha and
therefore worthy of our attention in this conversation.
And the first is exposure to marketing.
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OK so YouTube is the second mostpopular search engine after
Google, but for Generation Alpha, it's #1 Google has 3 1/2
billion searches a day, but YouTube has almost 5 billion
streams every single day. The most popular Youtubers for
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Generation Alpha are PewDiePie, Dude Perfect, Mr. Beast, The Odd
Ones Out, and Ryan's World. This guy makes for a fascinating
study or a case study when it comes to generation alpha and
exposure to marketing. Ryan here has well over
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24,000,000 subscribers and over 35 billion views of his
channel's content. He is one of the world's leading
toy reviewers. His YouTube channel started in
2015 when he was just three years old.
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His parents took videos here of him opening new toys and him
giving his review to the camera.And such was the success of
these unboxing videos, as they've been come to be called,
that Ryan's mum get this resigned from her job as a
chemistry teacher to give her full attention to building
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Ryan's brand full time. But that was just the beginning.
The success of Ryan's Toy Reviewchannel led to the establishment
of Sunlight Entertainment, a company which now has a team of
30 staff who helped to produce around 25 videos a week.
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The channel has been described by The Verge as a blend of
innocent childhood antics and relentless, often overwhelming
consumerism. Mark Mcgrindle comments.
In this way, Generation Alpha don't differentiate as much
between advertising and content.In fact, advertising is hard to
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distinguish because it is part of the social media world and
they're not trying to screen it out as previous generations did,
nor are they skeptical about it.In a world of social media, the
advertisers are often the socialmedia influences and the content
creators themselves. They are the ones who place The
(24:24):
Who place the products, endorsing the brands and
starring in the ads that Generation Alpha consume.
If it is promoting a brand or endorsing a product, it is an
ad. But for Generation Alpha, it's
just content. So the line has been blurred.
And that is an interesting thingfor us to pay attention to with
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this generation. The second interesting fact, I
already alluded to it, I said we'd come back to it, is this
phenomenon of up aging. Now up aging is the social
phenomenon where children are growing up faster at a younger
age because of what they're being exposed to through their
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interactions with technology, not least exposure to graphic
adult content. The average child is given a
smartphone at the age of 12 and by the age of 1494% have viewed
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pornography. That's called cause and effect,
and this has LED Neil Postman toreflect on what he describes as
the disappearance of childhood. Some of you've heard that phrase
where because of exposure to adult themes, kids are becoming
like mini adults before they actually need to.
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But what we understand working with kids is that play and
innocence are rites of passage for kids, and they need to be
preserved for healthy development and growth, right?
But what's particularly fascinating and actually really
quite frightening about this whole up ageing phenomenon is
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that the impact is not only mental, it's actually physical.
The World Health Organization estimates that children are
beginning puberty on average three months earlier every
single decade. Again, Regrindle says in less
than a century, the onset of puberty in girls has gone from
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14 1/2 years to 10 1/2 years today, with a trend similar for
boys with puberty setting on setting before the age of 12.
My wife, Jan is is a head teacher in a primary school and
she we were reflecting on this together and she observed for me
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the high percentage of young girls who are now starting their
periods at a much younger age than when she first started
teaching 15 years ago, often even as early as year 4, with a
vast majority of girls fully pubescent by year 6.
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All of which is to say that thispervasive nature of new and
emerging technologies cannot be overstated when it comes to how
this generation is being formed and shaped.
So that's the data. Now it's time for the
discussion. A couple of questions for you.
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Again, if you see people are on their own, please get up, walk
across the room. Let's engage in discussion
together. Here are some questions.
What are some of the challenges you observe have been created by
the centrality of technology forGeneration Alpha?
And how might the church adapt to communicate the gospel
relevantly in the digital age? Go for it.
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I'm just realizing it's 333 and we're still on #1 so we're not
going to get all these done, I'mafraid.
Next year. We'll do Part 2 next May.
All right, bring it in. You can carry on these
conversations afterwards as well, of course.
All right, here's how. Here's how I'm understanding
(28:26):
these size of the times. A few top tips for you.
Number one, is this model healthy digital boundaries?
Please, will you ask yourself this question?
If our kids used their devices like you do, would that be a
good thing? Let's not ask our children and
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young people to do something that we're not willing to do
ourselves or to model ourselves.Let's model it in our own lives
as leaders, OK #2 is balanced digital learning tools with
physical interaction. So one of the great gifts of the
digital age is that we're blessed, aren't we, with a just
there's, we've never, ever, there's never been a time where
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we've had more resources at our disposal that we can use to
engage this generation with the gospel.
So yes, let's consider how we might integrate video and media
and images and VR and other digital tools into our
discipleship while still leavingplenty of room for personal
interaction, physical conversation, you know, games,
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outdoor activities, which hopefully if we've got time,
we'll say a bit more on later. And then finally #3 I think this
is so important. Engage collaborative learning
styles. If we want to engage this
generation with the message of the gospel, we're gonna need to
learn how to move from didactic teaching methodologies to those
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that are more tactile and participatory, aren't we?
And, and that's true not only inour kids ministries, I think by
the way, and also to adapt our leadership styles from command
and control to contribution and collaboration.
Mcgrindle writes this. The ideal leader for Gen.
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Z and Generation Alpha, whether that be in the classroom or in
the home or the workplace, is one who values communication and
creates an environment of transparency and respect.
The preferred leadership style of these generations is one
that's more focused on consensusthan command.
It's more participative than autocratic, and it's more
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flexible and organic than structured and higher miracle.
That brings some challenges for us as we lead in the church,
doesn't it? So three things to think about
with Gen. Alpha and technology.
Let's move on to Gen. Alpha and family now.
Generation Alpha is one of the first generations to experience
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a major shift in the family structure.
So families consisting of two parents in their first marriage
are now diminishing in number with only half, 50% of
Generation Alpha now living withboth of their biological
(31:21):
parents. So the new reality for alphas is
blended families, cohabiting parents, single parents, even
same sex parents. And so alphas are becoming
accustomed to a world where children don't necessarily have
a mum and a dad, with surrogatesand adoption allowing for same
(31:43):
sex couples to have children. Or so many alphas, right?
Stahlia Wax have multiple parental figures, with the
nuclear family evolving into having sets of mothers, fathers,
grandparents, and siblings. But with all of that said, it's
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true to say that family is stillthe most important and an
overwhelmingly positive relationship for Generation
Alpha. 95% of Generation Alpha say that their family experience
has been good overall, with preteens maintaining that their
parents are their most importantinfluence when it comes to
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lives. Life's most important questions.
74% are more likely to go to their parents with questions
about gender identity and sexuality than they are to
religious leaders, us or to textthe Bible.
They're also 74% more likely to go to their mums and 31% more
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likely to go to their dads. Sorry, dads to talk about faith
than they are to any other adultkids and youth workers, US
included in their church. OK, so a few headlines there.
Let's jump back into some discussion again.
What does the shifting nature offamily for Generation Alpha mean
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for ministry today? And what does Gen.
Alpha's positive and trusting outlook on family tell us about
disciple making for this generation?
Couple of minutes and I'll give you my thoughts.
Go for it. All right, let's begin to wrap
that up. We definitely needed some more
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time to discuss these things, didn't you?
I'm sorry. OK, let's pull it in and let me
share with you my thoughts on this particular sign of the
time. So #1 is this Equip parents as
disciple makers? Like, this is a key headline.
(33:56):
If you forget all of my hilarious jokes and just
remember one thing, Please remember this Equip parents as
disciple makers. You know, kids ministry is so
important. We believe in it deeply.
We've just employed A limitless kids team leader.
We want to do it really, really well.
And yet we all have to face the reality that you might be the
(34:18):
best kids worker on the face of the planet and you will still
not have the same influence on that child as their parents.
And so therefore equipping parents to be not just parents,
but disciple makers is probably the single most fruitful thing
you can do in children's ministry.
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This is a vital thing and it's just AI think it's a recurring
thing that comes up as we reflect over all of these signs
of the time. So that's number one, that's a
major headline from today. Secondly, build churches on the
principles of family, not of business.
It won't have escaped your attention that lots of the
leadership training we receive in Christian ministry is built
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on the principles of business. And I'm grateful for that.
I've learned loads of amazing things that have really helped
me in my leadership role. But I also with that, want to
urge some caution because the generation we're seeking to
reach here is one who is deeply cynical about institutions for
whom denominations, let's face it, are really very off putting
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and who have rejected organised religion altogether.
And yet, as we've just seen, on the other hand, remain extremely
positive and trusting about family.
So it's my conviction therefore,that if the church is to
effectively disciple this generation, we're going to have
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to build churches that are rooted primarily on the
principles of family rather thanthat of business.
Because in a business we hire and fire employees, but in the
church we raise sons and daughters.
The apostle says this of his ministry philosophy.
I love it. Just as a nursing mother cares
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for her children, so we cared for you because we loved you so
much. We were delighted to share with
you not only the gospel of God, but also our lives as well.
And to the Corinthians who he wrote, though you have countless
guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers.
For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
(36:30):
I urge you then to be imitators of me.
It's the language of spiritual parenting, isn't it?
The language of family. So I'd encourage us to take heed
of this from from Francis Chan. He says too many pastors, maybe
even kids workers, youth workersare aspiring to be great
writers, speakers and leaders. There are not enough who want to
(36:52):
be known as great mums and dads and those who serve well as mums
and dads never become known because it's not highly valued.
But I believe if we're going to help this generation to to
follow Jesus, we we've got to remember that, you know, before
the church was an organization, an institution or a
denomination, we were first a family.
(37:15):
OK, Holy smokes, it's called 2 already.
OK, let's try and do two more. I don't want to skip past this
one because it's probably one ofthe reasons she came here.
OK, so generation alpha and and sexuality.
So here's the thing. Gender identity is not so much a
hot topic for this generation asit is just a normal topic.
(37:36):
Right? So compared with previous
generations, Gen. alpha are morelikely to be hearing about and
personally dealing with questions of gender and
sexuality from a very young age.So for example, in my kids
school I've got an 11 year old and an 8 year old, both at
primary school. They recently employed A
(37:57):
transgender TA who came into their school.
Nothing was like. I totally get why nothing was
said about it to parents that that was going to happen.
It, you know, like we just heardabout it from the kids one day
and it, it kind of encouraged some really helpful and fruitful
discussions between us as parents and our kids.
(38:19):
But the point is, it's just an unspoken reality of everyday
life for Generation Alpha. As another example, my family
has developed a little bit of a tradition of starting our
Sabbath day on Saturday evening with homemade pizzas and
gladiators. Come on now.
(38:41):
Amazing stuff. And it as it turned out, the
eventual winner of Gladiators inthis series was a gay woman who
every week was being cheered on by her partner and you know, at
the end of the event, running over and hugging and kissing and
all, and all of that stuff. My point is these things,
they're just there right in front of our kids every single
(39:03):
day and being presented as normative.
And that's the power of it. It's the power of normalization.
What's interesting, however, is that research from One Hope
actually reveals mixed views at this early stage of Gen. alpha's
development. So when asked what Gen. gender
is, 69% say that it's the sex person is born with.
(39:28):
However, 57% say it is OK or maybe OK for somebody to change
their body to a different gender.
Now this is what's interesting. Whilst that number is still
relatively high, it is much lower than that for Gen.
Z who have had more time to be shaped by the pervasive cultural
(39:51):
narratives of the world around sexuality and and gender
identity. Regarding sex and marriage, 55%
of Jen Alpha say it's OK or might be OK to have sex before
marriage. Half of Jen Alpha feel the same
about same sex marriage. Most preteens hold those
viewpoints. However, boys and older
(40:14):
teenagers tend to be less traditional when it comes to
premarital sex. No surprise there.
The key headline to take away isthat Generation Alpha.
Are not too young to be being exposed to issues of sexuality
(40:34):
and gender identity and sadly often through the prism of
pornography. Research has shown that most
young people are exposed to pornography for the first time
at around the age of 12, some even earlier.
And that as we saw earlier, virtually all of them, 94% of
(40:56):
them have been exposed to it by the age of 14.
And all of this has some very important implications for
ministry. So one last conversation is
this, What does the early exposure to sexual themes for
Generation Alpha or that should be how, not what?
(41:16):
How does the early exposure to sexual themes for Gen.
Alpha affect how we do ministry today?
And how do we teach a biblical vision for sexuality in a way
that's age appropriate? Please solve those two big
questions in 2 minutes. All right, well, I'm glad you
(41:37):
solved that. Well done.
Let's draw it in. Let me give you a few headlines
and then we're going. I'm just going to do one more.
That's going to be important. OK, Three really important
things for us on this one, guys.And please, please hear this
now. This is so important.
Do not be silent on these issues.
(42:00):
Look, if we are not speaking to our kids and young people about
these issues, it does not mean that they are not talking about
them. They're talking about them at
school. They're being exposed to them
through their social media feeds.
They are being shown images by their friends.
And if the church continues to remain silent out of fear of
(42:23):
saying the wrong thing or being cancelled or upsetting people,
or, please hear me, of losing people from our congregations,
then we are abdicating the responsibility that God has
given us for the discipleship ofour kids by just hand sending
(42:43):
them over to be conformed to thepattern of this world and to be
shaped by relentless cultural forces that I promise you, are
not shy of speaking to these issues.
We must speak to it. We must speak to it.
The report from 1 Hope said thisgender and sexuality will
(43:03):
continue to be defining issues both in culture and in the
church. We cannot afford to ignore these
conversations, especially as ouryoung people encounter the
world's perspective everywhere they go.
But more than remaining silent, let's begin the conversation
early. We've got to get there first,
guys. We've got to get there before
(43:25):
the world does. And, and yes, of course that
needs to happen in a way that's age appropriate.
And yes, of course, we need to do that with proper parental
consent, but sex, sexuality, gender, pornography are all
issues that are coming to Gen. Alpha earlier and earlier.
And so the church needs to be speaking into that space at a
(43:46):
younger age. So let's have the first word.
Let's help them to build solid foundations rather than having
to come in after the foundationshave already been laid by the
world and having to try and dismantle them, which is a much
more difficult job. So I know you love resources.
Here's a couple for you. I want to point you in the
(44:06):
direction of the growing up resource.
And this is for younger kids. This is the pre teenage by faith
in kids. OK.
And we interviewed Ed on the podcast.
He was with us at Limitless Leaders, our kids and youth
workers gathering really, reallygood stuff.
And this is to talk to younger kids around issues of identity,
gender and sexuality. So check out Faith and Kids.
(44:28):
Ed Drew is a good guy. And then for older alphas, we
partnered with Living Out, a really great organization to
develop a series of Limitless TVon God and sexuality, the
biggest questions that young people ask around sexuality.
So for those older alphas, that's a perfect resource.
It's free and it's on our YouTube channel, youtube.com,
Forward slash, Limitless Elim. Just go use that with young
(44:50):
people. 2 tools there to help you to talk to kids and to young
people about these issues. And then finally, we're coming
back to this issue again. Equip parents with the tools
that they need to talk to their kids.
Again, it's worth noting, as we've already seen, that family
is the primary influence on Gen.Alpha, even about this topic.
(45:11):
Even more than their friends, even more than their social
media feeds. 3 out of four preteens go to a family member
most often for guidance on thesetopics. 3/4 But as we know,
these conversations are often uncomfortable for families to
have. They're wondering, where do we
start? You know, how do we broach the
subject? It's awkward, it's
(45:32):
uncomfortable, right? But addressing these topics is
crucial, isn't it? And the role that the family
plays cannot be overstated. And so we want to help them to
impart values and to have these discussions well, so we want to
equip parents. OK, I'm going to skip past
mental health because, you know,we've chatted about our loads,
(45:53):
right? And we're going to finish.
Sorry about that. I'll send you the notes.
We're going to finish by talkingabout Gen.
Alpha and faith in these last few minutes.
OK, So what are the projections then when it comes to generation
Alpha and faith formation? Well, one notable trend that is
(46:15):
continuing to build from Gen. Z before them is a spiritual
openness not necessarily definedby religion, but by
spirituality. So one in five Christians and
almost one in three non Christians regularly engage with
(46:35):
activities like astrology, crystal healing and manifesting.
This spiritual openness does also translate to openness to
Jesus with belief in Jesus as the Son and God strong among
Gen. alpha Christians as you cansee there on the screen.
(46:57):
An encouraging point to note is the this is really encouraging.
I love this is the number of Christian generation alphas who
feel confident about sharing their faith and who feel
responsible for doing so. However, it is worth noting that
this sense of confidence and responsibility shifts
(47:20):
dramatically with the degree to which they have been encouraged
and equipped to share their faith.
A less encouraging point to note, however, is the seeming
apathy or lack of intentionalityin disciple making displayed by
Christian parents. 51% of Christian parents read the Bible
(47:44):
with their kids. I think that's quite low, isn't
it? 41% prayed out loud with their
kids in the last week. And only 15% of Christian
parents say their most importantparenting goal is to pass on
their faith to their kids. So it we can't be that surprised
then that therefore only 50% of children who grow up in a
(48:04):
Christian family retain their faith into adulthood.
So here then are four key elements that I'm seeing that I
think are important for us as leaders, for us to the church,
for faith formation, for Generation Alpha.
And we'll finish here. OK #1 is this facilitate
(48:24):
spiritual experience? Spiritual experience.
This is a generation who are hungry for the spiritual, not
afraid of it. They're experimenting with
crystals and you know, witch talk and tarot and all of that
kind of stuff. So let's let's have kids
(48:45):
ministries that and youth ministries that kids and young
people don't have to leave and then go on witch talk to try and
have a spiritual experience. Let's have kids and youth
ministries that facilitate transformational encounters with
the Holy Spirit where kids can pray and can prophecy and can
speak in tongues and can pray for healing and can encounter
(49:06):
Jesus for themselves. So they don't need to go in
search of tarot cards and crystals and and all of that
stuff. The apostle said my message and
preaching were not with wise andpersuasive words, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit's power.
Why? So that your faith wouldn't rest
on human wisdom, but on God's power.
We know, don't we? Strong faith foundations are
built on revelation, not just information.
(49:29):
So let's facilitate spiritual experience.
This one's really important. I don't think we often think
about it, but encourage and invite challenging questions.
So here's the thing. In order for a child's faith to
last into adulthood, it has to mature beyond the It's true
(49:50):
because my parents said so and my church said so Faith.
And for that to happen, they will need space to wrestle with
difficult questions, to air somehonest doubts, and critically,
to not be shut down for it, right?
It's only through questioning that they can begin to take
(50:12):
personal ownership of their faith and then, you know,
ensuring that their faith is robust and and enduring.
And Dalia Wax writes this, the older regimented generations,
such as traditionalists and babyboomers, we're used to rules and
following them when questions orclarifications are sought.
As children, they were told to not ask questions and just
(50:34):
believe. Alphas will not be a generation
that's comfortable with just believing as they've been
ingrained to research everythingthat they hear.
So parents and clergy will need to continue to offer open
discussions about religion to entice the younger generation to
remain engaged during religious discussions or prayer.
There is not doubt that the alphas have the potential to
(50:55):
become a less religious generation, and their ingrained
skepticism will be a challenge for those older teachers,
employers and even clergy who wish to guide them.
So let's have comfortable spaceswhere people can challenge but
people can doubt, where people can ask deep questions and not
be shut down for it. It's good and it's necessary for
(51:15):
faith formation. When your young people question
something or doubt something, ithas to happen for them to take
ownership of their faith. OK #3 teach kids how to share
their faith and why it's important.
The One Hope study said this preteen show confidence about
sharing their faith, but many don't feel responsible to do so.
Notably, many have never been taught how to do this.
(51:38):
It's difficult to put into practice something you've never
been shown how to do. Young people can be incredible
ambassadors for Christ who sharewhat they believe with
enthusiasm and joy. But they need help and
encouragement to be able to do this.
And finally, you'll not be surprised to hear me say again,
equip parents as disciple makers.
(52:00):
And yes, that's the application for pretty much every
discussion, every side of the times we've explored today.
And for that, I make no apologies.
Here's why. Can we just do a little
something just to finish here byway of a show of hands as us, as
Christian leaders in the room. How many of us in this room were
brought up in a Christian household?
Give me a right look around the room, please.
(52:21):
That's why this is important. That's why this is important,
OK, Equip parents to be disciplemakers.
If we get one thing right, if weget one thing right, it has to
be to to help Christian parents to, well, to 1st to, to model a
vibrant faith and spirituality in their own lives.
Because you can't give what you don't possess, right.
(52:43):
And then inspire them with the absolute necessity of
intentionally helping their kidsto follow Jesus.
So that's Generation Alpha on the forefront of shaping our
world, concluding with the wordsof the psalmist for perpetuity.
God's ways will be passed down from one generation to the next,
(53:05):
even to those not yet born. In this way, every generation
will set its hope in God and notforget his wonderful works, but
keep his commandments. So let's.
Yeah, thanks. Thank you, Jesus, for these
(53:25):
wonderful people in this room. Thank you for the kids workers,
the youth workers, the volunteers, the senior leaders,
the parents, the the uncles and aunties, the grandparents who
are here. They've come to this seminar
because they want to do that thing that the psalmist
encouraged us to do, to pass on the gospel from one generation
to the next. Lord, we want to do it.
(53:46):
We want to do it well. So would you help us to be like
those men of Issachar, to understand the signs of the
times and to adjust our churches, our ministries, our
leadership accordingly? We need your help, Lord Jesus,
and we want to see your Kingdom come and your will done on earth
as it is in heaven in Jesus name, Amen.
Bless you guys. Sorry I've overrun by three
(54:06):
minutes. Don't forget to come and have a
chat to Naomi if you're a kids worker.
And yeah, enjoy the rest of yourday.
Come back to the same time tomorrow for how to build a
thriving children's ministry.
Good to see you all welcome along.
My name is Tim and I'm part of the team at Limitless.
Limitless is the national children's and youth ministry of
Eden Pentecostal churches acrossthe UK and Ireland.
I've been part of the Limitless team for 1/4 of my life.
I just realized recently, but somebody who's I'd like to
(00:22):
introduce you to somebody who's only been part of the Limitless
staff team at least for two weeks.
This is very, very exciting news.
I want to introduce you to to Naomi Nelson.
So Naomi, would you stand up andgive us a little, a little wave
now, Naomi, friends, this is very exciting is for the first
time ever on our staff team fulltime, our new Limitless kids
(00:44):
leader. That's exciting, isn't it?
So we just, we love children's ministry.
We want to invest and support you guys who are working with
kids and Naomi is here to help us as a ministry and to help our
Limitless Kids team to do that. So it's very exciting.
It's something we've been hopingfor and praying for and working
towards for years actually. And so it's really super
(01:04):
exciting. So Naomi's here, and I'd
encourage you before the day is out to say hi to Naomi and
connect, particularly if you're doing kids ministry in your
local church. Do say hi to Naomi.
All right. So I wonder if you can picture
the scene it, it's a scorching hot summer's day.
One a little bit like today, except hotter.
(01:26):
You know, those kind of days where you just spend the whole
day feeling kind of claggy. Do you know those?
It's, it's one of those days. And so I'm wearing like a light
pair of sports shorts and like one of my running vests.
OK, just to try and keep us cooltall as possible on this boiling
hot day. And I come down the stairs into
(01:49):
my kitchen and they're sitting at the table is my at the time 6
year old daughter Aria. OK.
And she looks up at me in my vest and my sports shorts, and
she goes like that just, I mean,a look of utter disdain and
(02:12):
disgust. And then she goes.
You are desperately, desperatelybad at fashion.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Generation Alpha, the next
generation to shape our future. OK, but I'm getting ahead of
myself. Before I introduce you to
(02:32):
Generation Alpha, what I want todo is a little bit of broader
generational exploration and forus to consider why it's
important that we understand thenuances and the nature of each
coming generation. OK, so here we go.
Here's a little whistle stop tour from 1925 to 1945.
(02:57):
We have the builders. OK, anyone in the room?
No. OK.
Also called the traditionalist, the Silent Generation, or the
Greatest Generation. They were shaped by the Great
Depression and by World War 2. They're known for strong morals.
And hang on a second. They're known for oh you want oh
(03:25):
the screen? Sorry, I got confused.
They're known for their strong morals, work ethic.
They had an authoritarian parenting style because many of
them served in the military during the war.
They built the post war cities that we have today.
They rebuilt our economy and ourinfrastructure.
(03:47):
And for the builders, screen time was only occasional at the
cinema. Next we've got the baby boomers.
Okay, born from 1946 to 64. Anybody in the room?
All right, here we are, the babyboomers.
And they were named after the economic and the baby boom that
(04:08):
followed World War 2. They lived through the Cold War
learning that life could be overat any moment.
And so therefore came this kind of carpe diem, live for the day
mentality. And from that, under the
oppression of the Cold War, camethe sexual revolution,
(04:28):
experimentation with drug use, and with that came increasing
divorce rates. The moon landing was a defining
event for that generation. But did it really happen though?
Yes. Screen time was TV in the homes,
initially in black and white before moving to color in the
(04:49):
mid 70s. Next we've got Generation X,
born between 1965 and 1979. Where are you in the room?
We've got a few XS in the room. So this was the first generation
to see computers in schools and in the home.
New technologies for Gen. X were the VCR.
(05:11):
Anyone remember the VCR recording movies off the TV?
Let's go. Cassette tapes.
Come on now. The mixtape.
Woo. Who needs a Spotify playlist
when you got a mixtape? Walkman's the Commodore 64.
Did anyone in the room own a Commodore?
Here we go now I feel like therewas more passion than that
(05:33):
Commodore 64 than there was in our worship earlier on.
Guys, I love a Commodore. Goodness me, MTV was defining.
This was the first generation that had both parents going out
to work. They were starting to marry
later on in life. Again, higher divorce rates even
than the baby boomers before them and before them.
(05:53):
And now screen time was TV's andpersonal computers.
And then Next up, we've got the anointed generation, Generation
Y or so-called millennials. Any millennials in the room?
Did you have avocado and poachedeggs for breakfast this morning?
I love it. I do love an avocado, I've got
(06:15):
to say also. Yeah.
So they're called millennials because they came of age in the
approach to or during the new Millennium, grew up in a strong
economy, became used to everydayluxuries, the September 11th
attacks and the War on Terror, with the fining for this
generation signalling a loss of innocence.
(06:37):
It's a tech savvy, entrepreneurial generation
generation many of you will knowthat were just locked out of the
housing market. I like this one.
Prefer lifestyle priorities to working ones.
Don't say Amen, just give me a job screen.
(06:57):
Should I ask that one in the interviews name?
Screen time was laptops, the Internet a little bit dial up.
Anyone remember parents? And they and these millennials
are the parents of Generation Alpha.
OK. And then we've got Gen.
Z from 95 to 2010, Gen. Z in the room or Gen.
(07:19):
Z if you're cool. You say it like that.
They were recession marked, of course, COVID marked, Wi-Fi
enabled, known generationally for declining mental health,
less time spent outdoors than inprevious generations, visually
oriented learning styles, sexually fluid.
They were self starters, globally connected and aware,
(07:42):
very climate, climate conscious,active in social issues.
It it's the first truly post Christian generation in that
it's the first generation to have been raised largely by non
Christians, so known for being spiritual but not religious.
And now for the first time, of course, the birth of the
(08:04):
smartphone came. So screen time was now on
smartphones, on tablets, apps, social media.
And now with millennials reaching adulthood and with Gen.
Z coming of age, Generation Alpha is the next generation to
shape our future. But before we get there, very
(08:27):
quick discussion time with the person next to you. 2 questions
for you. How do you think that the
generation you grew up in shapedyou there should be AD Why is it
important to understand the cultural hallmarks of each
coming generation? Do you think 2 minutes of
discussion, go for it. If you see someone on their own,
(08:54):
move across the room and and talk to them because we're going
to do a few bits of discussion include people around you.
All right, so just wrap that up.We got a lot to get through this
afternoon. Welcome.
If you've just joined us, by theway, you missed some amazing
(09:15):
jokes at the start. We had a nice time.
OK, All right. OK, so the Scripture, it says
this of the men of Issachar, that all these men, they
understood the signs of the times and therefore they knew
the best course for Israel to take.
(09:37):
And I believe that the men of Issachar serve as examples for
you and I today. Why?
Because they led according to anunderstanding of the times in
which they were ministering, theculture in which they were
ministering, they were able to perceive of the shifts and the
subtleties, the nuances and the nature of the culture around
(10:02):
them, and crucially, to allow those paradigms to inform their
practice. They, in other words, could lead
effectively because they engagedwith and understood the signs of
the times. Think of it this way, Because
(10:23):
every generation is shaped by the culture in which they were
raised, it follows then that themethodologies and models that
worked for previous generations won't necessarily translate for
the next. And so we've learnt how to open
(10:43):
up our Bibles and to do biblicalexegesis.
But I believe that if the churchis to flourish and thrive in our
day, we'll also need to learn how to do some cultural exegesis
right, to understand the signs of the times and to know the
best course for the church to take.
So what are the signs of the times?
(11:07):
What are the hallmarks of the next generation that we are
seeking to reach? Who are generation alpha?
Those are the questions we're going to dip our toes into over
the next few moments. And the way we're going to do it
is this. We're going to do 3DS.
OK. So first we're going to do data
(11:30):
and we're going to look at what the social studies and the
social sciences are telling us about this generation.
Then we're going to do a bit of discussion so that we can learn
from one another. And now I'm going to give a
little bit of direction as to how I'm interpreting the signs
of the times and reflecting on how that might affect how we
lead a minister today. So that's where we're going.
Sound OK If it doesn't, you're welcome to go to Queen Suite 2
(11:51):
and see what's going on there. OK, so Generation Alpha, right?
Beginning in 2010. Generation Alpha is so-called
because they are the first generation to be fully born and
and fully shaped in the 21st century, that they've also been
called Generation C because of what, COVID you've got it.
(12:13):
Yeah, they've been called generation glass up ages, global
Gen. multi modals, but they're now widely designated as
Generation Alpha. Courtesy of the Australian
social scientist Mark Mcgrindle.Now, quick little plug here, I
had the privilege of interviewing Mark Mcgrindle, who
came up with the name GenerationAlpha, which is now used all
(12:35):
over the globe on the Limitless Youth Ministry podcast.
And it's brilliant. He is so insightful.
So I'll give you a little prey see today.
But if you want to go further, please just get on your podcast
feed, find the Limitless Youth Ministry podcast and listen to
that conversation with Mark Mcgrindle, who is the world's
leading expert around GenerationAlpha.
I really encourage you to do that.
You'll find it really helpful. OK, so as I mentioned earlier,
(12:59):
Gen. Alpha, they're the children of
millennials with 2.5 million Gen.
Alphas being born into our worldevery single week.
Today they number in our globe nearly 2 billion.
But by 20-30 in five years time that the Generation Alpha will
be the most populous generation on the planet.
(13:22):
A 2024 study into Generation Alpha conducted by 1 Hope
concluded with these four headlines about Generation
Alpha. They said that they are diverse
#1 Gen. alpha and preteens are consuming vast amounts of global
media, are growing up in varied and changing family situations,
(13:43):
and are reflecting greater racial and ethnic diversity.
They are #2 connected. Young people are spending most
of their free time online and indicate they would spend more
if they could. The online landscape parents are
like, I know the online landscape is shaping their
future social, educational and professional lives in ways we
(14:04):
cannot yet anticipate #3 they'revulnerable.
Jen Alpha reports high rates of mental health challenges and
early exposure to sex and pornography.
They are young people growing upfast in an adult world.
We'll say more about that. Rooted #4 preteens express a
high level of satisfaction with their family life.
(14:26):
Many say that family members parents are their number one
source for guidance on life's important issues.
Sounds good, doesn't it? And just for fun, would anyone
like to hazard a guess at the most popular baby names for
Generation Alpha? I reckon you can get these.
Come on, shout them out. No, Yes, it is one of them.
(14:46):
You got it. What else we got, boys and
girls? George.
No, not George. close, though. Oh, yeah, No, Yeah, no, not
those Oliver. Here we go.
We've got an Oliver. OK, I'm going to tell you.
So. For boys, it's Oliver, Noah and
William. So close for the whole Harry
(15:08):
situation. And for girls, Charlotte, Amelia
and and Olivia are the most popular baby names.
Okay, it's not particularly relevant, Just be fun, right?
Let's let's take a little bit ofa deeper look at some of these
things. There are so many things that we
could talk about when it comes to Generation Alpha.
(15:29):
But with the time we have available, what I want to do is
delve just briefly into five, what I think are five key
headlines as it comes to this generation.
And as I say, data discussion direction, that's how we're
going to go. And there's really only one
place we can start in a surpriseto no one at Generation Alpha
and technology. OK, so as with Generation Z
(15:52):
before them, technology will be the defining hallmark for this
generation. They are and will continue to be
the most technologically savvy generation ever.
They are growing up in a world where there are seven times the
number of devices as there are people on the planet.
(16:15):
They don't know a world without the iPad and have become a part
of an unintentional and likely extremely harmful global
experiment where screens were placed in front of them as
children at the same time as pacifiers to act as pacifiers to
(16:36):
give us parents just a brief moment of peace.
And so their first toys were mumand dad's smartphones, right?
In fact, 57% of Generation Alphaown a tablet of their own, and
43% own a smartphone. 66% started using tablets before the
(16:58):
age of 5 and 34% before the age of 4.
But one school teacher is quotedas saying Gen.
Z grew up watching YouTube, whereas Gen.
Alpha grew up being babysat by YouTube.
And it's not just smartphones and tablets.
(17:20):
Unlike Gen. Z before them, AI has been an
ever present in Generation Alpha's childhood, with 41%
speaking to smart speakers from the age of 6 or younger.
One MIT study found that children say AI is friendly,
(17:42):
trustworthy, and smarter than themselves.
And I have, on more than one occasion, addressed my wife as
Alexa. Can I have a cup of tea?
Social media use is not so surprisingly high, despite the
fact that the minimum age requirement for most social
(18:02):
platforms is 1346% of 11. Sorry, 7 to 12 year olds have a
social media account, and for 11to 12 year olds that that figure
is 68%. Even though the recommended age
is 13, they're all younger than that.
And I've yet to mention the single most pervasive technology
(18:26):
for Generation Alphas, which is anyone you've said about social
media gaming. Exactly.
Gaming is humongous. 73% of 8 to11 year olds play video games
most days or every day. And for 11 to 12 year old old
(18:47):
boys, that's 90% who play every single day.
Now, what's common in all of this?
It's like, yeah, I've been to the Gen.
Z seminar and I've heard pretty much the same thing.
What's common in all of this is how alphas are using these
technologies differently from their parents generation and
(19:09):
even from Gen. Z before them, because
Generation Alpha are more tech creators than they are tech
consumers. So rather than like showcasing
their holidays and their pat lunches on Instagram, they are
creating reels and putting theirown spin on trends on TikTok
rather than gaming solo. You know this.
(19:30):
They've got their headsets and their mics on and they're
connected to their friends as they're gaming.
Rather than participating in preconstructed digital worlds, they
are creating through platforms like Roblox and Minecraft.
By the way, I took my son to seethe Minecraft movie and I will
never get those two hours of my life back.
(19:53):
Oh my goodness, I still haven't recovered.
Anyway, what was I saying? OK, so whilst technology is is
shaping this generation, the point is they are also shaping
it. Which isn't to say that the
impact isn't net negative overall.
We know that on average, Jen Alpha U screens for 4.6 hours a
(20:17):
day outside of schoolwork. With 51% saying they feel good
about the amount of time they spend on screens, 40% saying
they'd do more than that if theycould, and only 9% of generation
alpha reflecting that they use it too much.
But what you and I know is that study after study after study
(20:42):
has demonstrated the negative impact of excessive screen time
on a child's mental health, on their social skills, on their
creativity, creativity, on theirbrain development, on their
relational intimacy. There is a far greater risk of
exposure to pornography and to cyberbullying.
(21:03):
It's training our kids to anticipate instant
gratification, which then circumnavigates the opportunity
to develop resilience and critically, to learn self
regulation. If you work in a school or in
children's ministry, you've experienced that to be true.
How do we regulate without a screen in front of us?
(21:25):
And all of that's really well trodden ground, and it requires
A seminar or probably 3 or 4 on its own to get into that stuff.
And so today, what I want to do is focus on 2 aspects of
technology that are unique, I think to Generation Alpha and
therefore worthy of our attention in this conversation.
And the first is exposure to marketing.
(21:49):
OK so YouTube is the second mostpopular search engine after
Google, but for Generation Alpha, it's #1 Google has 3 1/2
billion searches a day, but YouTube has almost 5 billion
streams every single day. The most popular Youtubers for
(22:10):
Generation Alpha are PewDiePie, Dude Perfect, Mr. Beast, The Odd
Ones Out, and Ryan's World. This guy makes for a fascinating
study or a case study when it comes to generation alpha and
exposure to marketing. Ryan here has well over
(22:34):
24,000,000 subscribers and over 35 billion views of his
channel's content. He is one of the world's leading
toy reviewers. His YouTube channel started in
2015 when he was just three years old.
(22:56):
His parents took videos here of him opening new toys and him
giving his review to the camera.And such was the success of
these unboxing videos, as they've been come to be called,
that Ryan's mum get this resigned from her job as a
chemistry teacher to give her full attention to building
(23:18):
Ryan's brand full time. But that was just the beginning.
The success of Ryan's Toy Reviewchannel led to the establishment
of Sunlight Entertainment, a company which now has a team of
30 staff who helped to produce around 25 videos a week.
(23:38):
The channel has been described by The Verge as a blend of
innocent childhood antics and relentless, often overwhelming
consumerism. Mark Mcgrindle comments.
In this way, Generation Alpha don't differentiate as much
between advertising and content.In fact, advertising is hard to
(24:01):
distinguish because it is part of the social media world and
they're not trying to screen it out as previous generations did,
nor are they skeptical about it.In a world of social media, the
advertisers are often the socialmedia influences and the content
creators themselves. They are the ones who place The
(24:24):
Who place the products, endorsing the brands and
starring in the ads that Generation Alpha consume.
If it is promoting a brand or endorsing a product, it is an
ad. But for Generation Alpha, it's
just content. So the line has been blurred.
And that is an interesting thingfor us to pay attention to with
(24:47):
this generation. The second interesting fact, I
already alluded to it, I said we'd come back to it, is this
phenomenon of up aging. Now up aging is the social
phenomenon where children are growing up faster at a younger
age because of what they're being exposed to through their
(25:09):
interactions with technology, not least exposure to graphic
adult content. The average child is given a
smartphone at the age of 12 and by the age of 1494% have viewed
(25:29):
pornography. That's called cause and effect,
and this has LED Neil Postman toreflect on what he describes as
the disappearance of childhood. Some of you've heard that phrase
where because of exposure to adult themes, kids are becoming
like mini adults before they actually need to.
(25:51):
But what we understand working with kids is that play and
innocence are rites of passage for kids, and they need to be
preserved for healthy development and growth, right?
But what's particularly fascinating and actually really
quite frightening about this whole up ageing phenomenon is
(26:16):
that the impact is not only mental, it's actually physical.
The World Health Organization estimates that children are
beginning puberty on average three months earlier every
single decade. Again, Regrindle says in less
than a century, the onset of puberty in girls has gone from
(26:38):
14 1/2 years to 10 1/2 years today, with a trend similar for
boys with puberty setting on setting before the age of 12.
My wife, Jan is is a head teacher in a primary school and
she we were reflecting on this together and she observed for me
(26:59):
the high percentage of young girls who are now starting their
periods at a much younger age than when she first started
teaching 15 years ago, often even as early as year 4, with a
vast majority of girls fully pubescent by year 6.
(27:21):
All of which is to say that thispervasive nature of new and
emerging technologies cannot be overstated when it comes to how
this generation is being formed and shaped.
So that's the data. Now it's time for the
discussion. A couple of questions for you.
(27:42):
Again, if you see people are on their own, please get up, walk
across the room. Let's engage in discussion
together. Here are some questions.
What are some of the challenges you observe have been created by
the centrality of technology forGeneration Alpha?
And how might the church adapt to communicate the gospel
relevantly in the digital age? Go for it.
(28:03):
I'm just realizing it's 333 and we're still on #1 so we're not
going to get all these done, I'mafraid.
Next year. We'll do Part 2 next May.
All right, bring it in. You can carry on these
conversations afterwards as well, of course.
All right, here's how. Here's how I'm understanding
(28:26):
these size of the times. A few top tips for you.
Number one, is this model healthy digital boundaries?
Please, will you ask yourself this question?
If our kids used their devices like you do, would that be a
good thing? Let's not ask our children and
(28:47):
young people to do something that we're not willing to do
ourselves or to model ourselves.Let's model it in our own lives
as leaders, OK #2 is balanced digital learning tools with
physical interaction. So one of the great gifts of the
digital age is that we're blessed, aren't we, with a just
there's, we've never, ever, there's never been a time where
(29:08):
we've had more resources at our disposal that we can use to
engage this generation with the gospel.
So yes, let's consider how we might integrate video and media
and images and VR and other digital tools into our
discipleship while still leavingplenty of room for personal
interaction, physical conversation, you know, games,
(29:32):
outdoor activities, which hopefully if we've got time,
we'll say a bit more on later. And then finally #3 I think this
is so important. Engage collaborative learning
styles. If we want to engage this
generation with the message of the gospel, we're gonna need to
learn how to move from didactic teaching methodologies to those
(29:53):
that are more tactile and participatory, aren't we?
And, and that's true not only inour kids ministries, I think by
the way, and also to adapt our leadership styles from command
and control to contribution and collaboration.
Mcgrindle writes this. The ideal leader for Gen.
(30:15):
Z and Generation Alpha, whether that be in the classroom or in
the home or the workplace, is one who values communication and
creates an environment of transparency and respect.
The preferred leadership style of these generations is one
that's more focused on consensusthan command.
It's more participative than autocratic, and it's more
(30:36):
flexible and organic than structured and higher miracle.
That brings some challenges for us as we lead in the church,
doesn't it? So three things to think about
with Gen. Alpha and technology.
Let's move on to Gen. Alpha and family now.
Generation Alpha is one of the first generations to experience
(31:00):
a major shift in the family structure.
So families consisting of two parents in their first marriage
are now diminishing in number with only half, 50% of
Generation Alpha now living withboth of their biological
(31:21):
parents. So the new reality for alphas is
blended families, cohabiting parents, single parents, even
same sex parents. And so alphas are becoming
accustomed to a world where children don't necessarily have
a mum and a dad, with surrogatesand adoption allowing for same
(31:43):
sex couples to have children. Or so many alphas, right?
Stahlia Wax have multiple parental figures, with the
nuclear family evolving into having sets of mothers, fathers,
grandparents, and siblings. But with all of that said, it's
(32:03):
true to say that family is stillthe most important and an
overwhelmingly positive relationship for Generation
Alpha. 95% of Generation Alpha say that their family experience
has been good overall, with preteens maintaining that their
parents are their most importantinfluence when it comes to
(32:26):
lives. Life's most important questions.
74% are more likely to go to their parents with questions
about gender identity and sexuality than they are to
religious leaders, us or to textthe Bible.
They're also 74% more likely to go to their mums and 31% more
(32:50):
likely to go to their dads. Sorry, dads to talk about faith
than they are to any other adultkids and youth workers, US
included in their church. OK, so a few headlines there.
Let's jump back into some discussion again.
What does the shifting nature offamily for Generation Alpha mean
(33:10):
for ministry today? And what does Gen.
Alpha's positive and trusting outlook on family tell us about
disciple making for this generation?
Couple of minutes and I'll give you my thoughts.
Go for it. All right, let's begin to wrap
that up. We definitely needed some more
(33:35):
time to discuss these things, didn't you?
I'm sorry. OK, let's pull it in and let me
share with you my thoughts on this particular sign of the
time. So #1 is this Equip parents as
disciple makers? Like, this is a key headline.
(33:56):
If you forget all of my hilarious jokes and just
remember one thing, Please remember this Equip parents as
disciple makers. You know, kids ministry is so
important. We believe in it deeply.
We've just employed A limitless kids team leader.
We want to do it really, really well.
And yet we all have to face the reality that you might be the
(34:18):
best kids worker on the face of the planet and you will still
not have the same influence on that child as their parents.
And so therefore equipping parents to be not just parents,
but disciple makers is probably the single most fruitful thing
you can do in children's ministry.
(34:40):
This is a vital thing and it's just AI think it's a recurring
thing that comes up as we reflect over all of these signs
of the time. So that's number one, that's a
major headline from today. Secondly, build churches on the
principles of family, not of business.
It won't have escaped your attention that lots of the
leadership training we receive in Christian ministry is built
(35:02):
on the principles of business. And I'm grateful for that.
I've learned loads of amazing things that have really helped
me in my leadership role. But I also with that, want to
urge some caution because the generation we're seeking to
reach here is one who is deeply cynical about institutions for
whom denominations, let's face it, are really very off putting
(35:25):
and who have rejected organised religion altogether.
And yet, as we've just seen, on the other hand, remain extremely
positive and trusting about family.
So it's my conviction therefore,that if the church is to
effectively disciple this generation, we're going to have
(35:47):
to build churches that are rooted primarily on the
principles of family rather thanthat of business.
Because in a business we hire and fire employees, but in the
church we raise sons and daughters.
The apostle says this of his ministry philosophy.
I love it. Just as a nursing mother cares
(36:10):
for her children, so we cared for you because we loved you so
much. We were delighted to share with
you not only the gospel of God, but also our lives as well.
And to the Corinthians who he wrote, though you have countless
guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers.
For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
(36:30):
I urge you then to be imitators of me.
It's the language of spiritual parenting, isn't it?
The language of family. So I'd encourage us to take heed
of this from from Francis Chan. He says too many pastors, maybe
even kids workers, youth workersare aspiring to be great
writers, speakers and leaders. There are not enough who want to
(36:52):
be known as great mums and dads and those who serve well as mums
and dads never become known because it's not highly valued.
But I believe if we're going to help this generation to to
follow Jesus, we we've got to remember that, you know, before
the church was an organization, an institution or a
denomination, we were first a family.
(37:15):
OK, Holy smokes, it's called 2 already.
OK, let's try and do two more. I don't want to skip past this
one because it's probably one ofthe reasons she came here.
OK, so generation alpha and and sexuality.
So here's the thing. Gender identity is not so much a
hot topic for this generation asit is just a normal topic.
(37:36):
Right? So compared with previous
generations, Gen. alpha are morelikely to be hearing about and
personally dealing with questions of gender and
sexuality from a very young age.So for example, in my kids
school I've got an 11 year old and an 8 year old, both at
primary school. They recently employed A
(37:57):
transgender TA who came into their school.
Nothing was like. I totally get why nothing was
said about it to parents that that was going to happen.
It, you know, like we just heardabout it from the kids one day
and it, it kind of encouraged some really helpful and fruitful
discussions between us as parents and our kids.
(38:19):
But the point is, it's just an unspoken reality of everyday
life for Generation Alpha. As another example, my family
has developed a little bit of a tradition of starting our
Sabbath day on Saturday evening with homemade pizzas and
gladiators. Come on now.
(38:41):
Amazing stuff. And it as it turned out, the
eventual winner of Gladiators inthis series was a gay woman who
every week was being cheered on by her partner and you know, at
the end of the event, running over and hugging and kissing and
all, and all of that stuff. My point is these things,
they're just there right in front of our kids every single
(39:03):
day and being presented as normative.
And that's the power of it. It's the power of normalization.
What's interesting, however, is that research from One Hope
actually reveals mixed views at this early stage of Gen. alpha's
development. So when asked what Gen. gender
is, 69% say that it's the sex person is born with.
(39:28):
However, 57% say it is OK or maybe OK for somebody to change
their body to a different gender.
Now this is what's interesting. Whilst that number is still
relatively high, it is much lower than that for Gen.
Z who have had more time to be shaped by the pervasive cultural
(39:51):
narratives of the world around sexuality and and gender
identity. Regarding sex and marriage, 55%
of Jen Alpha say it's OK or might be OK to have sex before
marriage. Half of Jen Alpha feel the same
about same sex marriage. Most preteens hold those
viewpoints. However, boys and older
(40:14):
teenagers tend to be less traditional when it comes to
premarital sex. No surprise there.
The key headline to take away isthat Generation Alpha.
Are not too young to be being exposed to issues of sexuality
(40:34):
and gender identity and sadly often through the prism of
pornography. Research has shown that most
young people are exposed to pornography for the first time
at around the age of 12, some even earlier.
And that as we saw earlier, virtually all of them, 94% of
(40:56):
them have been exposed to it by the age of 14.
And all of this has some very important implications for
ministry. So one last conversation is
this, What does the early exposure to sexual themes for
Generation Alpha or that should be how, not what?
(41:16):
How does the early exposure to sexual themes for Gen.
Alpha affect how we do ministry today?
And how do we teach a biblical vision for sexuality in a way
that's age appropriate? Please solve those two big
questions in 2 minutes. All right, well, I'm glad you
(41:37):
solved that. Well done.
Let's draw it in. Let me give you a few headlines
and then we're going. I'm just going to do one more.
That's going to be important. OK, Three really important
things for us on this one, guys.And please, please hear this
now. This is so important.
Do not be silent on these issues.
(42:00):
Look, if we are not speaking to our kids and young people about
these issues, it does not mean that they are not talking about
them. They're talking about them at
school. They're being exposed to them
through their social media feeds.
They are being shown images by their friends.
And if the church continues to remain silent out of fear of
(42:23):
saying the wrong thing or being cancelled or upsetting people,
or, please hear me, of losing people from our congregations,
then we are abdicating the responsibility that God has
given us for the discipleship ofour kids by just hand sending
(42:43):
them over to be conformed to thepattern of this world and to be
shaped by relentless cultural forces that I promise you, are
not shy of speaking to these issues.
We must speak to it. We must speak to it.
The report from 1 Hope said thisgender and sexuality will
(43:03):
continue to be defining issues both in culture and in the
church. We cannot afford to ignore these
conversations, especially as ouryoung people encounter the
world's perspective everywhere they go.
But more than remaining silent, let's begin the conversation
early. We've got to get there first,
guys. We've got to get there before
(43:25):
the world does. And, and yes, of course that
needs to happen in a way that's age appropriate.
And yes, of course, we need to do that with proper parental
consent, but sex, sexuality, gender, pornography are all
issues that are coming to Gen. Alpha earlier and earlier.
And so the church needs to be speaking into that space at a
(43:46):
younger age. So let's have the first word.
Let's help them to build solid foundations rather than having
to come in after the foundationshave already been laid by the
world and having to try and dismantle them, which is a much
more difficult job. So I know you love resources.
Here's a couple for you. I want to point you in the
(44:06):
direction of the growing up resource.
And this is for younger kids. This is the pre teenage by faith
in kids. OK.
And we interviewed Ed on the podcast.
He was with us at Limitless Leaders, our kids and youth
workers gathering really, reallygood stuff.
And this is to talk to younger kids around issues of identity,
gender and sexuality. So check out Faith and Kids.
(44:28):
Ed Drew is a good guy. And then for older alphas, we
partnered with Living Out, a really great organization to
develop a series of Limitless TVon God and sexuality, the
biggest questions that young people ask around sexuality.
So for those older alphas, that's a perfect resource.
It's free and it's on our YouTube channel, youtube.com,
Forward slash, Limitless Elim. Just go use that with young
(44:50):
people. 2 tools there to help you to talk to kids and to young
people about these issues. And then finally, we're coming
back to this issue again. Equip parents with the tools
that they need to talk to their kids.
Again, it's worth noting, as we've already seen, that family
is the primary influence on Gen.Alpha, even about this topic.
(45:11):
Even more than their friends, even more than their social
media feeds. 3 out of four preteens go to a family member
most often for guidance on thesetopics. 3/4 But as we know,
these conversations are often uncomfortable for families to
have. They're wondering, where do we
start? You know, how do we broach the
subject? It's awkward, it's
(45:32):
uncomfortable, right? But addressing these topics is
crucial, isn't it? And the role that the family
plays cannot be overstated. And so we want to help them to
impart values and to have these discussions well, so we want to
equip parents. OK, I'm going to skip past
mental health because, you know,we've chatted about our loads,
(45:53):
right? And we're going to finish.
Sorry about that. I'll send you the notes.
We're going to finish by talkingabout Gen.
Alpha and faith in these last few minutes.
OK, So what are the projections then when it comes to generation
Alpha and faith formation? Well, one notable trend that is
(46:15):
continuing to build from Gen. Z before them is a spiritual
openness not necessarily definedby religion, but by
spirituality. So one in five Christians and
almost one in three non Christians regularly engage with
(46:35):
activities like astrology, crystal healing and manifesting.
This spiritual openness does also translate to openness to
Jesus with belief in Jesus as the Son and God strong among
Gen. alpha Christians as you cansee there on the screen.
(46:57):
An encouraging point to note is the this is really encouraging.
I love this is the number of Christian generation alphas who
feel confident about sharing their faith and who feel
responsible for doing so. However, it is worth noting that
this sense of confidence and responsibility shifts
(47:20):
dramatically with the degree to which they have been encouraged
and equipped to share their faith.
A less encouraging point to note, however, is the seeming
apathy or lack of intentionalityin disciple making displayed by
Christian parents. 51% of Christian parents read the Bible
(47:44):
with their kids. I think that's quite low, isn't
it? 41% prayed out loud with their
kids in the last week. And only 15% of Christian
parents say their most importantparenting goal is to pass on
their faith to their kids. So it we can't be that surprised
then that therefore only 50% of children who grow up in a
(48:04):
Christian family retain their faith into adulthood.
So here then are four key elements that I'm seeing that I
think are important for us as leaders, for us to the church,
for faith formation, for Generation Alpha.
And we'll finish here. OK #1 is this facilitate
(48:24):
spiritual experience? Spiritual experience.
This is a generation who are hungry for the spiritual, not
afraid of it. They're experimenting with
crystals and you know, witch talk and tarot and all of that
kind of stuff. So let's let's have kids
(48:45):
ministries that and youth ministries that kids and young
people don't have to leave and then go on witch talk to try and
have a spiritual experience. Let's have kids and youth
ministries that facilitate transformational encounters with
the Holy Spirit where kids can pray and can prophecy and can
speak in tongues and can pray for healing and can encounter
(49:06):
Jesus for themselves. So they don't need to go in
search of tarot cards and crystals and and all of that
stuff. The apostle said my message and
preaching were not with wise andpersuasive words, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit's power.
Why? So that your faith wouldn't rest
on human wisdom, but on God's power.
We know, don't we? Strong faith foundations are
built on revelation, not just information.
(49:29):
So let's facilitate spiritual experience.
This one's really important. I don't think we often think
about it, but encourage and invite challenging questions.
So here's the thing. In order for a child's faith to
last into adulthood, it has to mature beyond the It's true
(49:50):
because my parents said so and my church said so Faith.
And for that to happen, they will need space to wrestle with
difficult questions, to air somehonest doubts, and critically,
to not be shut down for it, right?
It's only through questioning that they can begin to take
(50:12):
personal ownership of their faith and then, you know,
ensuring that their faith is robust and and enduring.
And Dalia Wax writes this, the older regimented generations,
such as traditionalists and babyboomers, we're used to rules and
following them when questions orclarifications are sought.
As children, they were told to not ask questions and just
(50:34):
believe. Alphas will not be a generation
that's comfortable with just believing as they've been
ingrained to research everythingthat they hear.
So parents and clergy will need to continue to offer open
discussions about religion to entice the younger generation to
remain engaged during religious discussions or prayer.
There is not doubt that the alphas have the potential to
(50:55):
become a less religious generation, and their ingrained
skepticism will be a challenge for those older teachers,
employers and even clergy who wish to guide them.
So let's have comfortable spaceswhere people can challenge but
people can doubt, where people can ask deep questions and not
be shut down for it. It's good and it's necessary for
(51:15):
faith formation. When your young people question
something or doubt something, ithas to happen for them to take
ownership of their faith. OK #3 teach kids how to share
their faith and why it's important.
The One Hope study said this preteen show confidence about
sharing their faith, but many don't feel responsible to do so.
Notably, many have never been taught how to do this.
(51:38):
It's difficult to put into practice something you've never
been shown how to do. Young people can be incredible
ambassadors for Christ who sharewhat they believe with
enthusiasm and joy. But they need help and
encouragement to be able to do this.
And finally, you'll not be surprised to hear me say again,
equip parents as disciple makers.
(52:00):
And yes, that's the application for pretty much every
discussion, every side of the times we've explored today.
And for that, I make no apologies.
Here's why. Can we just do a little
something just to finish here byway of a show of hands as us, as
Christian leaders in the room. How many of us in this room were
brought up in a Christian household?
Give me a right look around the room, please.
(52:21):
That's why this is important. That's why this is important,
OK, Equip parents to be disciplemakers.
If we get one thing right, if weget one thing right, it has to
be to to help Christian parents to, well, to 1st to, to model a
vibrant faith and spirituality in their own lives.
Because you can't give what you don't possess, right.
(52:43):
And then inspire them with the absolute necessity of
intentionally helping their kidsto follow Jesus.
So that's Generation Alpha on the forefront of shaping our
world, concluding with the wordsof the psalmist for perpetuity.
God's ways will be passed down from one generation to the next,
(53:05):
even to those not yet born. In this way, every generation
will set its hope in God and notforget his wonderful works, but
keep his commandments. So let's.
Yeah, thanks. Thank you, Jesus, for these
(53:25):
wonderful people in this room. Thank you for the kids workers,
the youth workers, the volunteers, the senior leaders,
the parents, the the uncles and aunties, the grandparents who
are here. They've come to this seminar
because they want to do that thing that the psalmist
encouraged us to do, to pass on the gospel from one generation
to the next. Lord, we want to do it.
(53:46):
We want to do it well. So would you help us to be like
those men of Issachar, to understand the signs of the
times and to adjust our churches, our ministries, our
leadership accordingly? We need your help, Lord Jesus,
and we want to see your Kingdom come and your will done on earth
as it is in heaven in Jesus name, Amen.
Bless you guys. Sorry I've overrun by three
(54:06):
minutes. Don't forget to come and have a
chat to Naomi if you're a kids worker.
And yeah, enjoy the rest of yourday.
Come back to the same time tomorrow for how to build a
thriving children's ministry.
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