Millennial Missionaries

Millennials in the U.S. have been characterized as uninterested in religion, as defectors from religious institutions, and as agnostic about the role of religious identity in their culture. Amid the rise of so-called "nones," though, there has also been a countervailing trend: an increase in religious piety among some millennial Catholics. The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), which began evangelizing college students on American university campuses in 1998, hires recent college graduates to evangelize college students and promote an attractive and culturally savvy Catholicism. These millennial Catholics have personal relationships with Jesus, attend Mass daily, and know and defend papal teachings, while also being immersed in U.S. popular culture. With their skinny jeans, devotional tattoos, and large-framed glasses, FOCUS missionaries embody a hip, attractive style of Catholicism. They promote a faith that interweaves distinctly Catholic identity with outreach methods of twentieth-century evangelical Protestants and the anxieties of middle-class emerging adulthood. Though this new generation of missionaries lives according to strict gender essentialism prescribed by papal teachings-including the notions that men lead while women follow and that biology dictates gender roles-they also support stay-at-home fatherhood and women earning MBAs. Millennial Missionaries examines how these young people navigate their Catholic and American identities in the twenty-first century. Illuminating the ways missionaries are reshaping American Catholic identity, Katherine Dugan explores the contemporary U.S. religious landscape from the perspective of millennials who proudly proclaim "I am Catholic"-and devote years of their lives to convincing others to do the same.

Millennials in the U.S. have been characterized as uninterested in religion, as defectors from religious institutions, and as agnostic about the role of religious identity in their culture. Amid the rise of so-called "nones," though, there has also been a countervailing trend: an increase in religious piety among some millennial Catholics. The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), which began evangelizing college students on American university campuses in 1998, hires recent college graduates to evangelize college students and promote an attractive and culturally savvy Catholicism. These millennial Catholics have personal relationships with Jesus, attend Mass daily, and know and defend papal teachings, while also being immersed in U.S. popular culture. With their skinny jeans, devotional tattoos, and large-framed glasses, FOCUS missionaries embody a hip, attractive style of Catholicism. They promote a faith that interweaves distinctly Catholic identity with outreach methods of twentieth-century evangelical Protestants and the anxieties of middle-class emerging adulthood. Though this new generation of missionaries lives according to strict gender essentialism prescribed by papal teachings-including the notions that men lead while women follow and that biology dictates gender roles-they also support stay-at-home fatherhood and women earning MBAs. Millennial Missionaries examines how these young people navigate their Catholic and American identities in the twenty-first century. Illuminating the ways missionaries are reshaping American Catholic identity, Katherine Dugan explores the contemporary U.S. religious landscape from the perspective of millennials who proudly proclaim "I am Catholic"-and devote years of their lives to convincing others to do the same.

This book focuses on the passing of the torch in cross-cultural missions and church ministry to the Millennial generation. Jim and Judy Raymo grapple with big questions and concerns in Millennials and Mission, while giving an in-depth look at this up-and-coming generation of young people and the future of missions in its hands. They highlight the strengths and weaknesses of this populous group born between 1982 and 2000, comparing and contrasting its characteristics with those of the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers. In spite of the challenges ahead, Millennials and Mission gives a clearly optimistic picture of the Millennial generation’s potential contribution to the accomplishing of the Great Commission.

As mainstream media cries out that the millennial generation has killed everything from cereal to office jobs, it must also be asked: have millennials killed Christian missions? With the rise of new technologies, social and political movements, and increasing numbers of religious nones, the church as we know it is facing serious turmoil at the hands of this new generation of adults. Here, a millennial and a baby boomer invite the reader into a dialogue about the future of missions and the future of the Western church. From a missiological reading of the Bible to the contemporary debate over Christian social justice and the ethical dilemmas of evangelism, this book plays out the intergenerational tensions within the church, and provides a platform from which to view the present and future of an institution that is so rapidly changing.

A God-Designed Generation for a God-Given Task The scale and scope of the global, technological, and cultural changes of the past two decades are unprecedented. For the first time in history, American churches and agencies are mobilizing from a post-Christian cultural context and to new collaborations with a global mission force. Amidst these rapid changes, how can mission leaders continue to ensure that we fulfill the Great Commission mandate to disciple Christ-worshippers from every tribe, tongue, and nation? In Mobilizing Gen Z, Jolene Erlacher and Katy White blend leading research with the voices of current mission practitioners to unpack the dynamics behind our changing culture and the resulting impact on the church. And perhaps not-so-surprisingly, they reach the conclusion that God has already provided a solution for such a time as this—Gen Z (b. 1996– 2010). Through an in-depth profile of this rising cohort—their characteristics, worldview, strengths and weaknesses—the authors illustrate both why Gen Z is sorely needed and why we must seek to engage them differently than previous generations. Encouraging and winsome, Mobilizing Gen Z provides practical tools and strategies for engaging, equipping, and retaining Gen Z missionaries. Are we ready to pass the torch?

American Millennials--the generation born in the 1980s and 1990s--have been leaving organized religion in unprecedented numbers. For a long time, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was an exception: nearly three-quarters of people who grew up Mormon stayed that way into adulthood. In The Next Mormons, Jana Riess demonstrates that things are starting to change. Drawing on a large-scale national study of four generations of current and former Mormons as well as dozens of in-depth personal interviews, Riess explores the religious beliefs and behaviors of young adult Mormons, finding that while their levels of belief remain strong, their institutional loyalties are less certain than their parents' and grandparents'. For a growing number of Millennials, the tensions between the Church's conservative ideals and their generation's commitment to individualism and pluralism prove too high, causing them to leave the faith-often experiencing deep personal anguish in the process. Those who remain within the fold are attempting to carefully balance the Church's strong emphasis on the traditional family with their generation's more inclusive definition that celebrates same-sex couples and women's equality. Mormon families are changing too. More Mormons are remaining single, parents are having fewer children, and more women are working outside the home than a generation ago. The Next Mormons offers a portrait of a generation navigating between traditional religion and a rapidly changing culture.

This study makes a serious attempt to trace the millennial roots in American Protestant theology westward into the old Northwest of the USA. The author seeks to prove that the New England-New York-Michigan transfer to the West began a diaspora of millennial ideas which would shape evangelical Protestantism even to the present day.

Survey history of the beginnings of LDS Missionary work in Central and Eastern Europe during the 20th Century. Matthew K. Heiss edited and annotated the Mischa Markow journal in the appendix.