Speaking Across Generations

Messages That Satisfy Boomers, Xers, Millennials, Gen Z, and Beyond

Darrell E. Hall

• Publisher: IVP
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781514003091
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Communication & Public Speaking

Different generations communicate differently. If you are speaking across generations, you need to understand how different generations hear. Pastor Darrell Hall (a millennial) harnesses the insights of generational science to explore how generations are distinct people groups with their own cultures and languages. With fresh research from the Barna Group on how generations communicate, Hall sheds light on how each generation receives verbal messages, from boomers and Xers to millennials and Gen Z and those not yet named.Discover how generational science can equip you to communicate effectively. Bridge the communication gap between speaker and listener so people of all generations can hear clearly.

Generational Science and Its Many Benefits

It nearly shook me to my core when I finally noticed what was happening. By this time, I had been promoted. No longer was I a twenty-something youth pastor giving oversight to students at four campuses. Now, I was an almost thirty-something campus pastor responsible for shepherding one campus. The church campus I was pastoring was diverse in the ages of the people who were actively attending. I would regularly ask myself, “How did this happen?”

I feared losing the respect of people old enough to be my parents and grandparents. I pondered so many anxious questions like: Would they take me seriously? Could my normally silly personality be viewed as juvenile? Could they accept Holy Communion from someone wearing Jordan 1s and slim-fit jeans? Maybe I should wear a robe and be more serious, I thought. But then, I feared, I might lose myself and my organic connection with those in my own age group. Not to mention that my years as a youth pastor lingered in my mind as the glory days where I could easily connect with an age group otherwise foreign to many adult communicators—teenagers. I was not ready to let go of whatever it was about me that helped teens see me as someone they enjoyed hearing.

For almost seven years, I pastored and preached with these thoughts influencing almost everything I did. One Sunday, I would wear a cassock and wingtip boots. The next Sunday, I would wear a T-shirt and jeans. My frantic wardrobe choices reflected on the outside the tug of war I was feeling on the inside. After years of fretting, the generations kept coming and the Lord kept blessing our fellowship. Finally, the Spirit led me to investigate and inform myself on what it meant to preach effectively to all generations.

Pastors and preachers of all ages have experienced anxieties like mine. Some well-known faces have undergone wardrobe changes. Others have massively renovated their pulpits and platforms. Preaching novices have undertaken years of academic rigor. Then there are those who have apprenticed and served faithfully on church staffs to gain much-needed experience. The seasoned preacher still wants to appeal to the young. The preaching phenom yearns for the respect of the aged. All the above, and more, are practical moves preachers of varying capacities make to maintain their ability to connect with their audience.

Perhaps you picked up this book hoping to learn something that would help you reach a generation or age group you fear you are missing in your church. If so, I ask you to sit with the findings and concepts in these pages before you do anything else. Prayerfully engage the content before you makeover your look, upgrade your stage, or hire more people from the generation you hope to reach. If you can help it. For as long as it takes you to read this book, put your fears and anxieties on pause. I am only asking you to consider doing what I have done too.

The findings in this book stem from insights I have gained from focus groups within the metro-Atlanta congregation1 where I serve and results from a survey conducted across America. The nationwide survey was uniquely developed and organized by me in collaboration with the research team at Barna Group, who disseminated it nationwide. In addition to the questions we asked, we played audio snippets from sermons of multiple preachers. We then correlated the clips preferred with the age and generation of the person who selected them. What we discovered is that generations have their own language they prefer to hear from communicators. I will name these languages and give examples of how to implement them in the wording and reasoning of our sermons.

Before we get there though, let’s look at what I learned from my congregation. As I put my own anxieties aside, I learned that the characteristics that made me an effective intergenerational preacher were not primarily aesthetic at all. My worries about wardrobe were not as important as I feared. The stage could have used some upgrades, but people continued to attend and happily look at a traditional pulpit with a wooden podium. What I learned is that there were traits that the people in my church most appreciated. These traits were valued highly by people across every generation. I learned from my congregation what I was doing by mistake and without intentionality. Gaining clarity on these traits helped me to focus my efforts on effectiveness and not aesthetics.

Characteristics of Effective Intergenerational Preaching

I conducted focus groups of three to eight people per generation and surveyed the entire congregation. I met with elders, boomers, Gen Xers, millennials, and Gen Zers. After conducting the focus groups, the characteristics of an effective intergenerational preacher became clear: one who is characterized by Bible-based content, aha moments, no emotionalism or manipulation, simplicity, and teaching. To be fair, these insights came from people who were predominantly African American, professing Christians, and members of our church. The main demographical factor though is that they were generationally diverse. Before we explore what each generation uniquely desires, we will look at what all generations desire in their preacher.

People come to church to hear a specific perspective on life: people want to hear the Bible and its contents in preaching. It could be that Bible-based content was the most prominent mark because all the people identify as Christians. Or because it is a stated and apparent value of our church. Nevertheless, it is encouraging to know that listeners wanted to hear the Bible. This does not guarantee that the listeners believe in the validity of Scripture or that they will agree with theological principles. That people want to hear the Bible preached does not mean they believe the Bible is inerrant. However, it does indicate that churchgoers value the contents of Scripture when they listen to preaching. People log onto or walk into a church for the purpose of hearing something distinct from what they have heard from other platforms or mediums of communication.

The next characteristic of effective intergenerational preaching is for a person to experience an aha moment. People indicated that these moments can be had by way of clarity of understanding or a conviction to change their lives. People desire a clear understanding of how to apply the Word to everyday life. Megan the millennial said she desired “a sermon that is clear . . . that I can understand.” Alex the Gen Xer said he wanted the preacher to “teach and educate me on the Word and to explain” it to him. Brenda the boomer simply stated that she wanted “understanding.” Xander the Gen Zer said, “Preaching that I understand without having to think so much that I’m missing the sermon trying to understand.”

I chose to describe these as aha moments, which are those times when the hearer gets it. People do not want to come to church and feel confused about what is being done or said. Even if they experience one aha moment per sermon they hear, it is worth the time given to the sermon. People remember moments more than they recall words, outlines, or arguments. As preachers we should spend our minutes crafting sermons that create moments.

The third characteristic of effective intergenerational preaching is that it should be done without emotionalism and/or manipulation. People can detect emotionalism and sniff out manipulation. Many hearers are suspicious of a preacher’s lack of preparedness as the reason for emotionalism. They fear getting money is the aim of manipulation. All generations despise selfish motives in preaching. Emotionalism and manipulation turn off the hearer and prevent, or uproot, an effective transference of the gospel or biblical message. Our sermons can be emotive without veering into emotionalism. We can aim at preaching to move people without trying to manipulate them. There is a distinct difference.

The fourth and fifth characteristics of effective intergenerational preaching are simplicity and teaching. All generations desire simple teaching. This does not mean that the congregants want the preacher to be a simpleton or for their message to lack depth. Depth does not mean mystifying. Their desire for simplicity lies more in their ability to grasp the message than in the preacher’s depth. The deeper the concept, the more clearly people need for the preacher to explain it. For all groups, a preacher’s ability to break down complex biblical content so simply that a child could understand is important. If a child can understand it, that increases the probability that an adult can understand too. However, just because an adult can understand it, there is no guarantee that a child can. In John 21, Jesus told Peter to “feed my lambs” before he told him to “take care of my sheep.” Lambs are little sheep. Younger sheep. Simplicity of understanding means all listeners can learn from the message. Our people want to be taught; so, as preachers, let us teach. These desires for simplicity and teaching align with the one competency offered by Paul in the qualifications of a bishop (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:9).

The beauty of preaching is like many of life’s noble pursuits—no matter how good we may get at it we can always get better. Mastery is elusive, but we can be committed practitioners. I am committed to a better practice of the five traits we just covered. Working on these things are more important, it turns out, than whether I wear wingtips or Jordan 1s.

You Can Do This

Are you reading this book because you want to nourish the minds, hearts, and souls of the people you influence? I believe so. Some of you have been serving hearty sermonic content and want to keep doing so. You have done well. Your voices are respected. You have received five-star reviews on your preaching for years. You value the sweat equity invested into your work so much that you want to keep growing. You are a tinkerer. Others look at you and say, “Wow, look at how well you communicate.” However, you hear yourself and think, This is good, but it can get better. You also sense the palates of your potential listeners are more complex as the days go by. While you have some nonnegotiables that can never change, you are willing to change some things about your approach to remain effective. This is the continuing pursuit of anyone who is effective in anything, including preaching.

For others, you know that the reviews of your preaching have not been so flattering. You recall a time when it seemed you were effective, but you blinked, and times have changed. You have not accepted ineffectiveness as your fate. You have tried to tinker, but it seems like you keep fixing the wrong cog in the process. Despite what you do, there is a growing fear of disconnect. You are not reaching your audience like you wished that you could. You try to reason it away, but your gut feels the pain. Maybe I am getting too old for this, you think. Or, I am so young and in over my head. This fear of losing your cutting edge could make you envy others who seem to be magnetic. What are they doing that I am not? What are they doing that I cannot? Becoming distracted by another preacher’s artistry can sidetrack you from the science you can study and apply.

The Science and Art of It

The connection between science and art impacts every profession. There is a science to filmmaking, but Ryan Coogler has unique artistic ability. Hit TV shows have scientific ingredients, but Shonda Rhimes has the secret sauce. There is a science to leadership, ergo John Maxwell. There is also an art to leadership, ergo John Maxwell. There is a science to marketing. Then there is Coca-Cola, a marketing firm masquerading as a beverage company. All gymnasts are taught the science of tumbling, but somewhere along the way, Simone Biles separated from the pack. Political science can be studied, but there is something about the charisma of John F. Kennedy or Barack Obama. There are fundamentals to shooting a basketball, then there is Steph Curry’s flick of the wrist, quick release, and endless range. Artists should be appreciated for their uniqueness. However, world-class talents should not overshadow scientific laws, proven techniques, and learnable principles. These can be applied by all, including you and me. So let us work on our skills to increase the effectiveness of our preaching.

Effective preaching only happens strategically. Even the communicators who make it look easy have put in hard work. Extemporaneous speaking seems to happen off the top of the head but note that the speaker’s head is not an empty one. It is filled with experiential knowledge, proven facts, and tricks of the trade. Preachers who speak without immediate preparation can only do so because of compounded preparation. They did not need to get ready in that moment. The best preachers are always getting ready long before “the moment.”

You may never be able to emulate the vocal imprint of your favorite preacher. You may never be able to reproduce their charisma. I have tried to do both and failed. That should not be your goal anyway. Yours is a unique vocal imprint. You have a unique personality. Your desire to be effective should account for these truths.

Knowing Your Audience

As a preacher prepares their messages, knowing their audience is key. When you know your audience, you can better understand the lens they view the world through. Knowing their worldview is vital to reaching them. While they want to hear what you are saying, their hearts and minds lie behind the walls of their worldviews. To reach them, you must scale, knock down, crawl under, or circumvent their walls, many of which the audience does not even know they have thrown up.

Your approach as a preacher is reflected in the intentional rhetoric and reasoning you use in a message. This rhetoric and reasoning are based on the demographics of your audience. As a communicator, aim to tailor your approach to uniquely overcome the defensive mechanisms of the audience’s worldview. Studying the demographics of an audience requires a layered approach. If a person is complex, an audience of people is even more complex. Most demographic criteria can be learned. Gender, racial, educational, and socioeconomic factors can be easily discovered. A brief conversation with the right questions can also reveal political, religious, and ethnic cultural factors. These demographic factors are all important in studying your audience. But the goal of this book is to explore the demographic factor that even audience members may be unaware of—the generational factor.

Take a moment to write down w...