Over the past week, Barna has presented church leaders with four essential conversations about next gen ministry, including why Millennials aren’t watching digital services, what will happen to young people’s faith during the pandemic, how pastors may be aiming at the wrong target in next gen ministry and why it’s important to have conversations about mental health in church.

Today, in the final installment of the series Five Essential Conversations About Ministry to the Next Generation, David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock wrap up their discussion with a hopeful note: looking at the positive outcomes and opportunities presented to the Church, even in the chaos of of 2020.

Past Barna research support Kinnaman and Matlock’s premise that “screens disciple“—for instance, the typical 15- to 23-year-old spends an estimated 2,767 hours using screen media each year. And while many pastors were hesitant to take their ministry online before the pandemic, the response to COVID-19 has forced everyone into the digital space where younger generations were already spending a lot of their time. Kinnaman and Matlock agree that this disruption is also an opportunity to innovate, to meet Millennials and Gen Z where they are and to invite them into reimagining what the Church could be in this new era.