Tear Down the Silos and Pitch a Tent

A new report from the Barna Group confirmed what I already knew; most young adults do not feel cared for by those around them.  The Barna study was done in partnership with World Vision.  The study was not limited to the United States but rather included 15,000 18–35-year-olds from 25 countries around the globe.  In a fast-paced, internet connect world it was not surprising that 57% of those polled felt connected to people around the world.   When it came to feeling cared for only 33% felt “deeply cared for by those around me.”  Additionally, only 32% responded “they felt someone believes in me.”   The bottom line is there are a lot of lonely people in the world and many of them are under the age of 35%.

The report does have some encouraging things to say about faith communities.  Young adults who belong to a religious tradition seem to have stronger feelings of being in relationship with others.  Has expected those individuals were in the minority, 19% Christian and 23% another faith tradition.  While faith communities may be facilitators of connection for troubled 18–35-year-olds getting young adults in the door can be a challenge.  World-wide, Millennials seem little interested in connecting with a faith community. 

As I reflected on this I had to wonder if the traditional model of congregational ministry is not the problem.  That model has ministries divided up by gender or generational groups.  One popular term is “silo ministry,” with separate silos for people with various interests.  A church might have a men’s club and women’s guild.  There is a ministry to married couples, young adults and senior citizens.  Unfortunately we can become comfortable in our silos and so focused on those relationships that we can become oblivious to the greater needs of the community. 

Perhaps a tent is a better model.  Instead of separate silos (ministry groups) all people gather across generational and interest lines.  As I got to thinking about it, a tent model might be more biblical.  God’s Old Testament people worshiped in a tent.  It was called the Tabernacle.  The Old Testament model also was cross-generational.  The older adult took on the responsibility of communicating the faith to young generations.  Quite frankly, the “silo model” is not even biblical, it is just more comfortable.  Perhaps it meets our needs but not God’s desire for his church.