A Discussion About Next Gen Leadership

KEY THOUGHT: Millennials read the language of physical space as a communication of culture!

The real challenge for churches today is that facilities cannot simply be functional, but they must be culturally experienced. The real question: “How does our facility facilitate active community?” Does our facility take into consideration for the way people usually interact? Consider these practical approaches.

Consider how to provide what technology cannot. Millennials can get the very best sermon teaching from the best facilitators on their phone 24/7. How do you compete with technology like that? It starts by providing people with things that technology cannot give them. It starts by embracing the notion this generation craves community and collaboration. Does your church facilitate this type of space? Does our space communicate the shopping mall experience – Go and touch what you are interested in and then leave.

To facilitate space that communicates culture we need only study the shopping mall of yester-year. The food courts were not designed to offer nutrition, they existed for low price and take-away food. Department stores offered opportunities to touch what you were interested in and its quality. However, technology has been a major disrupter of that habit. Malls in an effort to gain people traffic back into the mall started offering better food options, larger seating spaces, and live music experiences. Technology cannot do that. Think about church spaces such as foyers, café space, and gathering points that can better foster connection and community. It is time to see these spaces as important as the sanctuary itself.

It is time to really invest in coffee that is better than your K-cup experience. If your Coffee experience is nothing more than free coffee, you are behind the Millennials and Gen-Z’s. If your churches coffee is not better than what you can make at home, it is time for a major change. Starbucks was the early adopter of community spaces that offers a great coffee experience, not the other way around. Flexible work schedules allow for people to work at a coffee shop. Do not miss the point of the space being designed for community and collaboration first. After that fact, take the coffee experience to new levels of awesomeness.

Your church culture tells a story – the story of who you are. Culture is an investment. Is there a need in your story for a better space and cup of coffee?