When Millenials (who are church outsiders) look into the church and see a building, a program, thought process, an approach to its neighbours, a dress code, technology that looks like it hasn't changed since before they were even born, they honestly think – that place isn't for me. That's not a place that understands the current culture. That's not a place that understands what I'm going through.

Every church wants to be relevant - there’s just one thing that usually stands in the way. Most churches don’t take the time to define what “relevant” means.

Before you start talking about restructuring your team or ministries, there are a couple of things that are important to remember. I think if you're here, you already know them, but it's always worth saying them out loud.

I explained, as concisely as I could, that I'm a youth pastor, and that I work with a group of churches trying to help reach people in his generation. His follow up question caught me a little off guard - “I think there is a special school somewhere that you can learn how to be a youth pastor. Did you go there?" As a Christian you might laugh at this question thinking “Really? Who doesn’t know what a Bible College or Seminary is?”

The topic of church hospitality is coming up more often as I speak with church leaders, sessions, and elder boards. As congregations continue to shrink, and more churches close each year, leaders are looking for ways to combat this trend. How can we bring new people in? How can we ensure they want to come back? How do we make sure our back door isn’t as wide open as our front door?