The Generational Question — How Do Different Generational Cohorts Respond to Event-Based vs Community-Based Discipleship?

Executive summary

The Adventist church's youth ministry spans four distinct generational cohorts: late Millennials (born 1990-1996), Gen Z (born 1997-2012), and the emerging Generation Alpha (born 2013-2024), with Gen X (born 1965-1980) serving as the primary adult leaders and mentors. Each generation has been shaped by radically different technological, social, and cultural forces. The question is whether these differences require fundamentally different discipleship approaches or whether core formation principl...