-3 Things Church Planters Need to Know: 3. Find Older People-

When our team started REVO Church, we were laser focused on our demographic. We moved to Winston-Salem, NC to reach 18-35 year olds. Only 12.2% of people in this age range in NC attend church. HUGE NEED!

We also were focused on reaching people that didn't know Jesus. We weren't interested in starting a church that a bunch of Christians could start coming to. We didn't want to 'swap sheep' with other churches, or inherit a bunch of people that were disgruntled with their current church and wanted to bring their negativity and problems to REVO. We wanted to reach lost people that were disenfranchised with church, Jesus, God, and the Gospel. A strong percentage of our current church meets these 2 criteria, so I'm excited to say we are reaching our goals!

We have a church full of young adults, young leaders, and new Christians. I slowly began to realize that these people were looking for something: a mentor, a coach, a person that would invest in them spiritually and emotionally. Then I figured it out: REVO Church needs older, solid Christians in it!

According to research, 75% of Millennials (born between 1980-2000) would like a leader to come beside them and teach them leadership skills. More than 40% of Millenials currently have a mentor.

So my prayers began to change, and I continue to ask God to send solid, older Christian couples to our church to invest in the lives of our incredible young leaders.

A young church needs solid Christian couples to model what a Godly marriage looks like. A young church needs strong Christian moms and dads that can model how to lead a family. A young church needs people with some experience, that have 'been there, done that' to help young leaders move forward in their life and develop. A young church with new converts needs older believers that have journeyed with God and followed Him for a season to help disciple people just beginning a relationship with God.

REVO's mission statement is 'to spark a revolution of life change through Jesus.' A revolution crosses cultural, racial, social, AND generational lines. A group of young college students in their 20's isn't a revolutionary church, it's a fraternity.

For the church to remain healthy and keep growing, the cycle has to happen.

Lost people come to church.
Church people come to Christ.
New Christians become disciples.
Disciples become disciple makers.

In every step of the cycle, an older generation can come alongside a young church under the vision and leadership of the pastor and have a huge impact on a younger generation and a city full of people in desperate need of the Gospel.