Minnesota: The Marketing of a Boomer Church

About the time the first baby boomers (those of us born between 1946 and 1964) were coming of age, many churches began to decline. Was the church becoming an alien culture to the folks raised on Dr. Spock and weaned on Woodstock?

To devise an authentic Christian culture that appeals to baby boomers, pastor Leith Anderson has applied his mind to the boomer mindset. He arrived in the Twin Cities in 1977, called to serve Wooddale Baptist Church, a plateaued church wanting to return to vitality. In a short time, Anderson had changed not only the church location but the name as well. Such change has marked his tenure in a church that has now grown more than twice as large.

Anderson’s aim? To minister effectively to a particular generation. To do it, he has adopted a number of strategies:

• Understand baby boomers. “Sometimes people confuse yuppies with baby boomers,” Anderson advises. “But actually, yuppies are only about 2 percent of baby boomers—the most educated of our country’s most-educated generation ever.”

A notable boomer characteristic is a lack of institutional loyalty. “The loyalty of a baby boomer must be won on a weekly basis,” he cautions. “If you’ve gained the loyalty of people born in the first quarter of this century, generally they’ll stick with you. But the boomers, raised on consumerism, will switch brands if they find a better deal.”

That is one reason Anderson got Wooddale Baptist Church to change its name to Wooddale Church. Local research showed the term church retains a positive image in Minnesota, but Baptist—a brand name—actually was found to be an impediment to some boomers. People these days do not so much want a church of a particular denomination; they want a good church. And they will easily cross denominations to find it.

• Maintain credibility. “To reach the baby boomers,” Anderson says, “I have to be seen as credible. For instance, if I misuse a medical illustration in my sermon, medical personnel in my congregation may lose confidence and walk away.”

Where once titles and educational degrees guaranteed a pastor respect, today credibility has to be earned week by week. “It’s the brand loyalty thing again,” Anderson explains. “It’s not so much the label on the package but the product inside that boomers are concerned about. You won’t find any titles or degrees on our staff listings.”

Vocabulary, again, either attracts or repels boomers. Anderson is careful to use nonsexist language. “If I say something about airline personnel, for example, I’m careful not to stereotype the jobs by sex. Vocabulary is a powerful indicator of culture, so I use the vocabulary of the generation I intend to reach.”

Anderson maintains credibility even through such small actions as reading Scripture from a paperback Bible. His reason? “Most boomers have never seen a leather-bound book. The Bible becomes something peculiar when it’s a large, leather-covered book. They can’t relate to it.”

• Meet needs. Anderson realizes that needs abound in baby boomers. Many have grown up in alcoholic families. Infertility may reach 20 percent. The divorce rate haunts them. The church that will reach baby boomers must provide something to meet these needs.

Church consultant Lyle Schaller says that those born before World War II most likely enter church life through the worship service. Those born after the war, however, enter through other means, such as youth activities or divorce-recovery workshops. Wooddale Church offers many such entry points for the largely unchurched boomers.

• Offer options. Baby boomers are accustomed to options, and they expect them in churches. Wooddale provides a Saturday-evening worship service for those who would not consider going to one of the four on Sunday. While the Sunday services incorporate use of a massive organ, the Saturday service leans toward using synthesizers and drums. On Sunday, Anderson wears a business suit; on Saturday, a sweater and jeans.

Wooddale Church even offers many opportunities for people to hear about the church. It advertises on billboards and in print. The church building itself is in a prominent place. Anderson believes that “it’s the institution’s responsibility to make itself visible, and the individuals’ responsibility to reach out to those around them.”

Fear Of Compromise

The church has grown, but not without resistance. Wooddale’s nontraditional packaging causes some to fear a compromise in content. Should a church promote itself with billboards? (“They imply everybody should go to Wooddale!” one detractor huffed.) Should a church get so big and successful? In a headlong rush to be relevant, what keeps a church from losing touch with the core of meaning?

When Baptist was dropped from the church name, some perceived it as disloyalty to the denomination. “Why should an opinion poll erase an important distinction?” they asked.

“Has anyone heard of the First Foursquare Gospel Church of Van Nuys?” Anderson responds. “That’s the legal name for Jack Hayford’s Church on the Way, but nobody uses it. It would turn away more people than it would attract.” Anderson believes the church can retain its historic distinctives without using the Baptist label.

Wooddale church has employed three methods to beat the hip-but-specious “trendency.” The first is a commitment to Scripture. “Without strong, new evidence to the contrary, we’ve chosen to default toward the historic,” Anderson explains. “For instance, when our young singles wanted to use the gym for activities on Sundays, my first response was no; that isn’t a good thing to do on the Sabbath. When I was pushed, we went to Scripture. Scriptural and historical evidence eventually changed my mind. But it didn’t come lightly. We make such changes with care. Actually, I find baby boomers appreciate intentional and analytical change.”

Second, Wooddale Church believes in examining its actions and holding them open for others to examine. “We’re continually discussing philosophy within our staff and elder board, trying to evaluate what we’re doing and why, and why another method might be better—or worse,” Anderson claims.

Wooddale Church also invites consultants and critics to evaluate it. “People who sell out to the culture and lose the distinctives of a church fail to listen to critics,” according to Anderson. “The 3M Corporation says they get more ideas from customer complaints than any other source, so we listen to people who criticize us.” Such openness extends to the secular press, which has free access to Wooddale’s activities and books.

Finally, since independence is a hazard, Wooddale remains attached to its denomination and to the National Association of Evangelicals. Pastors fellowship with the local ministerial association and with other fellow pastors.

Through these measures, Anderson believes the church will remain healthy, using innovation where it is beneficial, but neither diluting the gospel nor spiking the mixture with foreign matter.

By James Berkley, editor of YOUR CHURCH, a CTi publication.

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