Perhaps no other generation has needed the church so much, yet sought it so little.

In "Life after God," Douglas Coupland describes this generation: "Life was charmed but without politics or religion. It was the life of the children of the pioneers--life after God. A life of earthly salvation on the edge of heaven."

Coupland is writing about baby busters--those now in their teens, twenties, and early thirties. The surge in births following World War II gave us the "baby boom" and the huge, well-known generation dubbed baby boomers. From about 1965 through 1980, the number of births went "bust," giving a name to a new generation with a substantially different mindset. Sometimes called Generation X, this group has been much maligned and badly stereotyped in the media.

I began working with busters while coaching the Pomona College soccer team. I invited the players to church. They shook their heads. "I don't want to go 'cause it's boring, irrelevant, and there's no one there like me."

I'd say, ...