An Idealistic and Messy Generation

written by Andrew Edscorn

I have been thinking a lot recently about my generation. This is mostly due to the multitude of articles and books recently about my generation. I wanted to give some thoughts about who we are, and how the Greensboro Fellows fits in.

Every generation has a name and a legacy. There’s the Greatest Generation known for their heroism during World War II. The Silent Generation who fought in Korea and Vietnam. The Baby Boomers who are known for their rejection and eventual acceptance of social norms. Generation X who are described alternately as slackers and entrepreneurs. And finally the Millennial Generation.

We as a generation are still young, so we don’t know what our legacy will be. But there has been a lot of talk lately as what my generation will become. Some are fretting that we are leaving the church. Some fear that we care too much about the phones in our hands. Some are deriding us as “the Peter Pan Generation.” Some are calling us out for not focusing on the “things that matter.” I recently heard a marketing expert describe Millennials as “too idealistic and messy.” He meant this as derogatory, his point was that Millennials should stop caring about intangible matters, and start caring about money, business, and so forth.

However, I take this as a compliment. We as a generation are idealistic. We are messy. We care about human trafficking, the poor, the sick, the environment, and so forth. We want to create a better world, and as Christian Millennials, we want to create a better Church that will serve and minister to this world. Another term I have heard is that we are a “generation of potential world changers.”

And while many are worrying about how to “fix the Millennials,” some are trying to give us the tools to be a better generation, and to accomplish our goals. In the Greensboro Fellows, we are given the tools that we need, and we are taught how to be world changers. Through leadership classes with the Center for Creative Leadership, seminary classes through Trinity and with Elijah Lovejoy, internships and volunteer work with some incredible organizations, trips to different places, and being able to meet with and talk to those who have come before us, we are learning more about ourselves and how and where we are called. Coming up on the last few months of the program, I am extremely thankful of what I have learned in this program, and I feel sincerely ready and prepared for what is to come. I think we need more programs like the Greensboro Fellows, so that Millennials can be truly prepared to be a generation of world changers.

The Greensboro Fellows with Fil Anderson, author of Running of Empty