Spend enough time in conversations about recruiting the next generation of gospel workers and eventually someone will ask, “So what’s the problem with Gen Z?”

The answers come quickly enough. They’re anxious. They’re slow to commit. They’re overwhelmed by options. They’re cautious about institutions. Before long we’ve built a neat diagnosis of an entire generation. They’re not offering for ministry because of something in them.

I’m not convinced that’s where the real problem lies.

I’ve had the privilege of serving alongside many Gen Z ministers who are spiritually vibrant, relationally rich, emotionally healthy and eager to see the gospel advance. They aren’t looking for comfortable lives. They want their lives to count for Christ. The question is whether we’ve built churches that help them discern how to live that out.

Too often we assume vocational ministry will simply occur to gifted young believers. We pray that the Lord would raise up workers for the harvest, but we leave the process of discerning that calling largely to chance. We hope someone else—a conference, a theological college, MTS, CMS or our diocese—will notice them, challenge them and help them take the next step.

But raising gospel workers has always been the work of local churches. The Holy Spirit ordinarily calls people into ministry through the prayers, encouragement, discernment and invitation of God’s people.

So what do Gen Z believers need to consider and step into vocational gospel ministry?

Of course, much of what they need is the same as for Millennials, Gen Alpha and whoever comes next. But with the particular tendencies and circumstances of Gen Z, here are 4 key needs. Thankfully they all begin with the letter P, so you can know they’re trustworthy.

To step into vocational ministry, Gen Z need a peer group, a pastor, a prod and a pathway. A PEER GROUP: COHORTS OF FORMATION & DISCERNMENT

Gen Z are marked by a strong concern for the encouragement and wisdom of their peers.

At its worst, this looks like social-media driven insecurity. At its best though, their concern for peers is a great strength; “plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed” (Prov 15:22).

Peer formation and discernment is essential for Gen Z believers to consider vocational ministry.

Jesus formed his first disciples in a cohort of 12. Paul travelled in teams. God organises believers for their formation and mission through local cohorts called churches.

Peer groups provide shared language, mutual courage, helpful questions and wise counsel.

At St Jude’s we gather mature young leaders into annual cohorts that meet monthly to talk about vocational ministry together. In these meetings they find great encouragement in seeing other people like them asking the same questions and considering the same future. Our staff team is loaded up with 20-somethings in various stages of long-term discernment who are tasting ministry work for the first time together.

It’s our responsibility as established ministers to help our Gen Z leaders find and benefit from peer discernment. If you are in a church with one or two young adults who are (or should be) considering vocational ministry, you could partner other churches nearby to form a cohort. You could reach out to MTS or your local evangelical theological college to look for opportunities for your young leaders to meet others like them.

Without peers, young believers will either idealise ministry unrealistically, or abandon it quietly and alone. Surrounded by peers, they are strengthened to persevere through the slow process of discernment, then take concrete steps forward.

Gen Z’s instinct towards cohort learning isn’t merely cultural and isn’t a weakness. It’s a gift, one that we can work with to help them discern wisely.

A PASTOR: DISCIPLESHIP AND INVITATION

To step into vocational gospel ministry, Gen Z need a pastor or other mature Christian exercising leadership in the church. They need a shepherd who will love them and lead them. They need you!

Gen Z are deeply sceptical of platforms, titles and hype.

We must be shepherds, not recruiters. Carers, not career advisors. We must be disciplers who pour ourselves into those we’re forming and invite them to walk the ministry path with us.

What a joy to do that. How wonderful it would be for a young adult in your church to offer their life for vocational ministry after months and years of receiving your care and formation, experiencing your family life, hearing your honest reflections on ministry and wanting the same life that they see you lead.

I love that my Gen Z ministry trainees show up to my house unannounced. My kids adore them.

As Gen Z watch our lives, they see Christian leadership and ministry lived out. Your own life and ministry are their greatest source for understanding what ministry is and whether it’s worth it.

Do you show them the joy that is found in serving the Lord and his people? Do they witness your love for God’s people, your passion for the gospel and your godly leadership at home, in church and in the wider community?

Or do they see in you a ministry life that is relationally isolated, weary and tinged with resentment? If so, why would they sign up for that? I wouldn’t.

Gen Z need shepherding leaders around them. Vocational discernment is pastoral work, and many of us have a part to play in it. Look for opportunities to have honest conversations about godly character, emotional health, suffering for the gospel, the pressures and joys of leadership. Help them see their gifts, ask them hard questions, know their story, walk with them through failure and growth. This is the work!

It’s not enough to send them off to a conference up a mountain somewhere and expect someone else to do the work of calling them into ministry. Your 1, 2 or 5 Gen Z leaders have been entrusted by God to you. Whether you serve as a pastor, warden, mentor or ministry leader, it is your good and faithful service to love them well.

A PROD: THE CALL TO COSTLY DISCIPLESHIP

There is a moment though when the rubber hits the road and Gen Z leaders need a prod.

Gen Z are typified as risk-averse. But I think they’re risk-aware, not risk-averse. Gen Z are establishing their adult lives in a world which is less stable and certain than it used to be. Careers feel less secure. Institutions command less trust. Mental health struggles are everywhere.

Gen Z are not a fearful generation. They are deeply drawn to making a difference in the world. They see the real power of God at work in people’s lives and in church communities. They long to be part of the renewal of God’s Church and its place in this world.

So invite them into ministry. Invite them with courage, conviction and passion.

A timely challenge. A concrete invitation. The famous tap on the shoulder. It’s a crucial moment in every ministry journey, and sometimes one that occurs several times before prompting a decision. “Have you considered how God might use your life in his big gospel plan?”

“As I’ve watched you serve, I wonder whether the Lord might be preparing you for vocational ministry.”

“What’s stopping you from taking a step of faith?”

Why do we sometimes fail to give this prod? Why do we sometimes shirk the direct, challenging conversation? Do we fear they’ll say no and pull away? Are we half-hearted in our conviction that ministry is truly worth it? Do we fear manipulating them?

The tap on the shoulder has an unfortunate habit of feeling awkward for the person giving it and life-changing for the person receiving it. I feel the temptation to avoid the hard question; I don’t want anyone to pursue gospel ministry to please me or through flattery. But it’s a responsibility that God entrusts to me and to you to call Gen Z, strengthened and motivated by our love for God, his gospel and his world.

Jesus describes the Christian life as denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following him. That’s what we call people to when we invite them into vocational ministry. Gen Z will respond to that invitation, as every generation of God’s Church has done, because it’s the call of Christ.

A PATHWAY: STEPS TO SAY ‘YES’ TO

Gen Z believers are navigating a world of endless opportunity. They are highly entrepreneurial and option rich but often confused about the future and many lack guidance.

Young leaders need to be invited along a clear pathway consisting of concrete steps to discern and pursue vocational ministry.

Many gifted young Christians can imagine what ministry is, but not how to actually get there. It’s our responsibility to show them a clear path forward. If a Gen Z member of your church felt an internal conviction towards ministry, what should they do next? If your answer is “I’m not really sure…”, then neither are they.

• If we expect this young believer to forge their own trail, we’re sending them through thick forest instead of along a safe path.
• If we depend on diocesan programs, AFES or CMS to provide a path for them, we’ve forgotten the primary role of local churches in raising up new shepherds for God’s Church.

If the journey into ministry doesn’t feel like a pathway, it feels like a maze instead. It’s up to us to show Gen Zs clear steps along a pathway, and to walk with them along it.

Jesus equipped and prepared his disciples for their ministry with a series of invitations and instructions. He called them to follow him, modelled ministry to them, sent them out to minister, debriefed them, entrusted responsibility to them. He continually called them forward along a formation pathway from rag-tag followers to fathers of the Church.

How can we be like that?

• Prioritise serving roles for emerging leaders that develop their pastoral and Bible-teaching gifts (such as small group leading, youth leadership, service leading, leading ministry teams).
• Have regular (perhaps twice per year) moments when you teach explicitly about God’s invitation to gospel ministry and encourage people to reflect on their own lives and vocations. Teach them what to do if they feel a conviction to pursue ministry. Teach them to pray in obedience to Christ’s command in Matthew 9:38. Teach them to lay down their lives for the cause of the gospel.
• Establish a vocational ministry discernment initiative. It could be as simple as a reading group that you lead, or as ambitious as an MTS apprenticeship program. It can be humble, it can be messy, just start something! That something will be a concrete step that Gen Z leaders can see and say yes to.

Good pathways don’t manufacture ministers. They reveal them. The ministry pathway in your church will (and should) look different to mine; they’re shaped by context, scale, capacity and more. But there should be one and it’s up to us to build it.

CONCLUSION

To step into pastoral ministry, Gen Z leaders need a peer group, a pastor, a prod and a pathway. And it’s up to us to help them find those things.

It’s not about copying programs. It’s not about taking the place of the Holy Spirit in a discernment process. It’s about faithfulness in the responsibility that God gives to you and me to entrust the gospel to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.

So, for the godly, gifted Gen Z believers in your ministry, ask yourself:

• What’s their pathway into ministry from here?
• Who are their peers encouraging and strengthening them?
• How am I pastoring them in love and holiness?
• What prod might they need to take a concrete step forward?

If you provide those 4 things and invite Gen Z into vocational ministry, some will still say no. But some will say yes. They will be faithful, creative, courageous leaders, and God will use them.

We cannot make ministers. Only the Lord of the harvest can do that. But we can make it much easier, or much harder, for godly and gifted young Christians to hear his call and step out into that great harvest field.

Sam Oldland is pastor of the UniChurch congregation at St Jude’s Church in urban Melbourne. He loves being husband to Rhonnie and dad to Bella, Mia and Shepherd, and doesn’t get to enough Carlton Football Club games. He’s passionate about seeing young followers of Jesus serve him with their lives.

WHAT COULD YOU DO TODAY?

• Invite 6-12 Gen Z believers into a fortnightly or monthly reading group with you. Read:

* Eager to Serve by Ray Galea,

* Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor by Don Carson, or

* The Trellis & The Vine by Marshall & Payne.

• Ring around pastors in your part of town who share your ministry values to develop a cohort together.
• Make a date in your church calendar for a ‘Consider Ministry’ event. Invite the Principal of your local college to speak (they’ll almost definitely say yes) and personally invite as many suitable people as you can.
• Start meeting regularly with one godly Gen Z believer who shows leadership potential. Have them in your home, speak the gospel into their life, give them responsibility in the life of your church, and watch them grow.