At the winter retreat in Ocean City New Castle Presbyterians were treated to three excellent presentations by the Rev. Karl Travis of Fort Worth, Texas, on generational theory and its bearing upon ministry, worship, and stewardship.

Here is a summary of his Jan. 18th session session on the difference between the generations:

The G.I. Generation--born 1901 to 1924, currently 84-107 years old.  They tend to see other generations as "ineffectual facsimilies of their own."  They believe that experiences are uniform and universal.  They believe in public harmony and cooperative social discipline.  They are team players--"all for one and one for all."  Being a "regular guy" is a compliment for a G.I. generation person.  They tend to see history as an orderly, gradual progression.

The Silent Generation--born 1925 to 1942, currently 66-83 years old.  They are interested in the system rather than individual enterprise.  They are facilitators and technocrats, mediators and moderators.  The Silent generation is sandwiched between two generations with very distinct personalities:  the get-it-done GIs and the self-absorbed Boomers.  "The Silents have spent a lifetime plumbing inner wellsprings older GIs seldom felt while maintaining a sense of social obligation Boomers haven't shared."

The Baby Boom Generation--born 1943 to 1960, currently 48-65 years old.  Boomers are idealists.  They started the consciousness revolution.  They are more interested in values and concepts than in institutions or traditions.  Only two percent of these persons went to institutional child care.  They were raised primarily by their mothers.  They are rebels and iconoclasts.  They define themselves over against other people and things.  They are non-conformists.  They are better preachers than builders, philosophers than scientists.

The 13er Generation--born 1961 to 1981, currently 27-47 years old. They tended to be latch key children.  Disproportionally, they have been violent, poor, suicidal, incarcerated.  They are interested in getting by and making things work than with values and concepts.  "This street-wise generation does indeed bring a bag of savvy tricks their elders lack--skills that may come in handy the next time America gets into real trouble.  More than anyone, they have developed a seasoned talent for getting the most out of a band hand."

The Millenial Generation--born 1982-2002.  The public has decided to emphasize "traditional family values" and more disciplined child rearing techniques partly in response to the way 13ers turned out.  Millenials are expected to seek cooperation, equality, and community.  They will be more civic-minded.  They are expected to shift toward the values of their great-grandparents, the GIers.

You can listen to recordings of his Jan. 19th second and third sessions (approximately 90 minutes each). 

Below are handouts, some in .doc format, some in Power Point format, which Karl asked be distributed as a follow-up.  Clicking on a link will download the file to your computer.

Generations_Master.doc

New_Castle_1_Handout.ppt

New_Castle.Organizational_Life._Handout.ppt

New_Castle.Stewardship_and_Outreach.ppt

New_Castle.Worship_and_Spiritual_Discipleship.Handout.ppt

Preaching_Stewardship_Bibliography.doc

Stewardship_and_the_Generations.doc

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