…the ultimate test of Next Gen ministry, “Is a student still living for Jesus 5 years after high school graduation?” showed that the last several decades of ministry models were not succeeding. Over 50% of churches don’t have a weekly youth ministry and most kids ministries functioned more as child care than children’s ministry.
"Over 50% of churches don’t have a weekly youth ministry"
According to a 2017 Barna study
As of the most recent American Worldview Inventory data (January 2026), Gen Z's biblical worldview level sits at a historic low of just 1%
According to Barna, only 1% of teenagers possess a biblical worldview, with the figure sitting at 8% for Boomers, 5% for Gen X, and 2% for Millennials. Data for Gen Alpha is still being gathered.
The compounding issue to all of this was that most churches' Next Gen Ministries had moved completely away from a discipleship model and therefore weren’t creating followers of Christ that could stand firm in their faith. All of this, compounded with a rapidly changing culture, resulted in a generation (Gen Z) of which only 4% had a Christian worldview.
Lead The Generation was created to step into the gap and confront these issues and create new models and strategies that help churches create Next Gen ministries that empower a generation to change their world.
Lead The Generation initially began as just a conference, but has expanded into so much more. Watch this video for a little bit of the backstory on how Lead The Generation has developed over the years.
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