Church is one of the few places in America where all generations intersect at the same time for the same purpose—to experience God and grow in our faith. But children experience God differently than young adults. And young adults often sound like they’re speaking a foreign language to older adults. Communication across generational lines is a major barrier in all facets of American life, including at church.

Every city has its own spiritual profile—a picture of its people’s religious views, attitudes and lifestyles. For church planters and multisite churches, understanding the faith practices of a city or state can provide meaningful data when determining the spiritual needs and background of a region.

Every story can be told in a variety of ways. For example, let’s compare the following texts:

Church buildings are always a reflection of and a response to the culture in which they exist. For instance, when I design a church, I want it to reflect the DNA of that particular congregation. The building itself tells a story about who the church is. By its design, you can tell what the church values and what its mission is.

Can an older brick church serve as a beacon of light in a city blighted by violence and economic distress? Can a newer big-box church serve as a community hub in its affluent suburban neighborhood? Two churches. Two very different stories. Both united by a common goal to bring the Gospel to a broken world.

On an early, parched Texas summer morning, I drove a few hours south of my Dallas-Forth Worth home to an intentionally aged Texas Hill Country retreat center. I would be releasing mindSHIFT’s new research on workplace engagement and the office of the future to a group of clothing manufacturing executives, who ranged in age from mid-40s to early-60s.

You just got off the plane in a new airport that you’ve never visited before. As you walk up the jetway to the gate and terminal, your mind starts to race.

This was the largest capital campaign in our church’s history, so my wife and I were asked to meet face-to-face with key leaders. As Karen and I drove to Caribou Coffee to meet a twenty-something couple in our church, I thought, This meeting may not be easy. Mark and Debbie care so passionately about social justice, they moved into the lowest-income apartment complex in our area, and they have the bedbug bites to prove their commitment. Now we’d be asking them to give, when much of their gift would build a new sanctuary for our suburban congregation.

Jessica Stollings, author, speaker, and founder of ReGenerations, discussed the power of "generational intelligence" at Aspen Group's Pastors Lunches this year.

When Aspen Group, as a founding partner of the Cornerstone Knowledge Network (CKN), embarked on the Making Space for Millennials (MSFM) research project with Barna Group, we knew this would be a study with a long tail. Since releasing the MSFM report in 2014, Aspen has been exploring findings that surfaced from this national survey in various blog posts, conferences, and live events.