Why There’s Still Hope for Millennials in the Church
As a young millennial, your age group appears to be leaving the church and walking away from issues that have been at the forefront for the last 20 years. Why are you so passionate about the pro‐life issue?
Yes, there are some concerns about our generation, but on the positive side, millennials are the ones leading the pro-life movement. If you’re in Washington, D.C., at the March for Life on Jan. 22, you’ll see over a half-million high school and college students who are marching in the freezing cold and who are passionate about rescuing children from abortion.
The mainstream media does not want to cover it, but we should. This young pro-life generation is being led by millennials, individuals such as Lila Rose (Live Action), David Daleiden (The Center of Medical Progress), both in their 20s. Just think about their undercover exposure videos that have been seen by millions and have led to states moving to defund America’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood. Think about millennials such as Kristan Hawkins (Students for Life of America), who is leading over 900 chapters, and Shawn Carney, who has co‐led 40 Days for Life.
Through the prayer movement co‐founded by a young man in his 20s, 675,000 people have participated and 11,165 babies have been saved. And yes, I’m concerned that the mainstream media isn’t covering it, but we’re making progress, and I believe that 2016 is going to be a great year for the sanctity of human life.
I’m passionate about the pro-life issue because every human deserves protection, especially the most vulnerable. They need our help. Abortion is the No. 1 cause of death in America. Abortion is the No. 1 cause of death worldwide! Why is that? Because every abortion takes the life of an innocent unborn baby. More humans die from abortion than heart disease, cancer, AIDS and car accidents put together.
I’m passionate about the pro-life cause because every unborn baby is a special, genetically unique, whole, living, human being. That’s what the majority of the embryology textbooks say about the unborn. Today as Americans, most of us agree that it is wrong to mistreat or murder someone based on the color of their skin. Shouldn’t it also be wrong to murder a child because of their size, level of development, their location or their degree of dependency? Yet, those are the only four differences between an unborn baby and a newborn baby.
You have created a one‐day training curriculum and resource for the church. Walk us through the training and tell us why this is important.
Anyone can go to wechooselife.info and receive a free, downloadable curriculum with discussion questions and videos that churches and small groups can use. We’re coming alongside pastors, youth pastors and student leaders to provide them with training resources. And we’ve created a small group curriculum with videos that churches can use in small group, home groups and Sunday school classes.
Churches of all denominations, Catholic and Protestant, are coming together to use this curriculum. We also provide enough material for them to use for up to three one-hour gatherings. In these videos, I talk about the sacredness of human life and will train participants in how to answer the tough questions about abortion with clarity, conviction and compassion.
In addition to my teaching, the video includes short, three-minute stories form people like Ramona Trevino, who found forgiveness after quitting her job at Planned Parenthood; Melissa Ohden, who survived a failed abortion attempt and now ministers to others; and Lila Rose who has courageously exposed Planned Parenthood. We will talk about some of the dilemmas and also train thousands of people to answer the tough questions in way that is both winsome and non‐threatening.
Are churches engaging in the sanctity of human life? How is We Choose Life different?
Historically, the Catholic Church has always been pro-life. Many Catholics and Protestants are participating and leading the We Choose Life groups. We talk about the grace and forgiveness found through Jesus in this curriculum, which has been designed primarily for Christians. We are uniting with that “common” conviction that we are all created in the very image and likeness of God. At the time of Roe v. Wade, the Southern Baptist Church (my denomination) was actually in favor of abortion, but later made a change in the late ’70s. Sadly, only 12 of the 28 major Protestant denominations currently take a pro-life stance, but I believe the tide is turning.
My church, Prestonwood Baptist Church, is very excited about using a portion of this curriculum with about 8,000 people in Sunday school in the spring of 2016. We have groups like Texas Right to Life, Students for Life for America, Wisconsin Right to Life, Awaken Atlanta and many more that are very interested in this curriculum. I think it is realistic to say that this curriculum is going to help bring about unity and healing for the cause of life across denominations and will be used in campus ministries as well.
