The Jesus Movement that is getting so much attention these days is over. But try telling that to the eight guests we are having on an online panel this Saturday at 4pm Pacific, 7pm Eastern (see below). They will take some issue with that because they are doing the same thing they were doing 50 years ago, and they haven’t skipped a beat. No one told them that Jesus wasn’t moving anymore. So they’re still going.
They are writing songs, singing songs, preaching the gospel and carrying forward a prophetic message for today.
They epitomized the best of the best of a movement that blew fresh air through the Church and society in general and continue to rally around the message of Jesus. They speak to the social and religious upheavals of the ‘60s and ‘70s — but with a new relevance as older, wiser pioneers peering into a new frontier. The new frontier is called Grace Turned Outward. Because of its message, this new frontier is drawing the Millennials, those in their twenties and thirties who are currently undergoing the same societal stresses and asking many of the same questions.
Likewise, The Catch Ministry that began as the domain for those from the 60’s and 70s, has become a gathering place for Millennials as well, where rare cross- generational relationships are developing to talk about life and spiritual things with each other. Connecting with Millennials is the number one challenge the brick-and-mortar church talks about; creating cross-cultural and cross-generational communities is the next one.
There is no way we could have anticipated the things that are actually happening among us. But this is who we have become. Cultivating intergenerational relationships is one of the most important ways in which the Catch Ministry is developing a flourishing faith in both young and old. This means changing the metaphor from simply passing the baton to the next generation to a more functional, biblical picture of the body — that is, the entire community of faith, across the entire lifespan, working together to fulfill God’s purposes. That is what we want to see, and that is what we are pursuing — intergenerational relationships that carry the message of grace turned outward by speaking about it, singing about it, writing about it and mostly, living it in community together.
John Fischer The Catch 
This is exciting! I refuse to use the terminology “Post-Christian” because Christ is building his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail (Matthew 16:18). However, we are living in “Post-Christendom”, where the church has lost it’s influence because we are trying to lead with power, rather than love and grace. My humble opinion.
Your humble opinion is shared by Tim Keller in a new Atlantic Monthly article.
Am going to attempt to be gracious and gentle but I’m observing something a little troubling with the promotion of the upcoming program for this Saturday.
While the premise of the program looks promising, I don’t see any persons of color included on the panel – just a bunch of white dudes and one white dudette (all great talents, all obviously committed to Christ).
I’m not implying any racism on anyone’s part but surely you must know people from varied ethnic backgrounds who were equally influential, who also “epitomized the best of the best” during the Jesus Movement, who would be equally as engaging along the above panel members.
(Andraé Crouch immediately comes to mind but he’s with Jesus right at the moment singing his tribute)
The civil rights movement and the Jesus movement intersected and intertwined with each other and both were integral in contributing to some serious soul-searching and decision-making for many of our generation.
Therefore, I suggest that if you’re going to discuss creating cross-cultural communities, you really need to include the whole community, inviting to the table (or panel) people who don’t look like you and me.
Now, I realize this is your maiden voyage for this type of a presentation, so perhaps a future program can be more reflective of our society in general.
It might contribute to a more harmonious transition inter-generationally and also deepen or enrichen relationships interracially as well.
Just an observation…