The biggest shift that's now occurred is that Gen Z and Gen Alpha right behind them,

these are the most diverse generations that have ever existed anywhere at any point in history.

We can talk about race, ethnicity, beliefs, gender and sexuality, identification.

If you were to try and say, Gen Z is X, Y, Z, and and Gen Alpha is fill in the blank.

You would be wrong more often than you're right.

Hey, friends, welcome back to another episode of theology around my guest today is Dr. Josh

Packard, who has a PhD from Vanderbilt University.

He is a sociologist and co-founder of Future of Faith,

which helps faith leaders expand and sustain relational ministries in today's rapidly

involving cultural landscape. Josh is the author of several books, including church refugees.

Sociologists reveal why people are done with the church, but not with their faith.

And his most recent book is Faithful Futures.

Got a copy right here for those on YouTube, Faithful Futures.

Subtitle is Sacred Tools for Engaging Younger Generations, which is the topic of our conversation.

I really value Josh's work. He is an absolute expert when it comes to understanding Gen Z and Gen Alpha from a sociological

perspective.

And if you are involved in youth ministry, if you're a pastor or a parent, I think you're

going to find this episode incredibly helpful.

Josh is not, I mean, he's not just a really sharp guy. He is just,

he has done so much research on this. So he doesn't just rely on just anecdotal experiences,

but brings a wealth of knowledge to helping older people like myself, like many of you,

understand how we can relate to and reach Gen Z and Gen Alpha. So please welcome back to the show for the second time, the one or only, Dr. Josh Packard. Josh Packard. It's been a while. It's been several years. I think last time you're on, it was pre-COVID. Yeah, I don't remember the exact year, but. Yeah, but it's good to be back. It's good to see you. I were doing this over video. It's not just a recording, right?

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