Hungry for Encounter

Leading in a Pre‑Christian Reality: Why the Next Generation Is Hungry for Encounter

QB Conference 2026 | 14 April 2026

At this year’s QB Conference, one conversation stood out for its clarity, honesty, and pastoral weight. In a thoughtful interview with Tracy Valentine (Regional Minister with Queensland Baptists), Michael Hands, Lead Minister of New Life Church on the Gold Coast, offered a compelling diagnosis of the cultural moment the church now finds itself in—and an equally compelling vision for leadership, discipleship, and mission in the years ahead.

What emerged was not anxiety about the future of the church, but conviction: the next generation is far from disengaged. In fact, they may be more spiritually hungry than many leaders realise.

Watch the interview here (watch time 4min30sec)

From Christian Memory to Pre‑Christian Reality

One of the most significant assumptions Michael challenged was the idea that younger generations are simply rejecting Christianity. Instead, he described a deeper cultural shift—from what many church leaders grew up with as a Christian reality to what is now best understood as a pre‑Christian reality.

For earlier generations, Christianity formed part of the cultural memory. Even those outside the church often had some familiarity with the gospel, church practices, or Christian morality. That is no longer the case.

“We’re really evangelising for the first time,” Mike observed. The next generation does not carry the same inherited understanding of faith, church, or even God. This changes the task of leadership fundamentally. The question is no longer how to reform people who already know the Christian story, but how to introduce Jesus to people encountering the gospel with fresh eyes.

And far from being resistant, Michael suggested many are open—deeply open.

Spiritual Hunger and the Search for Encounter

A recurring theme throughout the interview was spiritual hunger. According to Michael, the next generation is not opposed to faith; they are actively seeking meaning, transcendence, and encounter.

“If the church isn’t a place where they can go with their spiritual hunger, they will find other places,” he warned. And those alternatives may not lead to life.

This is why, in his view, authentic encounter with God is non‑negotiable. Programs, platforms, and polished presentations cannot substitute for the lived experience of God’s presence. The next generation is not easily impressed, but neither are they easily deceived. They are looking for something real.

They want to know not only that God is true, but that God is good—and that God can be trusted.

Mike drew on a well‑known line from The Chronicles of Narnia: God, like Aslan, is not safe—but He is good. This distinction matters deeply for a generation that has grown up questioning authority, sceptical of institutions, yet deeply attuned to authenticity.

Not Afraid of Truth—Looking for a Faith That Works

Contrary to popular narratives, Michael does not believe the next generation is frightened by the moral or truth claims of Christianity. What they are wary of is a faith that does not function.

“They want truth that works.”

This is not a rejection of doctrine but a desire for integrity—a coherence between belief and lived reality. A faith that can be trusted in suffering. A God who is present in complexity. A community that embodies what it proclaims.

For leaders, this demands more than better arguments. It calls for lives shaped by prayer, humility, and dependence on the Holy Spirit—faith that is visible, resilient, and credible.

Why Church Planting Forms Serious Disciples

Drawing on his extensive experience in church planting, Michael offered a fresh perspective on why planting continues to matter—not just for evangelism, but for discipleship.

While church planting is often promoted as the fastest way to reach the lost, Michael suggested its deeper impact lies elsewhere: it creates environments where discipleship is accelerated.

In a church plant, the stakes are obvious. There is no assumption that someone else will do the evangelising. Faith becomes active, not passive. Believers take responsibility because they must.

Interestingly, church plants also tend to attract Christians who have grown comfortable or disengaged elsewhere. In the pressure and expectancy of a new work, their faith is often renewed. As they witness people coming to Christ, their own discipleship deepens.

In this sense, church planting becomes a catalyst—a setting where obedience, risk, and dependence on God are not theoretical but necessary.

A Call to Courage and Humility

Taken together, this conversation offered a hopeful and challenging word to the church in Queensland and beyond. The cultural landscape has shifted. The next generation is searching—not for certainty without cost, but for truth, goodness, and encounter.

The church’s task is not to chase relevance, but to cultivate depth. Not to lower expectations, but to raise disciples. And not to lead from fear, but from faith.

As QB Conference 2026 reminded its participants, leadership in this moment requires courage, humility, and a renewed confidence that God is already at work—often ahead of us—among a generation ready to encounter Him.