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By Linda Bloom*

1:00 P.M. EST May 4, 2010 | ST. LOUIS (UMNS)

Erica Williams speaks to participants at the 2010 Assembly of United Methodist Women in St. Louis. UMNS photos by Paul Jeffrey, Response. View in Photo Gallery

Twenty-six-year-old Erica Williams, the Washington-based deputy director of Campus Progress, knows her generation—the Millennial Generation.

Judy Woodruff, senior correspondent of “PBS NewsHour” with Jim Lehrer, also knows this generation of 18- to 29-year-olds, both as the mother of three children and as a veteran broadcast journalist who has interviewed hundreds of young Americans in 17 states.

Together, they shared some insights of what is considered the most ethnically diverse generation in U.S. history with participants at the April 29-May 2 United Methodist Women’s Assembly.

Some of their findings are obvious to anyone who has observed the young and tech-obsessed. “They are defined by technology,” Woodruff said. “Eight in 10 of them sleep with a cell phone in the bed or right next to the bed.”

But what also sets millennials apart is that they live their lives differently than their baby boomer parents and other generations, even as they share similar core values. Anyone wanting to reach them—whether corporation, community organization or religious institution—must “be willing to break outside the box,” Woodruff pointed out.

Today’s millennials are defined
by their use of technology, journalist Judy Woodruff says.
View in Photo Gallery

Williams grew up in the church as the daughter of two nondenominational ministers. Like many her age, she had less interest in politics as usual and more interest in engaging with her community. “Many of them think the best way to make a difference is to volunteer,” she said.

Now, Williams has made the shift from civic to political engagement, and she travels the country helping other young adults do the same. Through her involvement with Campus Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress, she lobbies, testifies before Congress and leads a network of nearly 50,000 working on progressive policy issues.

Members of the Millennial Generation grew up believing what they were told—that they’re terrific and can do anything they want to do, Woodruff said. Even though this generation has been hit harder by the recession, it still has the confidence to change the world, both women added.

Places of worship can be an arena where young people work to change the world if religious leaders can figure out how to attract them. Millennials are less likely to say they are part of organized religion, Woodruff said, “but when you ask them about spirituality … they are as likely as any generation to say faith is important to them.”

For this generation, Williams explained, faith “manifests itself in engagement.”

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.