Are Young People Really Leaving the Church in Droves?
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Mon, December 01, 2008
- Viewed 189
- (30) comments so far
So… who to believe? Are we losing our young people from the church forever, or just temporarily until they settle down, get married, and have a family?
From a practical ministry standpoint, it really doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change at all what we are called to do: reach people.
Let’s face it: most of the research coming out about the church is not pretty. Churches closing. Attendance down. People believing things we don’t teach. It’s all very depressing. My word to you today is this: It is Christ’s church, and he’ll take care of it. He loves the young person that’s sleeping in just as much as he loves the dear old saint who hasn’t missed a Sunday in years. And he’s entrusted us to reach and speak into all of them. To be honest, that’s harder to do, when you hear research study after research study that tells us how bad we’re desperately failing.
In the end, it really doesn’t believe whose statistics we believe. What matters is that we’re proven faithful. In other words… don’t let the statistics get you down!
Have a great week in ministry!
Todd
A 2007 Barna poll said that young Americans (aged 16-29) are growing increasingly critical about Christianity and the Church, and are leaving the church entirely. Barna’s study wrote that their research showed “that despite strong levels of spiritual activity during the teen years, most twentysomethings disengage from active participation in the Christian faith during their young adult years - and often beyond that. In total, six out of ten twentysomethings were involved in a church during their teen years, but have failed to translate that into active spirituality during their early adulthood.”
But a new book by Rodney Stark of Baylor University takes issue with that finding. In “What Americans Really Believe”, Stark says that there really hasn’t been a big shift in young people leaving the church at all. In fact, Stark says, “It merely shows that when young people leave home, some of them tend to sleep in on Sunday morning rather than go to church. That they haven’t defected is obvious from the fact that a bit later in life when they have married, and especially after children arrive, they become more regular attenders. This happens in every generation.”
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CS on Mon, December 01, 2008
Bias or no bias by Barna aside, I think we all agree with this observation:
“It merely shows that when young people leave home, some of them tend to sleep in on Sunday morning rather than go to church. That they haven’t defected is obvious from the fact that a bit later in life when they have married, and especially after children arrive, they become more regular attenders. This happens in every generation.”
I’m going to make a hard-line statement here, reflective of my own life and subjective experience:
The reason why young people leave church, deviate, and then, “come back,” is because most of them are not truly saved when they go into adulthood.
Seriously, think about this for a minute. A child grows up in his church, is active, gets baptized, and then heads off for college. There, he lives like a perfect heathen, partying late into the night, looking at pornography on the computer, having sexual relations with a number of women across his years of study, cheating on tests, and acting less than honorably. Would we call that man saved? If so, why?
—
CS
Fred on Mon, December 01, 2008
Young adults leave church for many reasons. Rebellion against the tradition of the previous generation is a major one today. Being unsaved to begin with is one. Walking in disobedience and being of the world, which may mean that they are not saved, is another one.
I for one do not think there is any less youth today than there was 50 years ago in the church. God saves those He wills and if there is not many in the church then there is nothing we can do about it, unles we want to attract goats. Those that will be saved and be members of the church, kids, youth or adults will be faithful if they are drawn by the Father and hear His voice. If they are drawn by sociological or philosophical wranglings of the world, which are being used by a part of the visible church, then I would say most are not true believers anyways. God saves those he wills to save. If there is a drought , then God causes the drought. He is sovereign. Our duty is to preach the Word so to make disciples which are given by His will though the expounding of the Word . It is the power of God unto salvation. If youth do not like church, it is because there hearts are after something else. If youth do not go to church , then it is because they do not love the Father and Christ Jesus as they should. We need to quit all this pycho babble and figuring ways to get people interested. They are interested if they are drawn by the Father though our preaching of the Word. Plain and simple. We make it much more difficult then it need be. Remember, the church did not always concern itself with these things. It is us today that concern ourselves with these things because we like to measure things. That is a product of the Enlightenment and Humanism.
Monte Sahlin on Mon, December 01, 2008
The reality portrayed by these data is getting lost in all the spinning and debate. Beyond Dr. Stark’s book there is an abundance of studies that support the following:
1. Most American kids who grow up in church-going families drop out of the church during their young adults years. They may or may not see themselves as “leaving the church” and most do not see themselves as leaving Christianity, but the church does not do a good job of keeping in contact with them and going to them while they are in the years of college, starting careers, moving to new cities, etc.
2. During the Baby Boom generation and Gen X a significant number of these young adult dropouts came back to church when they started a family of their own. The net loss among Boomers (now in middle age) was probably no more than a third of those who grew up in Christian families. It appears that the net loss among Gen X may be larger, but it is too soon to have all the data in.
3. We don’t know how many Millennials will come back to the church after their young adults years. The oldest turn 31 this year and most have not started families as yet. There are data in some studies (as well as other indicators) that the Millennial generation may be more positive about organized religion than their Boomer parents and Gen X. If that proves to be true, then the net loss (which will become knowable in 2035) could be only 25 or 20 percent.
4. There is always a generation to generation loss of believers, unless major loss of life (a war or epidemic) or major evangelism trends intervene. That is why it is essential that congregations reach out to those who were not raised in Christian homes, as well as seek to reconnect with dropouts, or they will decline in numbers.
My institute regularly tracks generational trends among all research, including many denominational studies that are never published. Christian Smith and Kirk Hadaway are better sources on this than is Rodney Stark.
Monte Sahlin
Chairman
Center for Creative Ministry
Jan on Mon, December 01, 2008
I’ve not come to any hard and fast conclusions about Barna’s research or conclusions.
But I will say that I really believe it all comes down to being relevant and connecting.
Plenty of churches aren’t doing that. I know that for sure.
We minister in a very post Christian community and the one age group we are reaching is this one. Last week we had 65 attend (18 3 years ago) and 95% of them were age 30 and under.
I think a big mistake would be to take this research, correct or not, and own it as impossible to reach this generation. They want family. They want community. And they hunger for relationships that go beyond the surface.
Being real and relevant and keeping our doors open at church and in our home, as gone a long way in reaching this age group.
Kevin Torres on Mon, December 01, 2008
It’s not just Barna, but Lifeway Research also found that collegiates are leaving the church (70% of them).
See http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/article_main_page/0,1703,A=165949&M=200906,00.html
Fred on Mon, December 01, 2008
I hear so much about the younger generations wanting family and community and relationship. Why does everyone think that this generation is different than others? I believe every generation desires those things. I am a Boomer (older one) and I know we as youth wanted that. Speaking with my 85 yr old father, he says that his generation wanted that. Is this what we are going to use to excuse the behaviour and patterns of youth?
Again, all this is about job security—-giving us a purpose to figure out how to methodically make change. (s) This is no different than what we are doing on a national and global level. It is all about change and methods and measurements and expertise , techniques,etc. That is modernism/post modernism and it is the ways of man.
People are the same across the centuries. We have the same needs and Christ is the answer. All else is shifting sand.
Tommyboy on Mon, December 01, 2008
In recent months we’ve all probably heard economist and politicians say something along these lines:
We are unable to determine if the USA is currently in a recession because a recession can only be determined in retrospect, only after there has been a recovery.
I say if looks, waddles, quacks and flies like duck…call it a duck.
Using this same advanced system of scientific research, I confidently conclude that the Church in America is in a recession. Even the most optimistic statistics show that growth is static at best; while the bulk of research paints a portrait of a Church in decline. With “spirituality” and an interest in the mystical on the rise and a contrasting decline in biblical literacy and faith in a sovereign God of mercy AND justice—I say it sounds to me like we are simply headed towards the description the Apostle Paul gives concerning “the last days”:
“…having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”
(See II Timothy 3:1-9, especially noting verse 5)
There is no doubt in my mind that young people are walking out the back door, even as they are declining to cross the front threshold. Just as the gentiles of ancient Greece and Rome were not lingering in the courtyard of the temple to discover the God of the Jews because of the marketeering and corruption they witnessed each Saturday and every time a holy holiday came along; I regularly encounter a current generation that longs for the things only God can offer but they are repulsed by the excess, corruption and abusive power displayed by an institutional organization called, The American Church. Whereas the context of Jesus’ remarks to the church of the Laodicieans (Revelation 3) seems to be written to an apostate church – then, “Behold I stand at the door and knock,” is said to a church that has pushed Jesus outside.
Does anyone want to consider that perhaps the reason people aren’t coming inside is because Jesus is not in the house?
For my money the question is not, “Are young people leaving?” but rather, “What are we to do about it?” Jesus offered a good starter—how about cleansing the temple.
Dan Moore on Mon, December 01, 2008
Young people leave the church about the time they are leaving home. I remember my own experience. My mother was faithful to church but she died when I was nine years old. My father and step-mother were sporadic in attendance. I was saved through a Youth For Christ after school Bible Study. The challenge was finding a church that would welcome me…in Kansas City, and I did not feel welcome. I just wanted to belong. Then I entered the Army. The chapels were friendlier - but we were all soldiers. In my sojourn, I studied my Bible, prayed, witnessed (and I was without a church for about 7 years). After I married and after the birth of our second child, I found a church - a large church, but a welcoming church. In talking with other people’s experience of my generation (Baby Boomer) there is a period of wandering. Every generation will have the young folks wander off a bit. God eventually rounds them up…key is a welcoming church.
Jermayn on Mon, December 01, 2008
Hears a crazy idea that our church started..
We have our main Sunday service at 4:30 pm in the arvo and about 2/3rds of our church are between the ages of 15 - 30.
Beats getting up early which seems an issue for most ‘younger’ people
Jan on Tue, December 02, 2008
From Fred: “I hear so much about the younger generations wanting family and community and relationship. Why does everyone think that this generation is different than others? I believe every generation desires those things. I am a Boomer (older one) and I know we as youth wanted that. Speaking with my 85 yr old father, he says that his generation wanted that. Is this what we are going to use to excuse the behaviour and patterns of youth?”
You know I agree with you in some ways. Most people want community and that includes all ages.
But I have to say that I don’t think it’s the same. The people of yesterday for the most part, had families.
I would venture to say that most of the young people we reach ( middle school through young adults) do not have family. We had several that had no place to go for Thanksgiving for instance.
They have two or more sets of parents, with divorces upon divorces. We had several who talked about the holiday, which I would venture to say in the past has been all about family, for them was just another drinking type party for their families, that they weren’t interested in being a part of.
I don’t think that this is any “excuse”. I’m not really sure why you used this word. I think this knowledge gives us avenues for reaching them.
And they don’t just want a church family, they want FAMILY, the kind that we have, with people they see has parent figures. We have become this to a good sized group of young people.
They want to hang out more. They have very few time limits, as in anyone expecting them to be home.
Someone just tonight commented on this to me, how they see young people not wanting to leave church and seeking to be there, more than just on Sunday morning.
Anyway, I think there is a new dynamic here that I haven’t seen before in my 30 years of ministry.
Fred on Wed, December 03, 2008
Jan,
While do do make some good points , such as the high divorce rates etc, still, what we see among the youth is even higher divorce rates, young adults wanting less children or none at all. This would seem to destroy much of your argument.
People have always wanted relationship, in all ages. What is different today is that people want relationships that are not of God, such as family not made of one man/ one woman, pets instead of children, cell phones instead of personal contact etc.
Yes the dynamics are changing ,but not for the better. If young people truly want relationship and family then they need to get into the Word, look at the past (the good part) and get back to relationship that God intended. I can see the emptiness that they are experiencing , but that is not because of he past, but rather because they too are disobeying the past. This disobedience started en masse in the 1960’s and is still reaping its rewards, The sins of the fathers are visited on the ensuing generations. It will take a work of God to change it and from what I am seeing, both in the church and in the political realm. Youth are searching for an answer, just not in the right place. The answer is always there.
The positive is that with each generation comes hope of change of the bad things in a society. The revival among God’s people is always a possibility and the older people should always be praying for his. If this comes , true change will result. But let’s be honest. I do not see it happening in the world or in the church, though in the times ahead, I do see hope. When our American system falls apart at the seams, when people have no one to turn to but family and true friends, then I believe we will see a move of God. The church will be tried by fire and purified. The rest of it (false church)will continue to offer philosophical methods and means deceiving many.
I am not trying to be negative. Quite the contrary. I believe that if young adults will put God first , family and healthy relationship second (no sex outside of marriage), discard the materialism of the age, then we will see a church that will impact lives the way God wants it to.
Much is written about youth rejecting the materialism of the past , but this simply is not true. As I surveyed the crowd in pictures of last Black Friday and talked to youth and young adults, they are every bit as materialistic, if not more so. WII’s, cell phones , laptops, Blackberries, etc all point to less relationship , not more.
Bottom line, I think this talk of this generation being different is all hype and makes money for people and creates postions and ‘experts’.
Another positive is that there are many young people at my church who do accept more traditional avenues and seem to be well adjusted and happy in the Lord. They are not looking for “special” things that “talk” to them. They seek God’s face the same as I do—through the word, prayer and relationship with all of the church, not just their peers. This seems to be the answer, but it also puts the elders (older) people in the position of respect and honor by the younger folks, thus ensuring respect and guidance by those same older folks. This way things are passed down from older to younger (tradition) instead of each doing what is right in their own eyes. This is the answer in my understanding.
Rebellion has always been the lot of youth, but if the will truly obey the spirit of the 5th commandment, that does not have to be.
We will never solve the problem , until we recognise the cause. What I am seeing is that we are missing that cause and just look for solution after solution. Again, It may be because the “crisis” creates “experts”.
Thank you.
Ben Stoffel on Wed, December 03, 2008
Shouldn’t we, as James says in the first post “throw our hands up”?
<All these depressing statistics make you want to throw up your hands>
How else are you going to find a solution if we don’t give up trying in our own strength? If we are disappointed because the research is an “age-old-problem”, doesn’t that deepen the issue and elevate the need for a solution? Is it really acceptable to just consider the “fact” that young people will leave and then come back? So what about harnessing the passion that they have during their decade away? What could your church do with a handful or two full of young people who are radical about Jesus? In 18 years of ministry to them, if they don’t think Jesus is radical then, who can blame them for leaving? Would you hang around?
Young people need vision and passion and a compelling reason to be a part of something. They need to be challenged to follow Christ in a radical way! They will respond! The world calls and they go running, and when the Lord calls them they will also go running. Young people have energy and passion and once it is aligned in the right direction they will run ahead in that direction!
Finally, if it would help us, let us throw aside the combined statistics of others and look at our own. How many of my young people are leaving the church when they graduate? Where are they going? What are they doing? Are they plugged in on campus? Do they have jobs and Godly friends? Are they hanging out at home or did they go away to college or a mission program? Is there a way that I can engage them into a ministry in the church? If each church did excellent in their own work in this area, then where would we be?
Thanks for your time!
Jan on Tue, December 09, 2008
I would just say, and of course this is not a statistical fact, but what we are experiencing in ministry now, where we are… which is in a very secular, wealthy, entertainment focused community, the youth are coming to our church specifically, in droves.
Yes, they want something relevant, but what I see more, is that they are looking for familial relationships that they have not experienced in the home. They are particularly attracted to this.
In the past (say 10 years ago) you would see children of divorce and yes, they wanted what I would term as traditionally thought of community, but this is different.
These young people have families that are divorced several times, for one. When they start listing their siblings, and half siblings and step-moms, you get lost trying to figure it out.
We had for instance 30+ for Thanksgiving dinner.
They had no where to go. I can’t remember a time in youth ministry when that was true, til today.
So, yes, we need to see commitment from them to the Lord. But how do we reach them? is my point. They aren’t just going to zap, have spiritual hunger, because we say they should.
They want to see that it’s real. And one avenue for reaching them is through family, since that is something they desire.
Yeah, they are into stuff and they are rebellious.
But not from church. They have no experience with that, absolutely none. And God isn’t even on their radar or in any conversation for the most part. They just don’t even think about Him.
Most of them couldn’t really even tell you the story of Adam and Eve. They haven’t heard it.
We routinely give away Bibles for instance. And I can’t tell you how many have told me that they haven’t actually seen a Bible in person before. It’s astounding to the average Christian, because they assume that most people have. But today’s young person has no frame of reference except for what they hear in the media or in the classroom, or who they’ve met that claims to be a Christian.
They’ve never darkened the door of church, held a Bible or opened it, don’t know stories of Biblical characters, recognize scripture verses, or have heard the plan of salvation.
I think the last 10 years have changed dramatically when we are speaking about young people.
And I almost see it as a completely new mission field of unreached peoples.
Fred on Wed, December 10, 2008
Jan, some very good observations, though I would question if what you describe is universal in America or just demographics.
You asked “So, yes, we need to see commitment from them to the Lord. But how do we reach them?”
This is where I see the church missing the mark. You said they do not have a point of reference in Biblical matters as they do not know even simple Bible stories. Very true. But let me add that they are taught from the get go in public schools that they are just myths and fables or they are spititualized away by New Ageism type religions that are being expoused on TV and film (Oprah—Harry Potter and many many movies,etc). So you question rinfg heavy.
Why not preach the Word to them, tell them Bible stories and Biblical truths , not opinions, social/physcho babble made spiritial by finding some man-forced Scriptural basis or business marketing technique, and let the Spirit of God do the rest? Is the Word the power of God unto salvation or not? Does it need our help other that preaching it or teaching it? I do not believe so and as ling as we keep trying to manipulate it by the above means we will be stymied, though God will still save His people in spite of our feabile man -based attempts—-attempts based in Enklightenmnet thinking, not the Word. We are being dialectic (what if) instead of didactic (thus saith the Lord).
This does not mean we do not make ministry fun and enjoyable for those of our culture, but again, wisdom must be held here. What you win them with, you win them to. We are a culture of measurement or technique. That in my book is what Satan uses to his advantage because it plays off of our pride of man knowledge instead of God’s alone. It is synergystic. We can not serve both God and man and today’s church wants to do that because they have imbibed the culture far to much. It is who we are according to our culture and this is what I believe the church needs to be different in. It is the heart of the matter and must be acknowledged . To not do that is to me, the essence of our pride. “I will reach the heavens”
Bottom line—preach the Word. If it takes effect, then you will see changed hearts and thus lives. They we exhort them to live the life we are called to live, just as we exhort the adults.If youth do not want that , then it is beacuse they have not been regenerated by God and His Word which is the power of God unto salvation.
Fred on Wed, December 10, 2008
Excuse the typos above. I did this on the fly.
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