Many denominations and local congregations worry about the increasing age of their members. Differing sources provide a variety of explanations for why fewer young people attend church or choose to affiliate with a religion. According to the graphic below, provided by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life, the youngest generations have the highest level of religious non-affiliation. By generation the numbers for those who claim no religious affiliation climb from 5% for the Greatest Generation to 8% for the Silent Generation to 13% for Boomers to 20% for Gen X and reach a high of 26% for Millennials.
Drew Dyck, author of the recently published Generation Ex-Christian:Why Young Adults are Leaving the Faith and How to Bring Them Back (October, 2010), explores the phenomenon of 20- and 30-somethings who are leaving the Christian faith in his article “The Leavers,” which is published in the November 2010 edition of Christianity Today. Dyck considers some of the more significant and more frequently quoted research on the broader topic of trends in religious non-affiliation among young people.
Covering the reason for concern, he cites these troubling statistics:
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Among those aged 18-29, those choosing “no religion” on The American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) doubled from 1990 to 2009
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Political scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell suggest that “young Americans are dropping out of religion at any alarming rate of five to six times the historic” rate in their recently published book American Grace (2010)
Covering the case for calm, he cites two sociologists:
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Bradley Wright, author of the recently published Christians are Hate Filled Hypocrites . . . and Other Lies You’ve Been Told (2010), who believes that “young people leaving the faith in record numbers is one of the myths of contemporary Christianity” (based on the likelihood of history repeating itself and younger generations returning to their faith when they get older)
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Rodney Stark, author of What Americans Really Believe (2008), makes a similar case while allowing for the reality that today’s generation may return later since they marry and have children at a later age than previous generations
So What?
The data from a variety of credible research projects clearly shows that younger generations are more likely than older generations to be without religious affiliation and that over time the percentages within this category are rising. Whether the trend toward more people moving to the roles of the religiously unaffiliated will continue or if things reverse as the younger generation ages (and especially as they become parents) will not be known for a generation or longer. Dyck counters the latter argument with an astute cultural observation: previous generations lived in a largely Judeo-Christian modern culture whereas the current and presumably future younger generations live in a pluralistic and postmodern culture.
The inability of Christians to help those within the faith deal with doubt is a recurring reason why 20- and 30-somethings choose to end their religious affiliation according to interviews Dyck conducted for his new book. Specifically, he writes:
Almost to a person, the leavers with whom I spoke recalled that, before leaving the faith, they were regularly shut down when they expressed doubts. Some were ridiculed in front of peers for asking “insolent questions.” Others reported receiving trite answers to vexing questions and being scolded for not accepting them.
Take a moment to consider what these changes mean today and are likely to mean for the future of American Christianity over the next few generations.
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Were you aware of the rising percentages of young adults who identify as religiously unaffiliated prior to reading this post?
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If not, what is your initial reaction? How troubled are you by the trend?
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If so, how does this material strengthen or challenge your previously held understanding? How troubled are you by the trend?
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Comparing young adults today to young adults of previous generations seems to be a helpful place to begin discussing this topic, but doesn’t account for some significant differences. In this post, I mentioned a few (this generation marries and has children at any older age than previous generations and the culture has shifted from modern to postmodern and from Judeo-Christian to pluralistic). What other factors can you identify? How do these factors impact your view of the statistics?
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Christians leave the faith and become religiously unaffiliated when they turn to those in their parish and find that their doubt and serious questions are not welcome. How does your congregation create a culture that values the Christian faith as a journey filled with questions and discoveries fueled by both doubt and belief? Do your pastoral and lay leaders model a faith that has all the answers or one that is continually asking questions?
Sowhatfaith.com is committed to struggling with important questions of faith by providing resources and questions to equip readers to continue the exploration on an individual basis and in community. Previous posts include reviews of two books mentioned in Dyck’s article: Christians are Hate Filled Hypocrites . . . and Other Lies You’ve Been Told and What Americans Really Believe.