Where Are All the

1
Where Are All the Young People? An
Exploration of Young Adults, Spirituality, and
Their Experiences of Church

• Rocky Mountain Conference Growth Ministry Team
• United Church of Christ
• Fall 2012

2
Introduction

• Common Questions
• Where are all the young people?
• Why dont young adults go to church anymore?
• What are the myths and realities behind these
  questions?

3
Young Adults

• Usually 18 to 29 years old
• Known as Millennials, Gen Y, Global Generation,
  Generation Next, Mosaics, etc.

4
Young Adults (cont.)

• Technological exceptionalism

5
Young Adults Priorities
6
The Reality

• LifeWay Research 7 in 10 Protestants ages 18 to
  30 who went to church regularly in high school
  quit attending by age 23. A third of those had
  not returned by age 30. That means about
  one-fourth of young Protestants have left the
  church.
• The Barna Group 6 in 10 young people will leave
  the church permanently or for an extended period
  starting at age 15.
• 2012 Millennial Values Survey College-age
  millennials are 30 percent more likely than the
  general population to be religiously
  unaffiliated.
• Millennials report lower levels of religious
  engagement across the board. Just one in four
  says he or she attends religious services at
  least once a week, while 43 percent say they
  seldom or never attend.
• Nearly half of younger millennials still live
  with their parents, but those who live at home
  are no more likely to attend church than those
  who do not.

7
The Reality (cont.)

• The Faith Communities Today (FACT) 2010 Study
• Over 52 of oldline Protestant churches report
  that one-third of individuals in their
  congregations are 65 and older.
• The UCC was the second highest (only behind the
  UPUSA) in percentage of congregations with 33 or
  more members older than 65.
• 75 of mainline/oldline Protestant churches have
  less than 10 of their participants between the
  ages of 18 to 34.

8
Spiritual vs. Religious
9
Spiritual vs. Religious
10
The Barna Group Research Study

• Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church
• Churches seem overprotective.
• Teens and twentysomethings experience of
  Christianity is shallow.
• Churches come across as antagonistic to science.
• Young Christians church experiences related to
  sexuality are often simplistic, judgmental.
• They wrestle with the exclusive nature of
  Christianity.
• The church feels unfriendly to those who doubt.

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The Barna Group Research Study (cont.)

• Five Myths About Young Adult Church Dropouts
• Most people lose their faith when they leave high
  school.
• Dropping out of church is just a natural part of
  young adults maturation.
• College experiences are the key factor that cause
  young people to drop out.
• This generation of young Christians is
  increasingly biblically illiterate.
• Young people will come back to the church like
  they always do.

12
What Are the Churchs Options?

• Balance
• - Egalitarianism
• Relationship Building
• Intergenerational Community

13
Best Practices

• "Churches, organizations and families owe this
  generation more. They should be treated as the
  intelligent, capable individuals they area
  generation with a God-given destiny. Renewed
  commitment is required to rethink and realign
  disciple-making in this new context. Mosaic
  believers need better, deeper relationships with
  other adult Christians. They require a more
  holistic understanding of their vocation and
  calling in lifehow their faith influences what
  they do with their lives, from Monday through
  Saturday.
• - David Kinnamon, You Lost Me

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Best Practices (cont.)

• Create environments in the congregation and in
  the community for the development of community
  and friendships.
• Engage emerging adults in short-term and
  long-term service and social justice
  projectslocally and globallythat connect faith
  and action, and promote engagement in the faith
  community.
• Support emerging adults in addressing the career,
  work, and economic issues in their lives, while
  connecting faith to these issues.
• Use Web 2.0 technologies and digital media to
  connect with emerging adults and engage them in
  faith formation experiences. Web 2.0 connotes a
  website that is built for interaction and
  information creation and sharing among
  individuals, as opposed to a Web 1.0 website in
  which users can only passively view content.

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Best Practices (cont.)

• Develop a multi-dimensional formation process for
  marriage and relationships that deepens the
  faith of the couple, prepares them for
  partnered life, provides mentoring and support,
  and continues formation and support in the early
  years of partnership.
• Provide pastoral careeducational programs and
  support groupsthat promote positive development
  and address the mental health concerns and issues
  of emerging adults and, when needed, connect them
  to mental health services in the community.
• - John Roberto, Directions for Faith Formation
  with Emerging Adults Insights from the
  Changing SEA Project, http//changingsea.org/rob
  ertocom.php

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Some Cautions

• Three faulty assumptions that many of us make
  when thinking about young adults and the future
  of the church
• WE can build a ministry for young adults.
• There is such a thing as a young adult.
• Young adults will help the church I love to live
  on!
• - The Churchs Doomed Pursuit of the Elusive
  Young Adult Bruce Reyes-Chow,
  9/1/2012 (www.huffingtonpost.com)

17
Some Good News

• Many formerly churched millennials say they
  harbor no ill will toward Christianity and see an
  open door for their possible return to the fold.
• In Essential Church, Thom and Sam Rainer said the
  "dechurched" often need nothing more than a
  gentle nudge from family or friends to reconnect.
  Four in 10 "rechurched" individuals in their
  study said parents or other family members were
  instrumental in their return to church.
• Another two out of 10 said they returned to
  church with encouragement from friends or
  acquaintances.
• - Essential Church Reclaiming A Generation of
  Dropouts, Thom and Sam Rainer (2008)