I've been lurking in the thread about Millennials, Gen Z's and why they're not going to church and/or leaving Christianity. Like many of you, I've seen the survey data on this issue, but it occurred to me that I haven't actually talked to any younger folks about it. So I decided to have my kids ask their friends about their experiences with Christianity and Christian churches. For background, the kids who answered (about 15 of 'em) ranged in age from 17 to 25. Some are Christians, some are "spiritual", some are "seeking", and some are not at all religious. Most of them are girls. Here's the gist of what they said.
The first thing that stood out to me was how many of them had quite similar backgrounds. They were raised in a Christian family, with Christian parents who regularly took them to a Christian church. Many attended preschool at their church. Only a few didn't have this experience because they were raised in a non-religious family. None of them were raised in a non-Christian faith.
Of the ones who were raised in a Christian environment, only two still consider themselves Christians and continue to attend church. The reasons they cited for doing so was that they felt their faith was important to them, was important to their family, provided them comfort and guidance, and helped them strive to be better people. One specifically cited a spiritual experience she'd had. They were asked if they had any issues with Christianity or their church, and both answered that yes, they didn't agree with everything their church taught but it wasn't important enough to leave over.
Of the ones who ended up leaving the church, the stories were surprisingly consistent. They spoke about how their church focused heavily on political and social issues, which they didn't like. Several said they felt the church was more about what they were against, rather than what they were for. They also said the culture at their church felt "toxic", "judgmental", "hypocritical", and "behind the times". Some were more specific and described how the church was "too hateful about LGBTQs" and "too close to the local Republican Party" (one had a pastor who is also a Republican State Rep). One girl described how nasty and judgmental people at the church were after she dyed a blue streak into her hair.
They also described how often the youth leaders (or Sunday School teachers) would delve into subjects they felt had "nothing to do with the point of Christianity", mostly science-related (evolution, global warming, big bang). A few used terms like "ridiculous", "dumb", and "lies" to describe some of what they were being told by the church on those subjects.
When asked if they ever looked into other Christian churches, surprisingly (to me) most had. They basically described how they got frustrated because it seemed like the ones that were less focused on political, social, and science issues were intellectually "empty". One said the pastor at a more liberal church gave sermons that were more like stand-up comedy routines. Another said a mega church she tried felt too impersonal and seemed like a money-making scheme. Interestingly, they also described how out of place they felt when the churches they tried out engaged in rituals that were different than what they'd been raised in. A few now consider themselves "spiritual" and feel they don't need to subscribe to a specific religion or attend a church. The rest essentially are no longer religious.
For those who were never raised in a religious setting, only one had any religious inclinations. The rest said religion simply wasn't important to them. The one who is "seeking" was looking into Christianity as well as other non-Christian religions. He said he liked the main message of Christianity, but also had problems with other parts of it (e.g., it's exclusivity and belief in hell). He said he also liked parts of Islam and Buddhism, but also disliked other parts of both.
Of course this isn't any sort of statistical sample and as such is very limited in its utility. I did find it interesting though how often their replies lined up with the results of actual surveys. Either way, I found the whole thing to be fascinating.
The first thing that stood out to me was how many of them had quite similar backgrounds. They were raised in a Christian family, with Christian parents who regularly took them to a Christian church. Many attended preschool at their church. Only a few didn't have this experience because they were raised in a non-religious family. None of them were raised in a non-Christian faith.
Of the ones who were raised in a Christian environment, only two still consider themselves Christians and continue to attend church. The reasons they cited for doing so was that they felt their faith was important to them, was important to their family, provided them comfort and guidance, and helped them strive to be better people. One specifically cited a spiritual experience she'd had. They were asked if they had any issues with Christianity or their church, and both answered that yes, they didn't agree with everything their church taught but it wasn't important enough to leave over.
Of the ones who ended up leaving the church, the stories were surprisingly consistent. They spoke about how their church focused heavily on political and social issues, which they didn't like. Several said they felt the church was more about what they were against, rather than what they were for. They also said the culture at their church felt "toxic", "judgmental", "hypocritical", and "behind the times". Some were more specific and described how the church was "too hateful about LGBTQs" and "too close to the local Republican Party" (one had a pastor who is also a Republican State Rep). One girl described how nasty and judgmental people at the church were after she dyed a blue streak into her hair.
They also described how often the youth leaders (or Sunday School teachers) would delve into subjects they felt had "nothing to do with the point of Christianity", mostly science-related (evolution, global warming, big bang). A few used terms like "ridiculous", "dumb", and "lies" to describe some of what they were being told by the church on those subjects.
When asked if they ever looked into other Christian churches, surprisingly (to me) most had. They basically described how they got frustrated because it seemed like the ones that were less focused on political, social, and science issues were intellectually "empty". One said the pastor at a more liberal church gave sermons that were more like stand-up comedy routines. Another said a mega church she tried felt too impersonal and seemed like a money-making scheme. Interestingly, they also described how out of place they felt when the churches they tried out engaged in rituals that were different than what they'd been raised in. A few now consider themselves "spiritual" and feel they don't need to subscribe to a specific religion or attend a church. The rest essentially are no longer religious.
For those who were never raised in a religious setting, only one had any religious inclinations. The rest said religion simply wasn't important to them. The one who is "seeking" was looking into Christianity as well as other non-Christian religions. He said he liked the main message of Christianity, but also had problems with other parts of it (e.g., it's exclusivity and belief in hell). He said he also liked parts of Islam and Buddhism, but also disliked other parts of both.
Of course this isn't any sort of statistical sample and as such is very limited in its utility. I did find it interesting though how often their replies lined up with the results of actual surveys. Either way, I found the whole thing to be fascinating.
