Millennials and Religion

One of the things I hear the most is that millennials are giving up on faith and walking away from church.

And the statistics do seem to point that out. In my fellowship, the Churches of Christ, we lose 40% of our children when they graduate from high school. Some of those move on to other denominational groups, but some simply walk away from church. By the time they graduate from college, we have lost 65%. And most groups have the same phenomenon taking place. There is a "woe-is-us" group taht argues that Christianity, as a whole, is simply losing ground.

But does reality support these statistics? The argument's answer is... maybe. A recent study published shows that millennials attend church as regularly as their Gen X and Baby-booker predecessors. However, the claim to have a deeper level of faith that goes beyond basic church attendance. The number of "unaffiliated" millennials is much higher than any other level. They find themselves being more spiritual, without ever stepping into a church building. For them, faith has become very personalized, between them and God. They are looking for a GROUP that feels the same way. There is a strong draw towards matters of faith and spirituality, but it doesn't necessarily lead to "church."

In the recent Newsweek article, “Why Harvard’s Crisis of Faith,” there was a discussion about integrating religion into the curriculum at Harvard. The president of Harvard wants every student to have to take a “Faith and Reason” course. This could include anything from philosophy to theology to Buddhist studies. But he argues that faith has become vital in all realms of life, from politics to international studies to English. Others in the Harvard faculty rebelled against this idea. One professor, Dr. Steven Pinker of the psychology department, argued that the primary goal of a Harvard education is the pursuit of truth through rational inquiry, and that religion has no place in that. "Faith," he said, "is believing in something without good reasons to do so. It has no place in anything but a religious institution, and our society has no shortage of these.” The president decided to back down for now and wait till a later date to renew the conversation.

The article goes on to state in a sidebar that Harvard has one of the most secular faculties in the world, with 33% of the faculty disbelieving in a higher power. That statistic hit me hard, and I began to get down about what I was reading. But then I realized… that means that 66% of Harvard’s faculty DOES believe in a higher power! The statistics seem to slant our views that everyone doesn’t believe in God, but instead we find that the vast majority do! Also, there is a growing number of Christians at Harvard. Jay Harris, the dean of the General Studies program at Harvard, states, “Harvard students are increasingly churchgoing, Bible-studying, and believing. We have a very strong evangelical community…”

I think many of us get caught up in the idea that many of the people around us do not share our beliefs or our ideals. We feel like we are a minority as believers in Lawrence and at KU. But instead we have to realize that believers are still the largest demographic in America. Don’t lose heart, and don’t think all is lost.

As Paul looked around at the city of Corinth he had a similar thought. He felt as if he was in a losing battle, and a minority. “One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.’ So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.” (Acts 18:9-11) Take heart, my friends, because God is doing great things in this city!

So, all this to say... maybe the landscape isn't as bleak as we once imagined.