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July 27th, 2013
08:33 AM ET
Why millennials are leaving the church
(CNN) - At 32, I barely qualify as a millennial. I wrote my first essay with a pen and paper, but by the time I graduated from college, I owned a cell phone and used Google as a verb. I still remember the home phone numbers of my old high school friends, but don’t ask me to recite my husband’s without checking my contacts first. I own mix tapes that include selections from Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but I’ve never planned a trip without Travelocity. Despite having one foot in Generation X, I tend to identify most strongly with the attitudes and the ethos of the millennial generation, and because of this, I’m often asked to speak to my fellow evangelical leaders about why millennials are leaving the church. Armed with the latest surveys, along with personal testimonies from friends and readers, I explain how young adults perceive evangelical Christianity to be too political, too exclusive, old-fashioned, unconcerned with social justice and hostile to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. I point to research that shows young evangelicals often feel they have to choose between their intellectual integrity and their faith, between science and Christianity, between compassion and holiness. I talk about how the evangelical obsession with sex can make Christian living seem like little more than sticking to a list of rules, and how millennials long for faith communities in which they are safe asking tough questions and wrestling with doubt. Invariably, after I’ve finished my presentation and opened the floor to questions, a pastor raises his hand and says, “So what you’re saying is we need hipper worship bands. …” And I proceed to bang my head against the podium. Time and again, the assumption among Christian leaders, and evangelical leaders in particular, is that the key to drawing twenty-somethings back to church is simply to make a few style updates - edgier music, more casual services, a coffee shop in the fellowship hall, a pastor who wears skinny jeans, an updated Web site that includes online giving. But here’s the thing: Having been advertised to our whole lives, we millennials have highly sensitive BS meters, and we’re not easily impressed with consumerism or performances. In fact, I would argue that church-as-performance is just one more thing driving us away from the church, and evangelicalism in particular. Many of us, myself included, are finding ourselves increasingly drawn to high church traditions - Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, the Episcopal Church, etc. - precisely because the ancient forms of liturgy seem so unpretentious, so unconcerned with being “cool,” and we find that refreshingly authentic. What millennials really want from the church is not a change in style but a change in substance. We want an end to the culture wars. We want a truce between science and faith. We want to be known for what we stand for, not what we are against. We want to ask questions that don’t have predetermined answers. We want churches that emphasize an allegiance to the kingdom of God over an allegiance to a single political party or a single nation. We want our LGBT friends to feel truly welcome in our faith communities. We want to be challenged to live lives of holiness, not only when it comes to sex, but also when it comes to living simply, caring for the poor and oppressed, pursuing reconciliation, engaging in creation care and becoming peacemakers. You can’t hand us a latte and then go about business as usual and expect us to stick around. We’re not leaving the church because we don’t find the cool factor there; we’re leaving the church because we don’t find Jesus there. Like every generation before ours and every generation after, deep down, we long for Jesus. Now these trends are obviously true not only for millennials but also for many folks from other generations. Whenever I write about this topic, I hear from forty-somethings and grandmothers, Generation Xers and retirees, who send me messages in all caps that read “ME TOO!” So I don’t want to portray the divide as wider than it is. But I would encourage church leaders eager to win millennials back to sit down and really talk with them about what they’re looking for and what they would like to contribute to a faith community. Their answers might surprise you. Rachel Held Evans is the author of "Evolving in Monkey Town" and "A Year of Biblical Womanhood." She blogs at rachelheldevans.com. The views expressed in this column belong to Rachel Held Evans. soundoff (9,864 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Opinion by Rachel Held Evans, Special to CNN
Reminded again of why I don't read CNN "Belief blog"... Stopped at BS meter as it was apropos.
So this woman's essay set off your BS meter? Why? Because she doesn't goosestep to your flavor of religion? Then she's made her point, hasn't she?
I just want to say thanks for writing an essay that addresses the problem without being negative about organized religion as a whole. You really addressed everything that I struggle with about the church and it was simply and clearly stated. Really enjoyed the story.
I left the church because of the lack of involvement that most churches have to offer to college students. It's pretty pathetic that we don't have a spot after "youth" and before "adults." Which I understand, it's hard to keep us involved when we might not have a steady time with which we are nearby, but at least try.
I am a baby boomer. Ours was the first generation of clergy and church hierarchy trying to make church "cool" while ignoring our pleas for relevancy. I vacillated durting my college years and after, then raised my children in the church. Now I'm gone for good, for many of the same reasons outlined in this article.
and I don't want to spend eternity with the people who represent Christianity today!
I still believe, but I'm Spiritual, not Religious. But I get what you're saying because I've struggled, too, with not wanting to be associated with some of these so-called Christians. I've come to the conclusion that Religion is the middleman and the relationship I want to have with God is going to be without the middleman. I don't need to be told what to think by someone with an agenda and I don't believe that one religion is better than another. It's like a path. You have to pick the path that is right for you, and I picked the Spiritual but not Religious path. It works for me. What works for me doesn't work for others and I know this.
The biggest problem with religion is that is myth and not objectively true. Science does not need to reconcile anything with religion. Science is based on fact and religion on fable. Science and religion will never agree unless religion comes to terms with teaching that which is not true as truth, however, if religion does this it will cease to exist. I can't wait for that day.
“A scientific discovery is also a religious discovery. There is no conflict between science and religion. Our knowledge of God is made larger with every discovery we make about the world.”
–Joseph H. Taylor, Jr., who received the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of the first known binary pulsar, and for his work which supported the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe.
There is no god. I would be happy to believe if you can prove it. No evidence = NO GOD
“The exquisite order displayed by our scientific understanding of the physical world calls for the divine.”
–MIT physicist Vera Kistiakowsky
Clearly you are not a scientist. It is impossible to prove the absence of something.
"Absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence" -Carl Sagan
AE,
You are quote mining. I can do it all day long (I won't though, you should be happy to know!):
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." –Carl Sagan, American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences.
Quote may have been based on:
"An extraordinary claim requires extraordinary proof." –Marcello Truzzi was a professor of sociology and later at Eastern founding co-chairman of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, a founder of the Society for Scientific Exploration, and director for the Center for Scientific Anomalies Research.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence" –David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism.
"The weight of evidence for an extraordinary claim must be proportioned to its strangeness." –Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer whose work was pivotal to the development of mathematical astronomy and statistics.
Extraordinary evidence has not been provided for your extraordinary claims.
Extraordinariness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
You never mentioned the Bible in your article. Shame on you.
Because the article was titled "Why millennials are leaving the church". Try to keep up.
Legitimate discussion of the topic is inseparable from a discussion of scripture.
Not true. the point of the article was that people are taking issue with the PRESENTATION of the scripture, not the interpretation or anything regarding content. If I try turn you onto the meaning of life to you by throwing up a singalong video, as my formerly traditional Lutheran Church did, you're going to be turned off.
The bible has nothing to do with Spirituality , which should be the basis of any Church. It is the basis of many of the man made rules created by the church.. Nothing more.
Shame on you for spending time reading this secular article, assuming you actually did read it. Why don't you go back to reading your Bible and see if you can find some instruction on how to apply it besides beating people with it.
I think you mean you are standing on the podium, banging your head on the lectern.
You stand ON the stage, AT the podium, and bang your head AGAINST the lectern.
I'm OK with that but prefer it my way. Common synonyms for "podium" are platform, stage, dais, rostrum, stand, soapbox.
The author expects fundamentalist people to change...Good luck with that!
Many people make all kinds of excuses and cast blame because they have never personally meet Jesus Christ. When we ALL will have to go before Him at the day of judgment/ final accountability, He will not except any excuses from anyone for not knowing Him personally, because WHOSOEVER calls on the name of Lord (Jesus Christ) shall be saved and the day YOU hear His voice, harden not your heart, but only believe, receive, and follow Him forever.
No one alive has met Jesus...
Nobody, ever, have met Jesus, because he is just a myth, not a real person.
In other words "Believe as I do or doom yourself to eternal suffering"
I tried meeting Jeebus every day for five decades but he kept standing me up.
I suppose I was "doing it wrong" all that time.
I think spirituality is an important part of human nature, but religion can go to hell!
Spirituality? THERE IS NO SUCH THING. There is not a BEING separate from your body and mind that is driving your conscious self. There is no spirit. The term "SPIRIT" implies there is a higher self functioning beyond the consequences of our actions in this physical world. There has never been a shred of proof that there is such a thing as spirit. Another way spirituality is wrongly used is in discussion of that which is awe inspiring and causes us to feel moved inside. Awe has nothing to do with spirituality because awe is real and spirituality is false.
Yes there is such a thing as spirituality. Man created religion. When someone didn't like what one religion said or did, they created another one that agreed with their interpretation of the Bible.
God did not create religion. I can believe in God without having to follow dogma. Spiritual beliefs are personal and my relationship with God is personal. You represent what is wrong with religion: close-mindedness and judgmental. Spirituality frightens you because people who are spiritual neither need nor want to be told how they are supposed to think and you're not brave enough to think for yourself or question things. I follow the spiritual path because Christianity of today and what I was taught growing up do not reconcile with each other. I was taught to treat others the way you want others to treat you. I was taught to be kind to others, even if they are different from you. I was taught that it is not my place to judge others. I was taught to be welcoming to other people and accepting of other people. I'm not seeing this in modern day Christianity. I'm not a Sunday-Only Christian. I don't need to go to a church to prove to the world that I have a relationship with God. My relationship with God is personal. That is what spirituality is.
You are so right!
Kathy: your argument makes no sense. If man created God, why would you believe in God?
Sure knowledge makes faith unnecessary. [one of the reasons I've never been to Los Vegas]
When I was growing up my favorite biblical verse was Luke 6:31–"Do unto others as ye would likewise have them do unto you." I got to thinking about this, and decided this might not be so good after all. What if you want to be punished, beaten up, murdered, etc.?
When Christians mistreat others is this a sign they too would like to be mistreated? What is mistreatment in a dog eat dog world? Doing good?
There are more than 7 billion people on this earth, and each one of them knows better what to do than anyone else. All you have to do is disagree with this statement to see what I mean.
So what is the need of faith if you already know everything?
Oh, sorry, with faith you will get to sit at God's footstool and sing His praises for ever and ever. I suppose your voice will never wear out, and God will never get bored.
So, why does the caged canary sing? Really!
I'm barely a millennial at 32 myself, and I believe in the Holy Trinity 100 percent, eventhough I used to go to church. I only go now on the holidays but it could change in the furture. I don't believe you have to go to church to go to heaven . I just (believe and pray)and treat people with kindness the best I can, which are the two most important aspects of being a christian. There's good and bad in everything in this world(that's just the way the world.
world IS, sorry from previous post
Man, I feel sorry for you.
How come in pieces like this you never hear anything about a personal relationship? Way to many people want to make Jesus like them instead of making themselves like Jesus. I am a millennial, evangelical, conservative white guy that sees where both sides are wrong. I'm glad liberals fight for their causes because they should, but shouldn't evangelicals fight for their causes too. Especially when the left uses the name of Jesus to push certain social issues that are clearly contradictory to scripture no matter how you try to spin it. And to say that millennial's are all leaving the church is just not true. Maybe in western society but not globally in places like China, Brazil, or South Korea. Brazil has seen a 20% increase in evangelicals in the last 20 years. South Korea now sends out more missionaries than America. And no one would dispute the fact that Christianity has seen huge gains in the last 20 or 30 years. When you hear only negative things about Jesus or don't hear anything about him at all, then of course millennia's are going to be leaving the church. In those other places I mentioned their governments are either not hostile to Christianity or they had no Church to begin with.
The problem with being like someone else, especially someone long dead is that no one can know what the person was like.
He apparently likes Aramic.
But this verse set describes him as well as any could:
Jhn 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another.
And he likes fruit, lots of fruit.
Before you complain about an empty message due to no alter call, ask your self if you have a personal relationship. I mean with the people to whom you witness. I was a Christian, but accepted that i could not be because I'm transgender. that has nothing to do with my relationship with The Lord. For over 2 years now i have tried to contact Christians and you refuse to engage me. The Jesus of the Bible brought us a message of personal relationship and you are very dedicated to make sure your fellow Christians remember that, but you don't follow the admonition to be 'Christ Like' in this area. Jesus did hang out with low life's like me in an effort to make Himself known 'personally'. By actions and even words you preach a 'social' gospel. You are concerned for society at the expense of the message. We don't see you because you don't make yourself a known 'personally!'
kim,you are not a low life.You are cherished of God and are a special person .
The only Christ we see is that given by so-called Christian pundits like Bryan Fischer because his outlandish statements make it in to the HuffingtonPost. (I'm 54) i do see many younger Christians, but mostly when they have had it with their elders lamenting the new age of American Christian persecution and dycodmy of what they see about those like me vs what I'm supposed to be.
I thoroughly agree with most of this article.
I left Christianity because I saw hostility when I asked tough questions that church leaders (pick your type; I was Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, and every flavor in between) couldn't answer.
I now believe in figuring this whole spirituality thing out for myself.
If I feel the need for spiritual guidance (assuming there is such a thing), I go for a hike in the woods.
One other thing that pushed me away was the "if you're not with us, you're going to hell" argument. It didn't matter if I went to church; if I didn't go to someone's specific church (the one they were taught was the only church), then somehow god would punish me. Seriously, for every one church I accepted, I was going to 53 separate hells for tacitly denying the other churches. It's rather ridiculous, if you think about it.
If you are looking for spirituality you will never find it because it is a false idea. The act of searching for one's spirituality only helps a person to get more lost. To escape the need to understand spirituality one must realize spirituality is a false concept.
Spirituality? THERE IS NO SUCH THING. There is not a BEING separate from your body and mind that is driving your conscious self. There is no spirit. The term "SPIRIT" implies there is a higher self functioning beyond the consequences of our actions in this physical world. There has never been a shred of proof that there is such a thing as spirit. Another way spirituality is wrongly used is in discussion of that which is awe inspiring and causes us to feel moved inside. Awe has nothing to do with spirituality because awe is real and spirituality is false.
Change a few words around and you have the atheists argument against religion. How do you know spirituality doesn't exist? Can you prove it? No, you can't. But you expect people who don't believe to just buy into something they don't believe in without offering any proof. Spirituality is personal. I can't explain it to you, and I don't think it's worth the effort because you won't listen. But it's there and I know it's there. I'm sorry that you can't wrap your brain around the idea that someone can feel closer to God when they go out into nature than they can in a church building, but that's your problem.
I feel bad for Rachel. Looks like she had an unpleasant experience with "christians" but probably have never encounter Jesus himself. I am a part of the incredible community o believers, here in Northern Seattle area, that live, enjoy & display Jesus and His reality!
It's condescending and arrogant to tell someone who has spent years seeking your god that they "just weren't doing it right". Your pity is unneeded and unwanted.
They pity us and we pity them. If we could drop that divide the world would be such a better place.
Actually, it sounds to me like she found Jesus in her understanding of compassion for others and lack of judgement. It is the "Religious" version of Jesus with all the man made rules and judgments.
It is the "Religious" version of Jesus with all the man made rules and judgments she is running from. Good for her..
Spiritual understanding has nothing to do with any particular religion.
There is not going to be a truce between science and faith anymore than there will be a truce between disparate religions (hello, muslims versus christians?). The lines don't intersect. Okay? You're looking for something that doesn't exist, nor can they forever coexist.
As playinj30 pointed out, the internet is destroying religion. Finally! I say.
Information is being presented at an unprecedented rate through the internet. It's facilitating middle eastern uprisings against their oppressive governments, it's rooting out corruption, it's getting people to talk in a truly massive forum.
We're forming our "hive mind" and there's no room for religion here.
It's interesting to watch people try and cling to a faith of some kind, and in many ways i'm jealous to be "free" of what happens when i cease to be, but it's time we let go of the gross ignorance of mankind's 2000 year old teachings and form something new. Something that finally benefits a world populace, is neutral, uses logic to find answers, but leaves open the fact that we're simply part of something that is more enormous than we can fully comprehend or appreciate.
Be agnostic. It's easy. It'll benefit the entire world.
Do you or do you not believe in a god? Atheism/theism only deal with belief. Agnostic/Gnostic deal with knowledge. I label myself as an Agnostic Atheist due to the fact that I see no evidence to support the claim for any god but am not so arrogant to say it is not possible.
Then you and I are aligned. 🙂
Agree
Kinda hard for a true follower of Christ to "long after Jesus" and at the same time want to make our LBGT friends feel comfortable in church. Sorry Ms. Evans but the gospel doesn't change . We change in response to the gospel. We must hate all sin. We must love our fellow man (friend or enemy) but if they are engaged in sin we must confront them and if they feel uncomfortable then there is a good reason for it.
It is people like yourself that will lead to the demise of your mythology - I LOOK FORWARD TO IT, KEEP PREACHING THE HATE
YUP... the end of Religion in the world will lead to peace and understanding between all the people's of the world. Difference will surface but compromise in finding solutions will also be acceptable.
Why are only some forms of sin spoken against? Where is the outrage against divorce laws for example? Or any of the other stuff in deutoronomy?
Yep. Keep talking that way. Next year YOU can write an article on why people are eschewing religion. Check it: Jesus never said a word about gays. Get back to Jesus.
I visit a church in my community that has a lesbian pastor.
Guess what? Jesus Christ shows up exactly like he promises He will.
Yes, that's the reason that the pastor of my childhood urged the congregation NOT to drag the church into any of our "social activism". There are a number of reasons for the separation of church and state; one of the first being the injunction to "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's; render unto the Lord that which is the Lord's". Among the other reasons is the tendency of the frail human animal to spend so much effort trying to dictate the terms of his/her Salvation by waving the Bible in the faces of other people trying to live good Christian lives and letting that waving destroy the community of faith.
The most appalling effect is that; while we are so busy trying to re-make the world in the image of our certain but imperfect understanding of the Lord's will; we fail to ask Him what he would have us do. All too often the answer would be "Stop harming my other children and driving them away from Me."
Well put.
Your definition of Sin is based on Your particular Religions Interpretation of the Bible. That does not make it right .. it makes it your opinion.
That's not what "love the sinner, hate the sin" means. You either love someone or you don't. There is no qualifier. It means that you love and treat people the way you want others to treat you. It's not your place to confront a person about their "sin". If being gay is a sin (which I believe it is not), it's not your place to judge. Only God can do that. God made man in His own image.
"3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." Matthew 7:3-5
We all have planks in our eyes. We have no right to judge others. Love the sinner means love the person. Don't shun them. Welcome them. Don't lecture them. God is the final judge, not you.
"We must hate all sin."
Being LGBT is natural regardless of what your book may tell you. We have updated evidence to show this to be true. The fact that you willfully ignore this evidence does not make it wrong. It's truly sad that you fail to see how much of a bigot you are when you try to use your belief to dictate how others should live.
The problem isn't the church, it's the media. I am not what I call "religious" nor do I define myself as a conservative, but I have been to a several different churches on a number of occasions. I have never seen a pastor or preacher talk about gays or politics or anything of that nature. The media has simply created a stereotype against Christians, the purpose is very simple, liberals want to destroy the church, the same way they want to destroy the traditional family. Today's society feels sorry for people in prison, hates church, hates a traditional family, want's drugs to be legal, is increasingly accepting of pedophilia. Does this sound like the direction we should be going ? If this is a modern society than I want no part in it.
Poor little Christian, you're three quarters of the US population yet getting picked on.
It is entirely possible for a majority to be harassed and persecuted by a minority, such as a Sunni oligarchy oppressing a Shia majority in Iraq, a white minority in South Africa reducing all others to the status of second and third class citizens, or a Communist political machine in the Soviet Union seeking to uproot and destroy a Christian civilization. Being a numerical majority is not the same thing as having political and cultural dominance. Judging from many of the remarks here, it's painfully obvious there are many who would love an opportunity to do the same to Christians here.
It's one thing to be harassed, its another to whine about it.
This perception of being picked on has a simple solution. Most parents have use this with their CHILDREN. When the world around you is sending you negative messages, maybe stop and look inward at what poor messages your may be sending, then change accordingly. Christians need accountability. You can't pray away ignorance any more than you can pray the gay away.
Amen and amen.
Best post i have read in some time.
Same here...I've never heard a peep against LGBT people come from the pulpit. Nor have I ever had a pastor tell me who to vote for.
A whole choir of whiners.
bostontola, that's an awfully emotional and non-analytic response for a skeptic.
There's more to life than analysis. Just making an observation. You guys are the vast majority, act like it.
I started going to Church at 14 and became baptized at 18. However, I didn't truly believe in God until I was about 26 and it was because of very personal experiences and a lot of soul searching. Because of those experiences my faith has evolved to certainty and it had nothing to do with any outside factors. People just need to find a reason to believe in way that no pop-culture, or peer-pressure, or any outside factor can touch. That's what Jesus meant when he said "go into your room, close the door and pray...". I think today that could be translated to "go into your room, turn off your tv, turn off your cell phone, lock the door and pray." It works wonders.
Amen.