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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
If Christians were anything at all like Christ, everyone would be a Christian.
Unfortunately, they're a bunch of hateful, self-righteous, bigots who are absolutely obsessed with trying to run other people's lives.
jesus said to beat slaves that disobey "with many stripes." if everyone was like jesus, they'd promote slavery.
What if you read that passage with the thought that Jesus is addressing his disciples instead of the woman? Asking them if it is right for him to help her? Perhaps he was trying to open their eyes to the fact that he came for everyone, including the ones even the disciples would normally shun? And then (as in previous times when they seemed to dense to get it), he had to give them the answer and help her so that they could actually see it.
That's why Jesus said, "Follow me." He never said follow my followers.
He was some middle eastern guy that never showered. I wouldn't follow that stink anywhere.
Not true. Jesus knew that he would be put to death. He gave Peter the specific power and authority when he said, "Peter you are rock on which I will build my church". He gave the same instructions to the apostles when, after the resurrection, he sent them out into the world to proclaim the good news of salvation. Obviously, Jesus knew that if he did not give these specific commandments, his word would die with him. By this action, he gave specific authority to his apostles. Therefore, Peter is the first pope. When we say in the Apostles/Nicene creed that we believe in one holy and apostolic church, we are reaffirming that Jesus gave this specific authority which has been passed down through the magesterium of the Catholic Church for two thousand years.
It is silly (at best), to assume everyone that belongs to a group as broad as "christians" all feel and act the same.
That is exactly what many religious leaders do when talking about secular community. That is an unsound way to view others.
Because they realize that the Bible is a book of fairytales written by a bunch of bronze age goat herders.
Amen
Younger people are leaving churches or never going in the first place because they see that it's all bullshit and there's more hate and division in churches than anywhere in society. They don't look the other way and make excuses for their cult as Catholics do when their pedophile infested cult rapes tens of thousands of children and protect the rapists and the cult itself over other innocent children.
bingo!
A living, active relationship with Jesus Christ in unpretentious obedience to His word trumps all else. Without the presence of God in the place of worship, a church building or any other gathering site is a hollow place. The same truth applies to individuals too. The call of Christ is for everyone to repent and to turn to the Kingdom of God like little children. Seek the Kingdom of God first, says Jesus, and all else follows. While the gospel of Christ redeems anyone who seeks it, it is not the agency to promote lifestyles that grieve the Spirit of God.
you are in a cult. all religions are cults. christianity is no different. cults teach you to turn off your brain and obey. leave the cult and think for yourself - you won't be sorry.
As a believer I see why so many are turned off by religion. Religion as a whole is ironically responsible for people becoming disillusioned with God. Why? Because the churches have turned away from the teachings of Christ and have allowed politics and all sorts of non Biblical teachings to filter in and corrupt pure worship.
What you advocate is flawed too. You are advising people to turn away from God and do their own thing. To do what the Devil did and become their own god. The problem with that thinking is there is only One God and we all have "an accounting with him" in the end. The answer is to move closer to God and worship Him in a manner that is pleasing to him.
My my, such anger and sarcasm. I would think someone who thinks for himself would be happier. Intellectual righteous indignation is just as ugly as religious righteous indignation. Be careful you're beginning to sound like us.
Really...? Even a child can see through that BS, hence their ceasless questioning when its ceaselessly dumped on them.
How about they're leaving because they're getting a secular education in science, and that, coupled with a growing understanding that hierarchical, male dominated arenas (politics, western religions) are clearly just a power play. Churches may do some good things for people in need, but the overwhelming baseline for them is intolerance. The educated youth are wising up to their "bigotry du joire" (blacks....gays...women...), coupled with their anti-science, environment, and education stance. They'll be gone in 50 years; 2 generations to the Age of Enlightenment v2.0
Here's the big question for you, Rachel, and for others seeking Jesus: What do you expect to find... that is, what's he like? And here's what follows: How can you be sure that what you found is what Jesus Christ is really like? What standard will you use to measure whether what you found is true to form... that is, do the qualities and philosophies you attribute to him fit the real Jesus Christ? And will you be disappointed if he's not what you expected? Because in order to be sure we have the real Jesus Christ, we must all discover the same qualities and philosophies... they can't differ based on our individual beliefs. So, how do you truly find him? Rachel, you've asserted a lot of criticism about the position of the church on several matters. What's Christ's position on those same matters? How do you know for sure? What has been recorded about what Jesus himself said? Have you first assessed His sayings? It seems that you've opined without really digging too deep.
Rachel has found Jesus. Of course, you glossed right over that in your hurry to criticize her.
Her message was basically that one can remain true to the teachings of Jesus; the way to get that message out is what isn't working. Do try and keep up.
What's driving millennials away is the vast amount of information we have at our fingertips thanks to the Internet.
We can google Jesus and a few clicks later find out that its just a myth based on other myths. We can google Christianity and find out about the inquisition and the crusades. We can google religion and find out there are thousands of different ones in the world, each with their own saviors and creation stories, developed as ways of social control.
Christianity is just another religion in the world. The Bible was written by men who heard voices and saw visions i.e. schizophrenics. If you need a two thousand year old book to tell you not to kill, not to steal, not to lie, not to cheat on your wife, not to worship other "gods," not to pray to trinkets, not to swear, not to work one day a week, not to disrespect your parents, and not to be jealous of others' belongings, please leave your sheltered home and experience the real world.
well said. education, the internet and fact checking are killing religion.
I find it interesting that the religious always say things are too complex for science to explain how things came to be the way they are, but are willing to accept that a magic sky genie wiggled his nose and wished everything into existance...
lets see, the big bang happend for whatever reason.Then out of the atoms that were created a gas formed as it cooled.The gas formed into clumps and eventually formed into Giant stars that burned out early and went supernova creating new elements in the process .The black holes created in this process anchored the gasses given off by the exploding star and and they formed into new stars and planets.As these stars burned out they produced even more complex, and heavier elements. Many of these elements are inside us and we wouldn't exist without them.This process to some might seem random.But does randomness create complexity? The DNA in our bodies is a remarkable ,complex system of instructions that tell our bodies how to be, in shape and function. Was this just some random ocurence? The DNA has switches that turn on and off when needed to allow for adaptation to environmental changes. Is that because we are so smart that we can tell the DNA to switch on and off? Or is it just random? If we cut a blood vessel it will automatically constrict to stop the blood loss and the blood will thicken to form a clot. Just happens that way?Got lucky?Or is there some intelligence behind all of this.
got lucky. next question.
Was that just muscle memory?
Stuff is too complex, therefore it is unlikely to exist, and because its unlikely god snapped his fingers and made it. TIDES GO IN, TIDES GO OUT, YOU CANT EXPLAIN IT. DERP DERP DERP!!!
Millenials are leaving the church because they have made it a mockery. Christians that follow the bible do not condone gay anything
the bible instructs christians to kill all g.ays, disobedient children, non-virgin brides and anyone working the weekend. anyone that followed the bible would be among the world's worst serial killer/mass murderers.
Doing all of that as I write this response.
perhaps you haven't read the 10 commandments? if you think there is no law in christianity about not working on the sabbath, you definitely haven't read the bible. you haven't heard the story of the poor fellow that went out to collect fire wood on the sabbath and was put to death by faithful christians....?
Trust everything bootyfunk says when interpreting verses in the bible. In fact, just assume atheists are always correct in their interpretation of certain verses. They are the leading biblical scholars you know.
no wonder church always made me feel depressed – and happy to leave
Can't choose between holiness and compassion. Can't have one without the other.
exactly wrong.
Bootyfunk to bad the man who gave the original law had to come down and wipe out all the crap the Pharisees had made up about God and his love. It is for everyone and anyone who states other wise plainly has not read the Red Letters in the Bible.
caleb, those are silly stories. any dr. seuss book has more wisdom to offer than the bible. you don't really take the bible seriously, do you?
I only replied to this message just because you had so many and I couldn't choose between which one.... SO MANY CHOICES!!!
Dr. Suess wears his stripes on his hat,
Jesus wears his stripes on his back.
Silly stories to you they be,
for you cant understand,
the depth the Bible has
compared to green eggs and ham.
Whoville may be full of wisdom
but so is 2 kings.
If you like I will rhyme the
entire Bible so it's easier
for you to read.
great reply! hitting the imaginary like button now.
This nut is not credible. There are many young people turning to more strict religious faiths. Many are abandoning faith, but many are actually leaving their "relevant" Christian churches and joining high church, liturgical places as well.
You can't ignore the facts Bob. That "old time religion" just doesn't fit in with an intelligent audience.
Bob, I'm not sure that you actually read the article very carefully. There was an entire paragraph addressing this very issue. "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." I think Ms. Evans is quite in agreement with you. The new fads in religion are not what young people are seeking. They want to find an authentic faith that is often better represented in more traditional liturgy.
One huge difference between believers and nonbelievers – nonbelievers are willing to accept that their view could change in the face of compelling evidence. Believers are not.
Beliefs should change when the facts change. That is why religion fails. By definition it cannot change or have any single chink in its armor due to the claim or perfection and infalibility. Believers know this and that is why they must reject every challange and every contrary claim. If one single thing is out of place then god cannot be perfect, and therefore the whole thing crashes on itself. Its one huge defense mechanism. This is why they have to rely on threating you with hell, peer pressure, circular arguments, social pressure, hijacking of government and laws, marketing, recruitment tactics, and making asking questions taboo. It takes that much work and effort to support the massive falsehood. All to protect their own ego so that they do not have to come to terms with the fact that it is possible that everything they believe is wrong.
exactly. believers ask non-believers, "what would it take for you to believe in god?"
not much. must proof. easy enough for an all-powerful deity. just have god come down and show everyone he's real.
to the religious: what would it take for you NOT to believe?
Also espoused by Christopher hiitchens
Tarver if you are a real scientist (as you seem to claim you are), then explain to use the link between science and religion? I'm waiting.
Colin
A few questions should help shed light on the relationship between religion and rational thought.The completely absurd theory that all 7,000,000,000 human beings are simultaneously being supervised 24 hours a day, every day of their lives by an immortal, invisible being for the purposes of reward or punishment in the “afterlife” comes from the field of:(a) Astronomy; (b) Medicine;(c) Economics; or(d) ChristianityYou are about 70% likely to believe the entire Universe began less than 10,000 years ago with only one man, one woman and a talking snake if you are a: (a) historian; (b) geologist;(c) NASA astronomer; or(d) Christian I have convinced myself that gay $ex is a choice and not genetic, but then have no explanation as to why only gay people have ho.mo$exual urges. I am (a) A gifted psychologist(b) A well respected geneticist (c) A highly educated sociologist(d) A Christian with the remarkable ability to ignore inconvenient facts. I honestly believe that, when I think silent thoughts like, “please god, help me pass my exam tomorrow,” some invisible being is reading my mind and will intervene and alter what would otherwise be the course of history in small ways to help me. I am (a) a delusional schizophrenic;(b) a naïve child, too young to know that that is silly(c) an ignorant farmer from Sudan who never had the benefit of even a fifth grade education; or(d) your average ChristianMillions and millions of Catholics believe that bread and wine turns into the actual flesh and blood of a dead Jew from 2,000 years ago because:(a) there are obvious visible changes in the condiments after the Catholic priest does his hocus pocus;(b) tests have confirmed a divine presence in the bread and wine;(c) now and then their god shows up and confirms this story; or(d) their religious convictions tell them to blindly accept this completely fvcking absurd nonsense.I believe that an all powerful being, capable of creating the entire cosmos watches me have $ex to make sure I don't do anything "naughty". I am (a) A victim of child molestation(b) A r.ape victim trying to recover(c) A mental patient with paranoid delusions(d) A ChristianThe only discipline known to often cause people to kill others they have never met and/or to commit suicide in its furtherance is:(a) Architecture;(b) Philosophy;(c) Archeology; or(d) ReligionWhat is it that most differentiates science and all other intellectual disciplines from religion:(a) Religion tells people not only what they should believe, but what they are morally obliged to believe on pain of divine retribution, whereas science, economics, medicine etc. has no “sacred cows” in terms of doctrine and go where the evidence leads them;(b) Religion can make a statement, such as “there is a composite god comprised of God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit”, and be totally immune from experimentation and challenge, whereas science can only make factual assertions when supported by considerable evidence;(c) Science and the scientific method is universal and consistent all over the World whereas religion is regional and a person’s religious conviction, no matter how deeply held, is clearly nothing more than an accident of birth; or(d) All of the above.If I am found wandering the streets flagellating myself, wading into a filth river, mutilating my child’s genitals or kneeling down in a church believing that a being is somehow reading my inner thoughts and prayers, I am likely driven by:(a) a deep psychiatric issue;(b) an irrational fear or phobia;(c) a severe mental degeneration caused by years of drug abuse; or(d) my religious belief.Who am I? I don’t pay any taxes. I never have. Any money my organization earns is tax free and my own salary is also tax free, at the federal, state and local level. Despite contributing nothing to society, but still enjoying all its benefits, I feel I have the right to tell others what to do. I am(a) A sleazy Wall Street banker(b) A mafia boss(c) A drug pusher; or(d) A Catholic Priest, Protestant Minister or Jewish Rabbi.What do the following authors all have in common – Jean Paul Sartre, Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Victor Hugo, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, David Hume, René Descartes, Francis Bacon, John Milton, John Locke, and Blaise Pascal:(a) They are among the most gifted writers the World has known;(b) They concentrated on opposing dogma and opening the human mind and spirit to the wonders of free thought and intellectual freedom;(c) They were intimidated by the Catholic Church and put on the Church’s list of prohibited authors; or(d) All of the above.The AIDS epidemic will kill tens of millions in poor African and South American countries before we defeat it. Condoms are an effective way to curtail its spread. As the Pope still has significant influence over the less educated masses in these parts of the World, he has exercised this power by:(a) Using some of the Vatican’s incomprehensible wealth to educate these vulnerable people on health family planning and condom use;(b) Supporting government programs that distribute condoms to high risk groups;(c) Using its myriad of churches in these regions to distribute condoms; or(d) Scaring people into NOT using condoms, based upon his disdainful and aloof view that it is better that a person die than go against the Vatican’s position on contraceptive use.
There are many Atheists however who look down upon Christians as being inferior however because they have not made the leap of common sense and logic to understand that their God is a long perpetrated myth. In a sense it is akin to looking at a child who believes in Santa Clause. As adults we know full well he does not exist. The child hasn't grown up enough to shrug off the silly fantasy that has been fed to him/her to placate them. We see ourselves as the new grown-ups and you as the children placated by your Santa. We are urging you to grow out of that myth.
The thing is, if you had met an Adult who still believed in Santa you would most likely treat them similarly. Think there's something fundamentally wrong with their sense of reality and wish to explain to them how ridiculous it is. The large difference here is in the fact that Christianity as a whole isn't so innocent as Santa. Christianity is guilty of so very many evil deeds in the name of God and the believers in Christianity are guilty of ignorance. Pretend for a second that the majority of people believed in Santa as a true fact and tried to force you to believe, coerce you to believe and judge you for not believing. This of course being the LEAST of what religions have done to people who don't believe them. You know Santa is a farce. You would be annoyed, angry, and feel like common sense had flown the coop.
That is what Atheists are dealing with.
All the logic, science, education and clear and obvious data about the world is purposefully ignored by theists and you swallow lies your whole lives, closed off to the possibility that you are wrong. We are not closed off to the possibility that we are wrong.. In fact, that's how most of us got to this stage of sanity. I was a believer who dared to question the "truth" of the gospels. When the answer to my questions were "pray about it" and "have faith" I needed to keep looking.
We would be less angry if religions kept to themselves and stopped trying to dictate how others lived. If it stayed out of politics, we wouldn't be angry. If it stopped trying to tell people who aren't followers how to live their lives, we wouldn't care what you believed. If religions didn't cause untold millions of deaths, we would just simply giggle at your silly faith. That is not the case at all.
You don't see us making cases against people who believe in Pagan faiths, we don't typically touch on Buddhism either. Because they don't try to control others. They do their thing and enjoy their beliefs without causing harm. You will never hear any of us speak out against Jainism for example. Never. They have a simple rule "above all, do no harm" and they follow it very closely. If your religion had that as the tenet and nothing else, we would be happy for you.
As science explains more and more the workings of the universe and evolution is now understood by all ( except the uneducated) the masses have less need for a religion to explain existance.
This is an indisputable fact.
In the world, not of the world.
Faith that could stand up to any form of reason is long gone. Our knowledge of the world from 2000 years ago to what we now know about the world has irrevocably changed the need for religion. We do not need God to explain things; and religion becomes obsolete as an explanation when it becomes optional or one among many different beliefs. We now see that the leap of faith is not just one leap; it is a leap repeatedly made, and a leap that becomes more difficult to take the more it is taken, reaching its pinnacle in blind allegiance and active denial and rejection of any other possibilities. At that point, the credibility of the faithful is entirely lost.
I will never deny God exists, 'cuz he's there. For real. All the stuff they said in the New Testament... it's real. They told the truth.
Prove it....we're waiting......balls in your court~
How about all the stuff "they" said in the Old Testament? Want to go there too?
iAnyone looking to christianity for answers will be sadly disappointed.. It's a false religion
all religions are false.
And what do you base that on Kevin? I'd be fascinated by your scientific and investigative conclusions. Of course, CS Lewis, one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century ... set out to disprove Christianity and then became a Christian when he found out it was definitely real.
So please, go right ahead.
PLease prove that the Greeks and the Romans and the Egyptians all got it wrong, and then we will use your method to prove you got it wrong.....go ahead.....balls in YOUR court.
How does C.S. Lewis compare to everyone working at CERN? I'm glad you liked Narnia but your comment was embarrassing to read. A writer "discovering the truth about X religion"? Something that happens in all religions isn't evidence for the truth of a single religion.
Lol, this is the funniest argument.
You only think CS Lewis is "one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century" because you agree with his theology. Meanwhile, you ignore all the other "brilliant minds of the 20th century" who tried to challenge Christian tenants and throw it all away as garbage simply because it's an affront to your already decided theology.
bill, first explain how you prove a negative?
I appreciate this article. It is true that the Church today is so focused on changing our approach to a new generation and changing our church services around that we are forgetting why the Church even exists, the Gospel. It is not our job to bend to our culture, it is rather to continue showing the Gospel to all those around us. I am a Youth Pastor and I see that my teens are not focused on us making Church more "Cool" but rather for them to feel as though they can have an impact on the church themselves, to feel as if THEY belong vs just being another mindless body in the church.
curious. how do you get past lev 20:13, which tells you g.ays are to be put to death? do you believe that or do you think the bible is wrong?
Leviticus is Old Testament. If you're a Christian, why so much emphasis on "history" rather than the New Testament which is the Word of Christ who said naught a thing against LGBT persons.
I don't think the unwiped knows Christ fulfilled the law.
come let us reason together and maybe we can find common ground.We cant' reason together if I cant reach you with my logic or my words are not understood.