Research Uncovers Reasons 18 to 22 Year Olds Drop Out of Church
We began a new series of sermons from the book of Acts today at Christ Community Church in Daytona Beach, Florida. In the sermon introduction I said:
I recently read that many people who are leaving the church today are doing so because they say that the church doesn’t help them develop a personal spiritual life. The book of Acts is uniquely relevant today because it teaches us about deep spirituality, the Holy Spirit and the real active presence of the risen Christ working powerfully with and in His people and doing it in community. It shows us the church, not as a dead institution, but as a living community of Christ followers.
With this combined emphasis on authentic spirituality and the importance of the church that comes through in Acts in the back of my mind, I came across a website that reported how LifeWay Research conducted a survey in April and May 2007 of more than 1,000 adults ages 18-30. Each indicated that they had attended a Protestant church regularly for at least a year in high school. According to the study, 70 percent of young adults ages 23-30 stopped attending church regularly for at least a year between ages 18-22.
Why do most young people leave?
Six of the top 10 reasons church dropouts leave relate to life changes. This category seemed pretty broad: going to college, moving too far away, too busy, wanting to spend more time with friends outside of church etc. The most frequent reason for leaving church is, in fact, a self-imposed change, “I simply wanted a break from church” (27 percent).
Fifty-eight percent of church dropouts selected at least one church or pastor-related reason for leaving church. Most common was, “church members seemed judgmental or hypocritical” (26 percent). Another 20 percent “didn’t feel connected to the people in my church.” A final category or reasons included, “religious, ethical or political beliefs”
“Clearly the reasons young people leave are a reflection both of their past experience in church and the new opportunities they have as young adults,” McConnell summarized. “To remain in church, a person must have experienced the value of the teaching and relationships at church and see the relevance for the next phase of life.”
Why do some young people stay?
The two most frequent reasons young people stay in church relate to the relevance of church: “Church was a vital part of my relationship with God” (65 percent) and “I wanted the church to help guide my decisions in everyday life” (58 percent). “The vitality and everyday relevance these young people experienced in church is a stark contrast to church dropouts who wanted a break from church and felt unconnected,” McConnell said.
Already returning
Many of those who drop out do eventually return. Among church dropouts who are now ages 23-30, 35 percent currently attend church twice a month or more. Another 30 percent attend church more sporadically. Thus, about two-thirds of those who leave do return at some level.”When, by God’s grace, young people see the church as essential in their lives and choose to continue attending, their loyalty remains strong,” McConnell said. Among young adults ages 23-30 who stayed in church during ages 18-22, only 6 percent do not currently attend church.
Ed Stetzer noted, “There is no easy way to say it, but it must be said. Parents and churches are not passing on a robust Christian faith and an accompanying commitment to the church. We can take some solace in the fact that many do eventually return. But, Christian parents and churches need to ask the hard question, ‘What is it about our faith commitment that does not find root in the lives of our children?’”
Maybe it’s the parents and churches but they are also the “usual suspects” and it’s easy to point to them. I wonder if there are other causes.
Read the whole article: here
For another very interesting site, check out “Letters From Leavers”: here
Peace
Larry is the senior pastor at 
Larry,
Thanks for linking to the site. It is appreciated!
Tim
Letters From Leavers
What are some the reasons people give for leaving our particular church, Christ Community Church? Anything the congregation to do to help prevent this fallout?
Pat’s question is interesting but it sometimes seems hard to get clear answers to that question. When asked, some people tell the church staff/leadership one thing but we hear something different from other people they have spoken with. I’d say the most common reasons I hear are these: 1. We are not getting connected or making friends here. 2. We prefer a more traditional worship style. 3. We don’t agree with the doctrine or philosophy of Christ Community Church. I’d be very interested in what you hear and what you suggest as a helpful response.
Two questions in response:
1. Do you know what was meant by a “personal spiritual life”? The answer may help us know what part the gospel to emphasize and spiritual practices to teach.
2. Have you heard of people leaving the church because of either viewing it as irrelevent to the rest of life or viewing the church as indifferent about social justice or societal transformation? Perhaps if the former or latter are true, we will know what part the gospel to emphasize and embody to greater degree.
My 5 cents:
My wife and I both left the churches of our youths, me protestant, her Catholic. I think because of our experience away from God and our faith, that it made us appreciate what He can do when you are living under His grace….
I found 3 issues at work here (there are probably more, but these spoke to me):
1. Our culture has become so obsessed with instant gratification with the internet, fast food, credit cards, that many youth want the quick fix,and get disillusioned when things don’t happen overnight. Most of us want things on our time not Gods time, maybe we need to read more of Proverbs on patience……
2. Reading the ‘Letters from Leavers’ I consistently see people trying to reason life and God all through their own finite mind and flawed logic. Lots of humanism being presented there..
3. I also keep reading people who are/were hurt by some other Christians - they are focusing on the sheep and not the Shepherd (as you taught Larry). I know all of us can provide examples of being hurt or disappointed by other Christians… But is that not why we have the example of Peter and after denying Christ 3 times, Christ welcomed him back????? Churches and Pastors and Christians are all flawed and have issues. Maybe many churches are not showing that ‘real/human’ side. I think ours does! Also, I think God allows people to drift away as many do come back for various reasons with stronger faith…..
I completely agree with your comments. It always felt like church and “real life” were two totally separate worlds. You can’t live in both worlds (with two very separate identities) for very long, and it always seemed like at least the people outside of the church were far more honest and accepting. I like what you said about churches needing to show the “real/human” side, and I agree that CCC does. CCC’s been a wonderful, new type of church for me, and I’ve learned a lot. If the church isn’t open to dealing with real life issues and struggles, then, at least for me, it’s seemed far more comfortable to take those struggles and questions to the people who are honest and willing to talk about life. And, it’s not the Bible that they use as their source of advice. So, a church that is genuine and that lets youth grow up and mess up and question things and have the room to grow in the grace of God for themselves instead of just telling them to walk through the front doors, conform to the Christian image that’s expected, and never question anything, is essential to offering the church’s youth a personal vital relationship with God. And seeing Christians living genuine lives shows that Christianity isn’t just something that happens on Sunday mornings, but is a relationship that is strong enough and real enough and true enough to actually live by.
These are good comments. On the one hand as Roger pointed out culture and our broken humanity will always mean that some people will come and go. We are grieved when that happens and I for one find myself continually looking at myself to see if I’m part of the problem! That can be healthy. One thing I do think is essential is a deep authenticity and a strong sense that we are all standing under the grace of God. This empowers us not only to strive to please him, but also, at the same time, to love and offer grace to each other. I’m really glad to hear Angel say: CCC’s been a wonderful, new type of church for me, and I’ve learned a lot.
As for Jeff’s questions, I think what people mean by a personal spiritual life is a feeling of nearness to God. If churches only give moralistic messages or tips and techniques for a better life they really do not help people to live deeper lives of true spirituality. Of course, true spirituality can be costly and challenging, so, as Roger said, the problem sometimes is not with what the church offers but what culture does to people.
As far as irrelevance, to social justice or societal transformation, I have heard younger people voice those issues. I know at Christ Community there is a lot of social justice and community renewal type ministry that goes on but it’s very grass roots. It rises up out of webs of relationships and certain small groups etc. It’s hard to know how to celebrate all that we (as a church body and community) are doing without it seeming like we are blowing our own horn. I do think it’s important for churches today to be seen serving the community and not just themselves.
Amen.
Hopefully not too terribly off topic but Tim Keller said that there are three basic reasons why people either stop believing in God or stop attending church, The first reason was intellectual, in other words some people had developed an argument at what ever level that seemed to disolve the need for church.The other reason was socially. Again at a certain level the social fabric of the people a person spends time with will dictate and determine the priority one places on church. Thirdly there are personal reasons perhaps they have recently been hurt by a church or have presuppositions about what The Church should look like, maybe they are going through a personal problem they would feel uncomfortable anyone knowing about. These are just a few reasons. I am not sure there is a magic bullet in resolving the problem it appears to be complex and in need of much pray and attention. peace.
Hey Saul. That’s not off topic at all where did you find that?
I believe I heard him say it in an interview but it maybe in the introduction to his book as well I will hunt it down.
Thanks. It ties into some things I’m looking at for this weekend at Christ Commmunity. The sermon is on “Crucial Commitments For Authentic Christianity” and it comes out of Acts 2:42-47. The whole passage is showing us the importance and nature of the church. See you soon.
Larry I am reading David Wells latest book “The Courage To Be Protestant”. One thing he says is that in a culture of individualism and absence of “robust theology”, faith that had been rightly understood as personal now easily became faith that was individualistic, self focused and consumer oriented. He goes on to say that as evangelicalism has been cut loose from its roots (post-ww2) it became increasingly cultural, and thus increasingly empty, and increasingly superficial.
Is this true?
I think so. What I think Wells means by cultural is not the positive value of being culturally relevant in other words not so much the church engaging and influencing the culture, but the other way around. From what I have read of Wells, and I haven’t read this book, He’s talking about how the culture is influencing the church, not just in styles of worship or communication which are culturally relative but in much deeper values such as individualism, consumerism, self-centeredness and the like. In that sense what he says rings true to me.
Sometimes I wonder if the term “evangelical” has worn out its welcome and become problematic perhaps even obnoxious. Evangelicals are often seen as holding the beliefs of the religious right, all still so confused with fundamentalism. David Wells says, “For many people the word “evangelical” has become a synonym for what is trite, superficial, and money grubbing, a byword for what has gone wrong with Protestantism”.
Despite the words honorable pedigree and outstanding leaders has the word run its course?
I wonder also. In Acts it is interesting in that even the Christians don’t really know for sure the best way to identify themselves. Members of “the way”? Something else? It isn’t until Antioch that they are first called Christians. When Keller first went to New York and people asked him what kind of church he was starting He said it was neither a liberal church nor a fundamentalist church. I think he came up with something really awkward that he got from lovelace… “live orthodoxy” or something like that. He thought it was important to get some distance from more common terms so people didn’t think they knew what he was about and draw the wrong or negative conclusions. Instead he could tell them in his own words.