The Exodus

by Tim Keller, Lead Pastor

Late in 2017 a poll was taken of more than 2000 American young adults between the ages of 23 and 30. What they had in common was that they had attended a Protestant church two or more times a month for at least a year while in High School. The results were startling:

• 66% of them stopped attending church as young adults.
• Of the 55 reasons for quitting church, the majority of respondents cited 7-8 different causes.
• 96% cited “life changes,” including moving to college and starting to work as a key cause for dropping out of church.
• 73% said church or pastor-related problems led them to stop attending worship services.
• Of those 73%, 32% said church members seemed judgmental or hypocritical and 29% said they did not feel connected to others in the church.
• 70% stated that political beliefs contributed to their ending their relationship with a church. 25% of those who listed this as their reason said that they disagreed with the church’s stance on political/social issues.
• 63% said that student and youth ministries were the cause of their no longer attending church. Of those, 23% said they never connected with the students in their youth group and another 20% commented that the students in their youth group were judgmental or hypocritical.
• Only 10% said they stopped attending church because they stopped believing in God.

Additional research indicates that there are some steps that can be taken to help stem the tide of this exodus of young people from church involvement.

• Equipping and training students to reach out to peers has been shown to be a particularly effective form of ministry.
• Transparent leadership seems to be a key quality that young adults find inviting.
• Authenticity is the most desired attribute to observe in other Christians. Simply being “real” can go a long way to holding on to young adults.
• The number one trait that young adults found distasteful was the connection of political viewpoints to faith. The idea that “all Christians” should vote a particular way or share the same viewpoint on an issue (immigration, guns, abortion, etc.) was a major turnoff.

 At the end of the day, it turns out that young adults are looking for a community where they can ask questions, not have it all together, be loved, and not be judged harshly.
 
Anybody know of a place like that?