Most people who have served in a children's ministry or student ministry context have heard various statistics about youth leaving the Church after they graduate high school. 70%-%80 is generally the estimate you hear, and my personal experience growing up church backed up those numbers as about 4 out of 5 students I grew up with were not involved after we graduated.
Statistics on Youth Leaving the Church
Lifeway Research conducted a survey in 2017 of young adults to gather statistics on youth leaving the church by asking about their experience. The same study was done by them in 2007 and the results were not that different. They asked the question:
Did you stop attending church regularly (twice a month or more) for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22?
In 2017, 66% of those surveyed said they stopped attending church, compared to 70% in 2007. So, at least there was a small decline.
Why Youth Leave the Church
In the Lifeway Research study of 2017 the top 5 reasons for why youth leave the church were:
- Moving to college
- Church members seemed judgmental or hypocritical
- I didn't feel connected to people in my church
- I disagree with the church's stance on political/social issues
- My work responsibilities prevented me from attending.
2011 Study by Barna on Youth Leaving Christianity
In 2011, an extensive research endeavor by the Barna Group revealed some new insights into this huge issue facing the Church. The details are found in a new book called You Lost Me. Here are some highlights from the full post on their site:
- 1 out of 9 (11%) lose faith in Christianity
- 4 out of 10 (40%) leave the Church but still call themselves Christian
- 2 out of 10 (20%) disconnect from Church and express frustration about “church culture” and disconnects with society
- 3 out of 10 (30%) stay involved church
Yes, that's 101%, because the “out of 10” references were probably rounded. Here are the myths they believe exist, that aren't true from their research:
- Most people lose their faith when they leave high school.
- Dropping out of church is just a natural part of young adults' maturation.
- College experiences are the key factor that cause people to drop out.
- This generation of young Christians is increasingly “biblically illiterate.”
- Young people will come back to church like they always do.
Looks like the 70% number is accurate if we're looking at church involvement.
What do you think? How can we help change that trend?
I’m my opinion, the reasons cited for the problem of young adults leaving the church are surface reasons. I believe the underlying reality is that these young adults have you ever had a significant relationship with God. They have been taught a Christian belief system but lack the personal relationship. If someone truly knows the love of God, that will never change based on The Superficial reasons given in this study such as the conflict between what the church teaches and what science teaches. I believe the reason that young adults leave the church is that the way we parent them misrepresents God to them. We present a God that relates to us based on our Behavior rather than a God who is concerned about our heart motives.
I suspect the cause is urbanization and social media. Young adults are leaving religion, leaving their families, not starting new families or having children, and leaving their friends and not making new friends. This is not just happening among Christians in the US, but also among Muslims across the Middle East, and among the most populated countries in the world, such as India, China, and Brazil.
Moving from the countryside to the big city means more opportunity, a more successful future, and more money. People are selling their souls without realizing it.
Oh for heavens sake (literally), pretty much everyone has it completely wrong. Young people are turning away from your church because evangelicals are now synonymous with the Republican Party/Trump/anti-vax/insurrection. Christians have become just one more special interest group among many, scrambling for benefits at the expense of others rather than seeking the welfare of the whole. Their crass, obsessive political ambitions and far right ideology have utterly destroyed their credibility as a valid spiritual community, and until they can rescue their faith from their worst leaders, the corruption of their religious tradition by politics shames all those who participate in it.