Extra: Losing Their Religion
Statistics show millennials between the ages of 18 and 30 are leaving the church. According to the Pew Research Center almost every major Christian denomination in the United States has lost a significant number of members. It states More than one-third of millennials now say they are unaffiliated with any faith - - That's up 10 percent since 2007.
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To some it’s a comforting place that draws them closer to God and to the body of Christ as a whole.
Many churches are steeped in traditions that have been around for hundreds of years.
While a lot of pews, especially in the Bible Belt, are still filled where are the millennials? Studies show they are leaving the church and maybe their faith altogether.
“I think there have been studies that show a tendency not to go to church as much and sometimes we wonder if there are more opportunities, lots more opportunities, for people to do with their time on the weekend than ever existed in the past,” said Sr. Pastor Lawson Bryan of First Methodist Church, Montgomery.
“There are some churches that have missed God’s point and purpose. The point and purpose of the church is to go and make disciples of all people. In other words, everyone is welcome, the church is inclusive. But sometimes a church can grow small and become a little fort, a tiny little family. It’s exclusive. It’s isolationists, and that’s not God’s purpose,” said Sr. Pastor Jay Wolf of First Baptist Church.
For Elizabeth Richards, who is a millennial herself, she had her own reasons for leaving the church.
“If I told anybody what I was struggling with I was going to be condemned or somebody was going to judge me or you need to stop doing that,” said Richards.
She says she can identify with a lot of people her age.
“Nobody’s really ever questioned it or nobody’s ever really pushed why we do what we do. And this generation has come along and said we don’t want to be a part of this anymore. I’ve heard so many people say I don’t want to be judged for what I do,” said Richards.
That’s why churches in Montgomery are reaching out to millennials in new ways.
“For instance, when we serve 30 thousand meals to the homeless and hungry, millennials are the ones who tend to show up,” said Bryan.
Dr. Lawson Bryan is the senior minister at First United Methodist in Montgomery. He says of his 4 thousand members, nearly 14 hundred of those are millennials whether they are single or married with families.
“Two things our studies show about millennials are that they crave tradition and authenticity. They want people to be real and they also want some grounding to it,” said Bryan.
While the statistics show millennials across all demographics are leaving the church,
First Baptist Pastor Jay Wolf says he doesn’t believe it.
In fact, he says he has seen the opposite of what the polls say.
“Millennials are hot-hearted, passionate people and when they see genuine Christianity they want to be a part of it and they want to be passionate in the promotion of Christianity. There is a movement called ‘Passion’ and ‘Passion’ is focused on millennials. They met in Atlanta just a few weeks ago . And there were 40 thousand millennials that were a blazing form of fire regarding their faith. So when you look at examples like that, it makes me question, are these polls correct?” said Wolf.
In fact there are several millennials on the First Baptist staff including college minister Justin Law.
“So we aren’t all about just going out and saying, ‘you need to come to church and you need to be here.’ We’re about sharing the love of Christ through the relationships we already have,” said Law.
He says they have seen the outpouring of college students interested in coming to church because of that.
“We have tons of college students that come here every Tuesday night and Sunday morning that gather in their blue jeans and they are here to worship. And it’s a very inviting atmosphere. But I do see that could be one reason why millennials don’t come to church because of the atmosphere, and they feel like there is something expected of them when they come to church,” said Law.
As for Elizabeth, she says she took some time away from the church in college and decided to give it another try.
It was in a small group at Church of the Highlands in Montgomery where she was able to confide in a small group leader about her struggles.
“I said, ‘well, this is what I’m still doing… here it is.’ And I expected her to say, ‘clean up,’ but she looked at me and said, ‘God still loves you and I still love you.’ And it made me realize for the first time in my entire life, God wasn’t looking at what I was doing right and wrong. He was looking at my heart. And from that day forward, there have been bumps along the way, but I realized God’s not looking for me to clean up first. He’s looking for me to come to Him first,” said Richards.
