Pollsters call it “The Religiosity Cycle.” Church people call it a pattern of involvement. Both refer to the same phenomenon. For some reason, generation after generation of Americans seem to repeat a cycle or pattern of lessening church participation during the young adult years. But when individuals marry and begin having children, church participation picks up again and increases with age.
Interestingly, a higher percentage of teenagers report attending church in the past week than adults ages 65–74. For 13- to 15-year-olds, the percentage was 54 percent. For 16- to 17-year-olds, it was 51 percent. An even 50 percent of adults ages 65–74 reported attending church in the past week.
The years in between those marking points of life show a different picture. Only 32 percent of young adults ages 18–29 reported being in church within the past week. The percentage rises to 39 percent for adults ages 30–49 and to 44 percent for ages 50–64. The highest percentage of participation comes from adults ages 75 and higher, 60 percent.
What causes the decline in church participation between late teens and young adult years? No one speaks with certainty on this issue. However, some possibilities are ventured. One comes from comparing the religious values of young teens with those of their parents. In most cases they are identical.
But during the years when teens begin to establish their individual identity, they may also struggle to make their religious beliefs and expressions their own, as well. The process may involve creating some distance between the practices of their parents and their own.
Frequently it is life experiences that draw persons back into the church. The birth of children reminds one of the importance of religious training. The loss of parents and the inevitable changes of life force one to wrestle with religious beliefs. Ultimately, one must reflect on the meaning of life and the end of one’s own earthly existence. All of these are deeply significant religious issues that tend to draw one back into the church.
Whatever the reason for the decline in young adult church participation, it is untrue to conclude that the church has lost the young generation. While participation is low, 32 percent for young adults, half of the same group reports membership in a church or synagogue. Also important is the fact that 47 percent of the group reports religion is “very important” in their lives.
True, young adults have the lowest scoring in both categories when compared to other age groups. The graphs go downhill from young teens to young adults and then steadily climb as age groups grow older. Still, half the young adult age group maintains its relationship with the church. It is hard to conclude that the age group has been “lost” when half maintain a tie to the church.
Lack of participation in a church does not mean the group has turned its back on God. A Gallup poll found that 96 percent of young adults continued to believe in God. Of course, Gallup’s category of “belief in God” is a long way from what the Bible teaches as a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. The two are not the same.
But it is this residue of religiosity that remains in young adults that allows the church to touch their lives as children are born, as death occurs, as the other crises of life are experienced. It is this history of past experience with the church that can be revived and can be used to draw young adults back into the church.
A more important question is: How can the loss of young adults be prevented? One answer is obvious. Help teens establish a faith that is their own, not a mirror image of their parents. This is not to say that the parents’ faith is wrong. It is only to stress the importance of personal commitment.
A Barna study hinted at this when he noted that teens who consider themselves Christians seek two major things in church life. The first is a caring community with genuine mutual concern and acceptance. The second, quality spiritual substance.
Barna states bluntly, “Music and other ambient factors may attract them once or twice, but those elements will not keep them coming back for more.” He adds, “In a nutshell, [teens] are looking for an authentic experience with God and other people.”
When one has an authentic relationship with God and with other people, then one’s faith is personal. It is important. It has meaning and relevance for life. One does not walk away from such a source of spiritual nourishment.
If Barna is right, then keeping young adults — and others — in church is not an issue of style. It is an issue of helping them meet God each time they gather for study and worship. Isn’t that what the church is supposed to be about anyway?
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