Why don't young (and many older) people go to church?

Obviously, there are as many answers as there are people. But I’ve recently read several interesting perspectives.

One is from a book I’ve been reading for some time called, “Young Adult Catholics, Religion in the Culture of Choice” by Dean Hoge and three other authors. It’s a compilation of surveys of young Catholics conducted in the late 1990s. Another is a blog by a 32-year-old evangelical Christian. A third is in the current issue of the National Catholic Reporter, which provides comments by Pope Francis to Catholic bishops during his recent visit to Brazil for the World Youth Conference.

Regarding the book, among its predictable results is that only 31 percent of Catholics between the ages of 20 and 39 attend church weekly. (That number is probably even lower now.) A surprising finding is that among the non-Latinos in that age group who attend church at least once a year, 61 percent are satisfied or more than satisfied with their parishes.

So, they don’t go to church regularly but when they do, they are satisfied with their parishes, and presumably the people, the priests, the liturgy…maybe even the music? Well, maybe not the music.

But here’s the telling statistic: Only 20 percent believe that their parish helps them “deal with the important questions” in their lives. That tells me that the parish, and presumably the broader church, is irrelevant for them. It has nothing to do with their lives. They see no need for it.

Either the church or young people wrong?
So, is either the church or the young people, or both or neither, wrong about what’s important in their lives? From the viewpoint of a skeptical believer, I hope to write about this question in future blogs.

Rachel Held Evans, a young evangelical Christian who writes a popular blog on faith, gives lots of presentations to faith groups, and in a blog for CNN, “Why Millenials are Leaving the Church,” she writes:

“Invariably, after I’ve finished my presentation and opened the floor to questions, a pastor raises his hand and says, “So what you’re saying is we need hipper worship bands. …”

“Time and again, the assumption among Christian leaders, and evangelical leaders in particular, is that the key to drawing twenty-somethings back to church is simply to make a few style updates – edgier music, more casual services, a coffee shop in the fellowship hall, a pastor who wears skinny jeans, an updated Web site that includes online giving.

“…We want to be challenged to live lives of holiness, not only when it comes to sex, but also when it comes to living simply, caring for the poor and oppressed, pursuing reconciliation, engaging in creation care and becoming peacemakers. You can’t hand us a latte and then go about business as usual and expect us to stick around. We’re not leaving the church because we don’t find the cool factor there; we’re leaving the church because we don’t find Jesus there.”

Is the church capable of winning hearts?
Regarding the pope’s comments to Catholic bishops in Brazil, he said people who leave the church believe it “can no longer offer them anything meaningful and important.” The article’s author says the pope does not “blame the culture, he does not harangue against relativism, consumerism and other ‘isms;’ rather, he calls for self-examination by the bishops.”

The pope is not saying that the church’s message is wrong. He’s saying that church leaders – and I would add many of its followers – place obstacles in people’s paths toward God and are not allowing the real message to get through.

“Are we still a church capable of warming hearts?” the pope asks. “…Of bringing them home?” Then, speaking about the Bible and the church, he asks, “Are we still able to speak of these roots in a way that will revive a sense of wonder at their beauty?”

For the sake of our beloved young people, many of whom evidently haven’t seen this beauty and mystery in a church that has been mostly formed by us older people, I can only hope so. Question is, how can we help them see it and help them care enough to make the church new?

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