How can we reach the younger generation?

We see it everywhere: Younger generations are leaving the church. As a 26-year-old Christian, I regularly witness this exodus and acutely feel its significance. These are my contemporaries, my friends. But here's the elephant in the room: What can we do?

The Barna Group came out last year with their findings on a multi-year study, "The Faith That Lasts Project," which surveyed 18-29 year olds who had been active in a Christian church as teenagers. Their findings were, well, depressing. Nearly three out of every five young Christians (59 percent) disconnect either permanently or for an extended period of time from church life after age fifteen. An article by the Barna Group, as well as David Kinnaman's new book, You Lost Me, outline these findings, and the primary reasons why young people leave the church. These reasons include:

1. Churches seem overprotective.
2. Teens' and 20somethings' experience of Christianity is shallow.
3. Churches come across as antagonistic to science.
4. Church attitudes toward sexuality are often simplistic and judgmental.
5. Christianity seems exclusive, which they wrestle with.
6. The church feels unfriendly to those who doubt.

In the immortal words of The Who, they are "Talkin' 'bout my generation" (which is ironic because many of the people talking are the original generation to which The Who referred). But here is the million dollar question: Who is talking to my generation? Or better yet, who is listening to my generation?

As I look at these reasons for why young people leave the church, I see a pattern: most churches are simply not designed to disciple people through their spiritual questions. This generation harbors abundant questions about living a life of faith (as shown by reasons 4 through 6), but the church's attitude, or at least perceived attitude, fails to celebrate questioning as part of a faith process (as shown by reasons 1, 2, 3 and 6). Read more