The Barna organization discusses millennials who stay connected to church and the reasons they give:
Parents and leaders have long been concerned about the faith development of the generation born between 1984 and 2002—and for good reason. First, Barna research shows nearly six in ten (59%) of these young people who grow up in Christian churches end up walking away from either their faith or from the institutional church at some point in their first decade of adult life. Second, the unchurched segment among Millennials has increased in the last decade, from 44% to 52%, mirroring a larger cultural trend away from churchgoing among the nation’s population.
Third, when asked what has helped their faith grow, “church” does not make even the top 10 factors. Instead, the most common drivers of spiritual growth, as identified by Millennials themselves, are prayer, family and friends, the Bible, having children, and their relationship with Jesus.
The graphic shows the most important aspects of church for millennials:
To read more go to the Barna site.
All Content © 2017 Episcopal Café
JC, I’m not 100% certain of what you are saying, and I can be very comfortable with a certain kind of universalism, but while millennials may be comfortable with universalism, I’m not sure how respectful they would be if we watered down the “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, . . .” bit.
I think it’s possible to Christocentric and also open to God’s Word also being present in other faith traditions – but from the Christian point of view, any act of salvation is always through the Trinity of persons regardless of how it is named.
I’m not good enough at interfaith stuff, so that may be poorly worded, but that’s my approach.
@DirkR: the fact that I was thinking of that “Quadrilateral” language, is why I (inadvertently) added the word “necessary”! ;-/ But note, the Quad is for *Christian* unity, not a universal faith-claim. Well, it shouldn’t be. And w/ that…
@AdamS: y’know, I wouldn’t have a problem w/ the “Two Great Commandments” as the “everything a person needs” clause. But that’s because I think the 2Great are (if the 1st is understood as one’s Higher Power) pretty universal. But if it’s the entire *Bible*, it becomes a form of religious chauvinism, IMO.
JC Fisher
I’d be willing to say the “two great commandments” contain pretty much everything you need to live a meaningful life. (Love God, Love Neighbor) And that’s, what, one verse? Now add in the rest of the Bible to flesh that out. I’m not seeing the problem there, JC.
JC, like you I somewhat cringed at the last question, but I think it can be easily translated into Episco-speak when we remember the Prayer Book teaching that Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation. In a certain sense, surely that is all one needs in order to lead a meaningful life (understanding the ‘all things necessary’ includes the message of Scripture as a whole and not just a verse here or there).
Oops, slight misquote above (couldn’t cut&paste it). My point stands, though.
JC Fisher