Why Are Young People Leaving the Church?
Categories: Lifestyle
Tags: Church, Encouragement, Programs
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Some studies have suggested that 6 out of 10 young people leave the Seventh-day Adventist Church. What can we do? Our churches do? The Intersection panel discusses reasons why young people leave the church and give suggestions to help motivate young people to stay involved in the life of their faith community.
http://www.vimeo.com/5338941Check out more videos at Intersection official website.
This article was published on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 and is filed under Lifestyle.
About the Author
Jacquelyn
(website)
Jacquelyn previously worked as a marketing assistant for two and a half years until she decided to earn a degree in Web Design and Development. She sadly left behind the Barstow SDA Church in California and is currently visiting churches in the northern Virginia area. In her free time, she runs the online Adventist youth community, Real Time Believers, writes both non-fiction and fiction, and attempts to draw.
Jacquelyn has written 35 articles for In Focus.
Hi Jacquelyn,
I have a family member who attended one of our colleges, then went on to work for the church for 5 years. Just before Christmas 2009 they were made redundant.
The way things were done was very unchristian to say the least. I struggle with the lack of integrity among some of the administrative people who are supposed to be leading the church. Some of the things that are being done to people, hide behind the curtain of ‘it is legal’ BUT many times it is not moral. If my family member never attends church again I would not blame her. People will probably say “O well, her faith was rather weak” – however I believe that many of our young people leave because they can not stand the hypocrisy and when they are brave enough to challenge they are given the boot.
Hi, Ena. I am very sorry about your family member. Unfortunately, what happened to her seems to be the growing norm within the church. To me, there seems to be a lot of “talk” about why young adults leave the church, but very little actual “action” to fix the reasons why they are leaving… especially the hypocrisy and the indifference attitude.
Recently, I have become more aware of the indifference that seems to be sweeping the church at the local level. We should be encouraging one another, building each other up, promoting each other’s endeavors, and comforting each other in our time of need. Instead, the local churches are becoming more and more self-centered, ignoring the needs of the members, visitors, and community. When visitors are not made welcome, when young adults are not given the opportunity to participate, when the church finds it an inconvenience to help others… it is no surprise people are leaving.
That is why action is so important. We need to stop talking and actually do something. Take action. Even just one person can start the change that is needed. That is why I try hard to make people feel welcome and wanted. I don’t always succeed, but I hold to Philippians 4:13. “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” I’m stubborn enough that I refuse to give up trying to change the indifference to compassion… even if it is just one person at a time. As Roman 8:31 says: “If God be for us, who can be against us?” We should definitely keep the church in our prayers, but while praying, we should also be active in pursuing change.
That’s my opinion, at least. May God bless and keep you!
~Jacquelyn
Well here is my 2 cents
I am a newer adventist and being only 28 yrs old I think I might have a little bit of a say so if I say so lol.
Well after I had gotten baptized we had a con artist come through our church and promise everyone money and to build a church school etc. Very knowledgeable with the bible, etc. Needless to say it was a con and a few families (including mine) lost everything! He was in prison for about 2 years (he is out now but was happily shipped out of another Adventist church this time with no harm thanks to our testimony), anyway for a young person who hated christian for many of these reasons I should have been totally thrown off. But here I am preaching sermons at multiple churches, giving bible studies and jsut as hungry to serve… WHY? because I feel God wanting a relationship with me and I with him… because it’s easy to fault find and get down when people bounce on you ESPECIALLY church members! I feel that people that leave are for one reason: they never first and foremost were introduced into a REAL (not just perceived but real) relationship with God. The other is that they were never able to establish lasting relationships with people within the church and 95% of the time thats the other peoples fault. Just my opinion.
Hello, David! Thank you so much for sharing your perspective. I am terribly sorry that such a thing happened to you, your family, and your church family. Thank the Lord, the individual was not able to swindle even more people.
If I may be so bold: you and I seem to have similar personalities. We are the type that will not let a few bad apples sour our opinion on the entire church. When we are wronged or hurt, we may vent, but we ultimately take it as a learning experience; it makes us stronger, wiser, and, at least for me, more compassionate towards others. Unfortunately, some people are more sensitive, and it is not as easy for them to brush off bad experiences. Though they try hard to overcome their anger, hurt, fear, or depression, they cannot do it on their own. It is a good thing that we have the Creator of the universe, the Lord Almighty, to be our comfort and strength! So matter what our individual personalities or situation, we can fully rely on Him. My two favorite Scriptures passages are Philippians 4:13 and Jeremiah 29:11-13, and both have helped me through trying times.
God bless!
~Jacquelyn