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Declining Religious Observance Among Youth
Posted on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 11:10 PM by Jason Barker
Religion editor Frank Lockwood reported last month about a recent survey the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press finding that regular church attendance among young people is declining, and the number of youth who claim no religious affiliation is rising. Lockwood writes:
Among Americans ages 18-25, only nine percent attend church more than once per week. Another 17 percent attend about once per week. The bottom line -- 3 out of 4 aren't regular churchgoers.
Most consider themselves Christian (45 percent Protestant, 23 percent Catholic, 3 percent Mormon, 1 percent Orthox and 2 percent other Christian.) Non-Christian religions continue to draw few adherents (2 percent Jewish, 1 percent Muslim, 3 percent other non-Christian). But 18 percent say they have no religion and another two percent declined to answer.
It should be noted that these statistics are not reflective of the level of belief and activity among youth who regularly attend church services. For example, in his 1998 survey of teens involved in regional and national activities in the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, Fr. Joseph Purpura found that 83 percent of these teens attend at least one service per week, and have correspondingly high levels of belief (and low levels of behavioral and moral issues). What the Pew survey indicates, however, is the low level of belief and activity among the overwhelming majority of youth who only infrequently - if ever - attend Christian services of any sort. This is of course a serious concern to all Christians, and certainly to Orthodox Christians (only ONE PERCENT of the Pew respondents said they were Orthodox), but this situation also presents opportunities to Orthodox youth and youth workers.
I listened to a couple of radio programs earlier this week that made me think about this issue. The first, a Reformed Protestant program called The White Horse Inn, featured Mark Driscoll, the pastor of a youth-oriented church in Seattle, WA. Driscoll made a very important point: youth who are desperate for authenticity are potentially open to serious, traditional Christianity (there are of course many who would be opposed to such Christianity, but the point remains valid). It is vital to understand the current culture, and use it to reach non-Christian youth, without compromising our beliefs or our practice.
The second program was the latest episode of Come Receive the Light, where Fr. Christopher Metropoulos interviewed Bradley Nassif. Dr. Nassif focused on the fact that truly evangelistic Orthodox Christianity can powerfully and effectively reach people who are hungry for authentic transformation in their lives (he also notably mentioned ways in which many of us who are Orthodox Christians will need to change in order to be used by God in this way). Nassif's focus was not on youth outreach, but his points - to which I strongly encourage you to listen - are equally valid for teens.
The Department of Youth Ministry puts our Bible studies online, not merely because it is a cost effective way of disseminating the material to Teen SOYO groups in North America (although that certainly is a significant benefit), but also because having them online makes them available to anyone who might be interested - Orthodox and non-Orthodox, Christian and non-Christian. This is only one way in which to reach both the affiliated and unaffiliated, but it is nonetheless a genuine attempt.
What might God be calling you to do for those approximately 20 percent of youth who have no stated religious affiliation (as well as the large number whose affiliation is at most nominal)?
Posted in Miscellaneous