5 Research-Backed Reasons Millennials Are Done With Church

59% of millennials grew up in the church have dropped out, but why? In this video, I’m gonna share with you five researched-backed reasons for why millennials have stopped attending church. Well hey there, I’m Brady Sheerer from Prochurchschools.com, helping you seize the 100 and 67 hours beyond your Sunday service. We publish new videos like this one every single week, so hit the subscribe button below. And, if you like this video, make sure you give it a thumbs up, also. Millennials: we’re the least likely age group to attend church, which is a problem, because there are more millennials than anyone else. But, why is this? Why do millennials feel this way? Well, let’s look at five research-backed reasons. Reason number one, to most millennials, church feels fake. Barna reported that 66% of millennials perceive American church goers to be hypocritical. Who would want to go to a place every week where you feel like all the people are two-faced? Church should feel like a place where everyone is welcome, but to most millennials, it just doesn’t. And this leads into the next point. The second reason that millennials have stopped attending church is because of the exclusivity factor. To quote the book, “Making Space for Millennials”, by Barna Research, “Substantial majorities of millennials “who don’t go to church say they see Christians as judgemental.” 87%, that’s our brand as Christians and churches: judgemental. Look, we all know that we’re not gonna agree on every issue, right? Whether it be homosexuality, women in leadership, gender identity or A-I. You will vehemently disagree with other Christians. But it’s this majoring-in-the-minors culture that’s pushing millennials out of church. Our mission statements read, “Love God,” “Love People” “Serve the World”, but instead the look on our faces say, “You don’t belong here.” Reason number three that millennials have stopped attending church. Let’s revisit that final stanza in that very common church mission statement that I just quoted, “Serve the World.” Churches can put the word community in their name, or they can pay lip service to widows and orphans in their mission statements. But, millennials don’t always see it playing out like that in practice. Compassion International partnered with Barna in a study that found 47% of young, practicing Christians thought their church should be more involved in fighting extreme poverty. Moreover, 45% said they would give more to their church if it were more involved with poverty alleviation. Reason number four that millennials are attending church less frequently. In another Barna study, 52% of respondents perceived current day Christianity to be aggressive and hypercritical. And this leads into a problem with the church that is many generations old. The church’s propensity to condemn culture. Think about the things that I grew up with, Modest is Hottest, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Burn the World Services. Here’s a good one. I used to buy CDs, open up the jackets, where the members of the band would thank people that helped with the album, and read to make sure they were thanking Jesus or God, and if they didn’t, I would get rid of the album. Instead of rejecting culture, though, at every turn, millennials want to be a part of redeeming culture. Finally, the fifth reason millennials are leaving the church. We wanna talk through the big issues, the stuff that’s controversial, the stuff that we’re tryin’ to work through. We don’t want to shy away from it, ya know, or shove it under the rug. But instead, churches want us to tow the party line, right? When asked to select the image that felt like the most present day Christianity, Barna found that the majority of respondents selected an image of a bible with a person pointing their finger at someone. When millennials think about church, we don’t think of a table open to anyone and everyone to talk about God and work out our faith. We see an imposing figure, finger pointing us to fall in line. So, to recap, the five research-backed reasons that millennials are leaving the church. Number one, church feels fake. Number two, the judgment. Number three, a lack of care for the poor. Number four, the condemnation of culture. And number five, the inability to talk through controversial issues. If you liked this video, make sure you hit the like button below. And turn on that bell to get notifications every time we publish a new video. We post new videos like this every single week, helping your church seize the 100 and 67 hours beyond your Sunday service. Of course, if you have questions or comments, leave them below. I’d love to hear from you. Thanks for watching. I’ll see ya next time.