Lifeway Survey Paints a Grim Picture

USA Today ran an article in their religion section on Tuesday which was based on a survey recently done by Lifeway Christian Resources. (You can read the article here) The survey focused on the Millenial Generation and their feelings and beliefs when it comes to faith and religion.  They paint a pretty grim pictures.  Here are some highlights that were pointed out in the article.

• Out of the 1,200 surveyed, 72% called themselves spiritual rather than religious
• 65% rarely or never pray with others, and 38% almost never pray by themselves either
• 65% rarely or never attend worship services.
• 67% don't read the Bible or sacred texts.

Even among those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and believe that they will go to heaven...

• 68% did not mention faith, religion or spirituality when asked what was "really important in life."
• 50% do not attend church at least weekly.
• 36% rarely or never read the Bible

The Church is doing a poor job when nearly 70% of young adults do not pray, attend worship or read the Bible.  Thom Rainer, the President of Lifeway says that if this trend keeps up that,

"the Millennial generation will see churches closing as quickly as GM dealerships."

This is not hard to believe.  Look around your congregation- look for the 20 year olds.  In many places they are absent.  Our staff recently took stock of what many of us thought we 20somethings in our congregation and they turned about to be 30somethings.  Aside from a few 20somethings- we are missing a huge segment of our population.  They are not hearing the gospel. They are not experiencing transformation through Jesus Christ.

The Church needs to rethink how we go about our ministries- reaching out to those who have never heard and discipling those who express faith in Jesus Christ.  It's hard to imagine that 50% of people who define themselves as Christians do not attend worship weekly or that 36% rarely read their bible.  Rainer goes on to say,

"We have dumbed down what it means to be part of the church so much that it means almost nothing, even to people who already say they are part of the church."

So what must the church do?  Here are some of my quick thoughts.

• We must get rid of the attitude that is ok with college students "falling away" from their faith because we believe that they will come back to church when they have kids.  I have heard this a lot in the local church and people are ok with it.  We need to change our attitudes towards young people
• Churches need to realize that it is not the Youth Pastors job to instill faith in young people.  First, it is the parents responsibility- then it is the responsibility of the entire congregation- per baptism vows (in the UMC, the entire church vows to help raise our children to know Christ as Savior.  We are falling short of that vow.)
• We need to rethink how our churches do evangelism and discipleship. Discipleship is not a program, but a way of life! Evangelism should naturally flow out of our lives because God's love and grace overflow in our daily walk.
• Worship services, music and sermons need to express the mission of God and invite young adults (and people of all ages) to participate in God's kingdom.  Look at your worship service...would a 20 year old feel comfortable there?  Does your music relate and reach to young adults? There is no "right" form for worship...it needs to be whatever best communicates our thanks to God and points to God's love for the people we are trying to reach.

If you are older than your 20's, think back for a moment.  Almost every major decision that has made you who you are was made in your 20's.  Your studies.  Your career.  Your life goals.  Your spouse (for many). Your dreams.  Yes, these can change as you grow older...but many of these were solidified in your 20's.  It is imperative that we continue to do all we can to reach young people- especially those in their 20's.

How is your church reaching 18-29 year olds? Are they trying?  What are some things that need to change to help 20 year olds become disciples of Jesus Christ?

Young Clergy and the United Methodist Church

I've been meaning to write this post for about a week, but seminary just started back up and I've been watching Abbie all week since our daycare is closed. So here we go...

I followed a link from the United Methodist Young Clergy page to a study done by the Lewis Center at Wesley Theological Seminary regarding the number of young clergy (under 35) in the United Methodist Church. (You can find the report here) The statistics are rather disheartening as someone who is in the ordination process in the UMC. This particular study tracked Elders (and those commissioned yet in their probationary/provisional period) under 35 and gave a break down of each conference. Let me give you some of the statistics from the report- with some thoughts afterwards.

According to the report...

• 5.21% of Elders are under the age of 35. This is a decrease of almost 10% since 1985 (15.06%).
• As of 2008, there were 910 Elders under 35. In 1985, that number was 3219.
• In 2007, there were 40,100,000 young adults age 25-24, with only 876 Elders in that same age range...a ration of 1 Elder for every 45,000 Young Adult.
• In 2006, there were 26,083 Pastoral charges and 881 Elders under 35. A ratio of 1 Elder under 35 for every 30 churches.
• In my conference (Peninsula-Delaware), as of 2008 there were 2 Elders under the age of 35, comprising of 1.08% of our ordained/commissioned clergy. (I believe that number went up to 4 for 2009)

The report list some other denominations statistics for ordained clergy under 35 and the Methodist Church is not alone in this. Only two denominations report that more than 10% of their ordained clergy is under 35 (Church of the Nazerene, Reformed Judaism).

Linked to this issue, I believe, is our feeble attempt at reaching out to college age/young adults in meaningful ways and inviting them to be apart of the Kingdom of God. I've heard it said that a pastor can generally connect with people 10-15 years older and younger than themselves. That could be true as the average age of our ordained Elders is 52- many may have difficulty connecting culturally, relationally with those younger than 35.

So what can we do?

1. More Young Clergy: To this I will say yes, and no. On the yes side- The United Methodist Church (and the Christian Church as a whole) needs more young clergy to help effectively share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world around them. People need to hear this Gospel from their peers- and most importantly, see it lived out from someone their age that they can relate too. Having more young clergy in pulpits and in leadership can be inviting to a young adult who is exploring his/her faith.
   
   Certainly seminary takes time to go through- but the entire length of the ordination process is too long. I started at 26 and will be lucky to be ordained by the time I am 35. Many young pastors are burnt out on the process and by their poor placements in charges that are not willing to allow creativity and passion to be evident.
   
2. On the "no" side of this answer- it takes much more than having younger clergy to reach a world who are thirsting for the living waters of Christ. I have heard (in my annual conference and on blogs/websites) that more young clergy is the way to solve our lack of young adults persuing their faith in the church. It's brought up like a cure-all. This is false thinking. As a denominational level, I feel that we are very much stuck in the 1980's or 1990's in our thinking (maybe in earlier than that). We have failed to keep up with the cultural changes that have taken place.
   
   Since our newest slogan is ReThink Church- we must be willing to really rethink how we go about our ministries. I fear that this is just a catching tagline that the UM marketing department has developed rather than the heart of our leaders in our General and Annual Conferences. In my own conference, I have seen very little dialouge on what it means to rethink church as clergy.
   
   If we were able to Rethink Church; If we were able to live Church as a verb- people (including Young Adults) would be attracted. It happened in Acts when the Holy Spirit came upon those gathered in the Upper Room. They lived life differently and people noticed and wanted to join in because of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. If that was the case today- we would see more people of all ages seeking to live out their faith, and in turn, have more people (of all ages) desiring to serve God through (but not limited to) ordained ministry.

I pray for myself and my brothers and sisters who are pursuing ordination that we would not lose our passion. That we would have the strength and courage to rock the boat, to go against the flow, and to seek to allow God to work through us in ways that we could never imagine.