Comments on: Gen Xers aren’t going to church

By: Marc

Marc — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:21:49 +0000

Right you are, Rich!

Damien, it’s interesting, we’re the only church leaders in our community’s group of 20-30 year olds. The group is dedicated to make our community better in general and better specifically for younger people.

I too wonder where the church is!

By: rich

rich — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:30:32 +0000

Tougas are on the cutting edge yet again!

By: Damien Tougas

Damien Tougas — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:55:19 +0000

Again, speaking from my personal experience, I would say that perhaps the reason the younger people aren’t plugging-in to faith communities is because they aren’t seeing anything that appeals to them.

Just this past week we attended a gathering that was full of 20-30 year olds. It wasn’t a gathering of Christians (although several were present, including ourselves), it was a gathering of people who shared a common vision of making downtown Lewiston a better place. Those young people were there because they really wanted to be there and they saw what was going on as valuable and relevant. In the back of my mind I was thinking, wow, why aren’t we as Christians doing this? If we as Christians were genuinely invested in what the young people value these days, they probably would be interested in gathering with us.

By: Marc

Marc — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:45:06 +0000

Thanks Tougas!

I sure hope that this is more of a “shift” than a “drop.” I know for a fact that’s not the case in our community. The number of 20 and 30 years olds that aren’t plugged in to any faith community is astounding.

I love that people are taking responsibility for their own spiritual life. Thank God! But the hubris of thinking we can do this on our own speaks back to the lie in the Garden.

I’m glad there are other gatherings going on! I just wish I could be much more effective at communicating the life-or-death value of gathering together!

By: Renee

Renee — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:19:23 +0000

Funny, I was going to pipe up with some hopefully insightful comment but my husband spoke up before me. I know our family is not alone in the “believers, not attending standard church” demographic which Damien speaks of. I think there’s a lot more “gathering & giving” going on than can be measured by statistics.

By: Damien Tougas

Damien Tougas — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:01:21 +0000

Hmmm… I think that I would easily be missed completely by these statistics. I do attend a religious gathering, but it’s a house church, off of the radar from where these statistics would likely be gathered from. I also give, but my giving has shifted from religious organizations to other areas that also would likely not show up in these statistics. I also don’t think I am alone in this.

Perhaps this might need to be looked at as more of a shift than a drop. Check out this article for more details:

http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=296