Youth

“Disaffected young evangelicals and those who left the church describe an out-of-touch institution not in line with their political beliefs, a scholar found” - RNS

“The fact that there is a ‘generation gap’ within biblical fundamentalism should not be a surprise to anyone. This is what generations do: gap. The main issue is to determine the best way to bridge the gap. Humility must be exhibited by both the ‘younger’ as well as the ‘older’ ” - P&D

“After their sweet sixteenth birthday 73% of eventual church dropouts attend regularly, compared to 79% of those who stayed in church. By 17, the divide grows (64% of dropouts are attending versus 78% on non-dropouts). At 18, less than half of those who drop out are regularly attending (48%)” - Lifeway

“With the help of William Buell Sprague’s Annals of the American Baptist Pulpit, I can examine the accounts of 45 baptisms from 1700 to 1840. Hopefully, this will provide useful insights into how children relate to the church and, perhaps more to the point, when they should be put forward for baptism.” - 9 Marks

“…young adults tend to be less religious than older adults, at least by conventional measures such as whether they believe in God and how often they attend worship services. Jewish Americans, who make up 2.4% of the U.S. adult population, are an exception: The youngest Jewish adults are just as religious as the oldest on some of these measures” - Pew

“Among 13- to 17-year-old teenagers, 45 percent believe many religions may be true, far outpacing the 31 percent who believe only one religion is true, Pew said. A much smaller portion, 15 percent, believe there is little to no truth in any religion, and 8 percent believe no religion is true.” - BPNews

“ ‘When basic long-term needs are not being met—food, shelter, safety, nurturing, etc.—young people will begin to think only short-term,’ Kelly said, adding that Christians ‘need to advocate for a proportional response that balances society’s need for accountability with restoration, forgiveness, and most of all, genuine understanding.’” - WORLD

“…while teens appreciate the connection and information that tech provides them, they also worry that their devices are cutting both ways: harming their ability to connect to others and making them even more bored than they were before they picked up their device.” - Barna

“Becket found that 74% of Gen Z respondents felt that faith was ‘at least somewhat important’ during the pandemic, putting them above the 62% average of all generations.” - CPost

“For example, in the area of belief, while almost all young Christians say they believe in God …evangelicals stand out for their level of certainty. Seven-in-ten (71 percent) say they are absolutely certain that God exists. Far fewer mainline Protestants (49 percent) and Catholics (45 percent) say the same.” - TGC