New research finds most teenagers drop out of Church as young adults.
Two-thirds of American young adults who attended a Protestant church regularly for at least a year as a teenager say they dropped out for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22. That’s according to a new study from LifeWay Research.
While the findings may be troubling for many church leaders, the numbers may appear more hopeful when compared to a 2007 study from LifeWay Research.
Previously, 70 percent of 18 – 22-year-olds left church for at least one year.
Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research said, “The good news for Christian leaders is that churches don’t seem to be losing more students than they were 10 years ago. However, the difference in the dropout rate now and then is not large enough statistically to say it has actually improved.”
The five most frequently chosen specific reasons for dropping out were: moving to college and no longer attending; church members seeming judgmental or hypocritical; no longer feeling connected to people in their church; disagreeing with the church’s stance on political or social issues ; and work responsibilities.
Almost half of those who dropped out and attended college say moving to college played a role in their no longer attending church for at least a year.
McConnell said, “While some young adults who leave church are rejecting their childhood faith, most are choosing to keep many of the beliefs they had, but with a smaller dose of church,”