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WHY YOUNG PEOPLE SAY THEY ARE NOT GOING TO CHURCH
The 66 percent who said they stopped attending church regularly as young adults cited a variety of reasons for leaving.
The reasons fell under four categories:
Nearly all â?? 96 percent â?? cited life changes, including moving to college and work responsibilities that prevented them from attending.
Seventy-three percent said church or pastor-related reasons led them to leave. Of those, 32 percent said church members seemed judgmental or hypocritical and 29 percent said they did not feel connected to others who attended.
Seventy percent named religious, ethical or political beliefs for dropping out. Of those, 25 percent said they disagreed with the church’s stance on political or social issues while 22 percent said they were only attending to please someone else.
And, 63 percent said student and youth ministry reasons contributed to their decision not to go. Of those, 23 percent said they never connected with students in student ministry and 20 percent said the students seemed judgmental or hypocritical.
“We’re tapping into a lot of different feelings and logistical things as well,” said McConnell, pointing out that this age group is often in a time of transition.
But leaving was not an intentional decision for many. Of those who dropped out, 71 percent said they did not plan on it.