07495
August 13, 2007

Study: most young adults drop out of Protestant churches

by Adelle M. Banks
Religion News Service

WASHINGTON — More than two-thirds of young adults stopped attending Protestant churches regularly for at least a year when they were between the ages of 18 and 22, a new study by LifeWay Research shows.
   
Seventy percent of 23- to 30-year-olds dropped out of the church scene, researchers found, while only about 35 percent of them eventually returned to the fold and are attending church two times a month.
   
The Internet survey was conducted by researchers connected with the Southern Baptist Convention’s LifeWay Christian Resources. Conducted in April and May, it involved a national sample of 1,023 adults between the ages of 18 and 30 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
   
The reasons for dropping out of church included changes in their life situations or concerns about their church or pastor:

• 26 percent said church members seemed hypocritical or judgmental
• 25 percent moved to college and stopped attending church
• 22 percent moved too far away from the church to keep attending church
• 20 percent didn't feel connected to people in their church.

Researchers found that most of those who stopped attending church had no plans to do so. Twenty percent said they already planned to leave church during their high school years while 80 percent said they did not.
   
Asked why they returned to church, many attributed their change in plans to family or friends:

• 39 percent said parents or family members encouraged their attendance
• 28 percent said they felt that God was calling them to return
• 24 percent said they had children and felt it was time for them to begin attending
• 21 percent said friends or acquaintances encouraged them to attend.