How important is church to spiritual growth? Apparently lots of Americans don’t think church attendance is all that important. The Barna Group recently asked this question: What helps you grow in your faith? They received lots of answers: “prayer, family or friends, reading the Bible, having children.” Unfortunately “church did not even crack the top-10 list.”
When asked about church, Americans were split down the middle. Half (49%) said church attendance is important or somewhat important. The other half (51%) does not think it’s important.
Future trends are not encouraging. The Millennial generation is the least likely to value church attendance. Only 2 out of 10 believe it is important. The Barna Group also reports that more than one-third of Millennials (35%) take an anti-church stance.
The quick response from some is that the young often leave church but will return. If you have read any of the books written over the last few years about the attitudes of the Millennial generation, you have to be skeptical about that prediction. But even if you believe they will return you must at least admit that the young adults today are starting from a lower baseline for church participation than previous generations of young adults.
The study by Probe Ministries done in conjunction with the Barna Group also found that many born-again Millennials also felt church was optional. In order to participate in the survey, you had to be between the ages of 18-40 and have had a born-again experience that was still meaningful in your life.
The survey found that born-again Millennials divide into thirds. One third attend church on a regular basis and have a biblical worldview. One third attend church but do not have a biblical worldview. And a final third do not attend church and do not have a biblical worldview.
Put another way, half of these young adults in church don’t have a biblical worldview. You have to wonder how long they will stay in church if they aren’t looking at their life from a biblical perspective. The latest Barna surveys remind us we have lots of work to do.