Kingdom People

Here’s a recap of my chapter summaries from Robert Wuthnow’s book After the Baby Boomers.

Preface

Chapter 1: An Uncertain Future

Chapter 2: Changing Life Worlds

Chapter 3: Going to Church

Chapter 4: The Major Faith Traditions

Chapter 5: Trends in Religious Beliefs

Chapter 6: Personal Spirituality

Chapter 7: Faith and Family

Chapter 8: Politics

Chapter 9: Immigration

Chapter 10: Virtual Church?

Chapter 11: Youthful Churches

My Thoughts on After the Baby Boomers

Now that I have summarized each chapter of Robert Wuthnow’s After the Baby Boomers, I would like to post some reflections and applications that we can take from Wuthnow’s study. What course of action should the Church of the 21st century take? How should the Church take bold steps in engaging this elusive generation? If Wuthnow’s statistics are right, I suggest we do the following:

1. Raise expectations regarding post-boomer religious participation while simultaneously providing support for this generation.

Young adults between the ages of 18-20 are disappearing from our congregations, and many evangelicals have implicitly approved of this phenomenon by excusing it. They’re in school right now and are very busy. They’re working very hard in their first career position. They’ll be back once they’re married. Younger adults have disappeared from our gatherings along with our churches’ expectations. We no longer expect to see a large number of young, single adults in church. Therefore, we do not.

Part of the problem is laziness. Wuthnow rightly points out the skewed nature of church ministries that focus on the elderly, the children, or the teenagers and make no effort to help along the twenty-somethings who are without any social support from outside the church. There is a void here, and the church has done little to fill it. Furthermore, we act as if church drop-out is expected. Why else do we not focus on younger-adult ministry?

The solution to this problem is for churches to come up with innovative ways of ministering to this segment of our culture while also raising the level of our expectations.

2. Buck the trend of late marriages.

Wuthnow observes that adults are getting married and having children at a later age. “Settling down” is happening later than ever, and since “settling down” is key for the younger generation’s return to church, we are seeing less and less twenty-somethings in church.

The solution to this problem is complex. Wuthnow suggests the Church move along with the culture and create social support systems for the twenty-somethings who have not yet “settled down.” I agree, so far as it goes.

But the Church must do more than simply ride the cultural wave of extended adolescence. One of the reasons why marriage is getting pushed back later and later is because more and more evangelicals are engaging in premarital sex. Many are cohabitating. Even more startling is the number of evangelical Boomer parents who quietly approve of this practice. Other evangelical parents who would never countenance fornication virtually lead their children into immorality by unwisely and unmercifully advising their children to postpone marriage until they are out of college or until they have a strong financial foundation. Deliberately postponing marriage and childbirth is often (not always) a capitulation to a culture that sees marriage as a contract and childbearing as a commodity.

The Church must buck this trend. We need to be emphasizing sexual chastity. Our youth need to be brought up with the mindset that marrying at a young age is not only not necessarily irresponsible, but ideal. In order to promote marriage a younger age, we must also be emphasizing maturity at a younger age. The solution is not to push young couples to make rash wedding vows. Instead, we must foster an atmosphere of maturity so that young twenty-somethings will be ready for marriage.

Younger families with younger children will bring back the 20-somethings, because the prolonged adolescence will no longer dominate our churches. Of course, parents will need to grasp this vision as much as teenagers. We have a long way to go if we are to stand against the cultural tide here.

3. Reach out to new movers.

66% of converts to evangelicalism did so after a recent move. Evangelical churches must continue their outreach to people in a time of transition. Moving is one of the most stressful times in a person’s life. The Church must be willing to welcome people into the community, plug them into Bible study, offer them fellowship and ministry opportunities. We are most likely to reach people when they are in a time of transition. Churches can obtain databases with new movers, and actively evangelize or recruit those who are new to the community.

4. Emphasize doctrine again.

Right now, Wuthnow’s research shows many younger adults attending church primarily for the sense of settledness and community that church attendance provides. The doctrinal positions of young adults reveal a lack of basic theological understanding. If we are to reach the post-boomer generation, we must again restate what we believe and why we believe it. Practical tidbits for daily life may reach some post-boomers, but most young adults can find such help online or on Oprah. The Church must offer something different, something substantive. Perhaps this is why there is a resurgence of Calvinism taking place across denominational lines in evangelicalism. After years of cotton-candy teaching, many young adults are starved for the biblical meat they find in the Puritans.

5. Stop expending so much time and energy debating stylistic issues.

I am glad that Wuthnow’s research backs up what I found to be true in my own congregation. The younger adults are not heavily invested in the so-called “worship wars” between contemporary and traditional music. Younger adults want church to “feel like church” and are more likely than the most elderly segment of the congregation to prefer liturgy and tradition. So much ink is spilled on the newest music style, when the younger generation is often more concerned about the preaching of the Word.

6. We need to deepen our understanding of other religious faiths.

Wuthnow would have us study the beliefs of other religious traditions in order to foster tolerance and civility. I hope that tolerance and civility will be fostered, certainly. But that is not the reason why I believe we need to learn more about other religions.

One of the major indictments of evangelicals in Wuthnow’s book is that we are actively evangelizing nominal Christians, a.k.a. “the unchurched.” We are not pursuing people who belong to other religious faiths. Evangelism in many evangelical churches is equal to inviting someone to church. We are scared to death to be put in the position of persuading a Muslim of the truth claims of Christianity. We shudder at the thought of discussing the implications of monotheism with a Hindu.

To give our church people some credit, we leaders have not been equipping them to deal with the growing array of religious options. We must address this issue quickly if we are to reach lost people in the 21st century.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

Related Articles:
Newsflash! The Key to the 20-Somethings is Not Musical Style
Youth Worship 4: Approaching God & Authenticity

We’ve come to the end of Robert Wuthnow’s informative book After the Baby Boomers. Pastors and church leaders, you need to buy this book! Do not assume that my chapter summaries are sufficient. I am briefly summarizing Wuthnow’s conclusions. The statistics and data in After the Baby Boomers are alone worth the price of the book.

Now, we turn to chapter 11 and the question about young, diverse congregations. How are churches succeeding in reaching younger adults?

Wuthnow believes religious leaders should be troubled by the fact that young adults are less likely to participate in religious services today than in the previous generation. Those who are participating are likely to be married, which is a minority in the young adult population. Mainline denominations have lost their young people by half. Evangelicals are barely holding the ones they have. Meanwhile, more and more young adults are not religiously affiliated at all.

Numerically, the next generation is larger than the baby boomers. The problems that churches face are societal. Community is not encouraged by American society, yet people still sense the need to connect with the past. Young adults are tinkering with their religions by seeking continuity with the past while simultaneously adapting their behavior to the demands of the present.

Churches must stop assuming that if they have a vibrant youth group and then a good program for young married couples with kids, they will reach this generation. This kind of mentality leaves out three-quarters of this generation. Wuthnow’s central argument is this: 

“Young adult is a time when other social institutions fail to be of much help… We provide care centers, schools, welfare programs, family counseling, colleges, job training programs, and even detention centers as a kind of institutional surround-sound until young adults reach age 21, and then we provide nothing.”

Churches should step in and fill the void. Why do we invest so much in programs for the children and the elderly, while leaving out ministry to young adults? We need programs for single adults with questions about marriage, work, and finances.

The clergy are looking through narrow glasses at the upcoming generation. People must get something from their participation to make it worthwhile. With so many outside activities competing for time and attention, young people must have a reason to be in church.

What are the characteristics of congregations that are attracting young adults? Wuthnow defines a youthful congregation as one in which at least 35 percent of its regularly attending adults are below the age of 35. Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Generally, youthful congregations are not as established. 30% of them have been founded since 1970. Young people are more likely to go to new congregations than older ones. Yet this is not always the case. Congregations do not have to be brand new. Nor do they need to have innovative worship styles to attract young adults.
2. Youthful congregations tend to be larger.
3. Youthful congregations appeal to populations that have many young adults.

Many suspect that young adults are turning away from the mega-church model and are looking for smaller faith communities. Actually, young adults can be found in every-size congregation. No single size dominates. The congregation’s size is influenced by the size of community more than anything else. As long as young people find community in their church, it doesn’t seem to matter whether or not the church is large or small. When they attend church and do not experience community with people their age, they have a compelling reason to stay away from church.

Regarding worship styles, Wuthnow’s research may surprise you. Young adults are increasingly less likely to want the contemporary worship of the boomer generation. They think church services should “feel like church.” Young adults are more often interested in preserving traditional worship than changing it.

The research numbers on worship styles may shock you (unless you are like me and in your twenties, and then you’ll sigh and say, “Finally, someone is describing our generation correctly!”). The greatest popularity of contemporary worship appears to be among people in their early forties. The lowest percentage of all (12%) of those who prefer contemporary worship is represented by people in their 20’s. That figure is lower than the percentage of church members aged 65-97!

Wuthnow calls for balance in implementing programs for the existing needs of the congregation (mostly for married couples with kids) and those for people the church hopes to attract (singles). Church leaders should take note of the growing percentage of working women, who traditionally have poured time and resources into the life of the church.

Wuthnow believes churches should implement interreligious programs that represent other faiths besides Christianity. While I agree that the polarization of young religious adults may be a problem, adopting a secularized, pluralistic assumptions of our culture is not the answer. I strongly disagree with this section of the chapter.

Other opportunities for ministry include international mission trips, local mission efforts, volunteer work and helping the needy. Young adults will likely move toward churches who are offering these kinds of ministry opportunities.

Tomorrow, I’ll be back with some of my own thoughts on After the Baby Boomers.

Chapter 10 of Robert Wuthnow’s After the Baby Boomers analyzes the statistics surrounding the younger generation’s use of the internet. No book on the post-boomer generation would be complete without a chapter that devotes attention to the impact of the Internet. 84% of young adults today say they use the internet. News, travel, work, and education sites are the most visited among younger adults. Religion sites are visited by only 20% of young adults. Evangelicals are the most likely to visit religious sites.

The statistics show that religious adults are visiting religious websites as a supplement to their faith practices. Little evidence exists to show that young adults might be replacing traditional congregations with internet use. Regarding pornographic sites, only 5% of those who attend church weekly admit to have accessed internet pornography. This figure stands in stark contrast to the rates of pornography among those who attend church infrequently or never (20%).

Young adults who actively practice their religion use the internet to learn more about the social causes to which they are devoted. Wuthnow believes that the internet has the potential of mobilizing religious young adults who are interested in moral issues.

Young adults stay in touch by email, but most consider the telephone to be the main means of communication with their friends and relatives. Frequent church attenders are more likely than the unchurched to send and receive emails.

Young adults do use the internet to seek out spiritual information. Religious internet-users are not replacing their congregations with web-churches. But many of these adults believe individual spiritual activities to be more important than group study and group prayer. Conversations with friends are more highly valued than conversations with a pastor. Though they take part in traditional congregations, they are piecing together spirituality their own way.

72% of those who surf the web for religious reasons have claimed they are looking up information on their own faith. Half claim to have looked up information on other faiths. Other reasons are practical (seeking guidance, planning a wedding, celebrating a holiday, etc.).

Traditional churches are not in danger of being replaced by virtual churches. But traditional churches should not miss this golden opportunity to reach out to their members in new ways. Just as previous generations learned to use the technology of radio and television for religious purposes, today’s church leaders must learn to use the internet in order to strengthen their cause.

22 million immigrants came to the United States between 1965-2000. Wuthnow cannot address the future of American religion without taking immigration into account.

The church must note the growing presence of Hispanic Catholics. The younger generation of religious Hispanics are deeply involved in issues of social justice. These young adults think about the church in international terms, rather than just its local manifestations. Hispanics are less likely to see themselves as members of a particular church.

Hispanic Protestants differ from Catholics in that they are more likely to have assimilated into the Anglo culture. Hispanic Protestants are more likely to see themselves as a member of their local church.

Asian American Christians show a special vitality. Among young Asian American Protestants, 77 percent are actually a member of their local congregation. That percentage is higher than all the Protestants in the same group. For many Asian Americans, religion is a means of assimilating into the United States. Protestantism does this for many Asian Americans.

Do immigrants feel welcome in the United States? Unfortunately, not by evangelical congregations. Statistics show that evangelicals are the least welcoming to Hispanics and Asians. In fact, the odds of not welcoming these immigrants are almost twice as great among young evangelicals than non-evangelicals.

Why is this the case? Several social factors might play a part. Men are less hospitable than women. Having children is associated with prejudice toward Asians. Those who live in small towns and rural areas are more likely to be unwelcoming.

The good news? Regular church attendance reduces the odds of being unwelcoming. Overall, most young adults view Asians and Hispanics. Church going must encourage young adults to be more accepting of other ethnic groups, although evangelicals (who attend church more than anyone else) tend to still be less accepting.

Wuthnow asks some tough questions. Could it be that churches are insulating us from ethnic diversity? Are churches somehow causing us to be less willing to trust others? Is church merely reinforcing interethnic contact and trust? Congregations remain homogeneous, although regular church-goers tend to be more involved in the community, and thereby meet and trust a more diverse set of people.

On Monday, we will look at The Virtual Church – religious uses of the internet.

I suspect that many people will consult Robert Wuthnow’s After the Baby Boomers primarily for chapter 8: The Divided Generation: Religion in Public Life. How will the religious views of the younger generation affect the political process? Religion is public, and it tends to follow a three-fold process of adapting to social conditions.

1. Production – opportunities to worship and practice religion are produced.
2. Selection – process of competition through which some options survive and others die.
3. Institutionalization – most groups eventually gain some autonomy from their environment.

Is the younger generation ready to carry on the culture wars? Let’s take a look.

First off, polarization is more widespread today than before. More young Americans are identifying themselves as very conservative or as very liberal today than in 1984. Religiously speaking, liberalism outweighs conservatism.

But religious conservatives are much more active religiously than liberals. Thus, the division is behavioral, not just ideological. Many young adults now consider themselves religiously and politically in the same categories.

Do young Americans follow what is often considered American civil religion? Younger adults are less likely to believe that the U.S. was founded upon Christian principles. Likewise, they are less inclined to agree that America is strong because of its faith in God. Evidently, we are seeing a larger cultural shift in which younger adults are growing up in a different environment – one that does not presuppose a strong link between Christianity and America. (Those who attend church regularly are more likely to see the civil religion connection.)

Young adults look favorably upon mixing religion and politics. They tend to be more favorable towards references to God in public speech. However, they are less comfortable with political pronouncements coming from the pulpit and with religious leaders running for office. Young adults do not agree with civil religion in terms of a cultural establishment for Christianity. However, they are fine with politicians who speak of religion as a voluntaristic form of free expression.

What about the hot button issues of abortion and homosexuality? Regarding abortion, young adults are more polarized than ever. Some have become more open to legal abortion, while others have become more opposed. The overall trend has been a growing opposition among young people.

Regarding homosexuality, young adults across the board have become more tolerant. The biggest shift has been in evangelical circles. Young evangelicals remain overwhelmingly opposed to homosexuality, although they believe homosexuals should have certain rights (excluding marriage).

Regarding the Religious Right, many young evangelicals have a positive view of pro-life groups and the Christian Coalition. Young evangelicals resemble older evangelicals in their attitudes toward leaders like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. Still, the younger generation has softened its views toward gays and lesbians and organizations like the ACLU. Regarding issues of war and peace, young adults and older adults are quite close.

Wuthnow’s conclusion? Young evangelicals care about the future of America and politicians’ religious convictions still matter in public life. Young evangelicals are more likely now to identify themselves as conservative Republicans. The statistics do show, however, a widening gap between religious conservatives and religious liberals.

In this chapter, Wuthnow considers the evidence that will help us understand how young adults relate their faith to decisions about family.

We’ve already seen how younger adults are more likely to go to church once they are married. We also need to consider, though, how church attendance may influence decisions about marriage. Church attendance and valuing marriage go hand in hand. Little has changed statistically regarding these two actions.

Not surprisingly, high attenders and low attenders are polar opposites on the question of premarital sex. Since 1977, high attenders have become more disapproving of sex before marriage, while low attenders have become more approving. Behavior does not always follow convictions, though, as 63 percent of those who thought premarital sex was already wrong acknowledged having committed the sin in the previous year.

Regarding weddings, Catholics have the largest, with Jews close behind. Those with no religious affiliation have the smallest attendance at weddings. Church-attenders who attend almost every week have the largest weddings.

Those who participate regularly in religious services are significantly more likely to claim they are happily married.

Regarding parenting, those who attend church are more likely to see the ideal family as having 3 or more kids. Still, the ideal is not identical to people’s personal desires. Most people want less than what they consider “the ideal.” Those who go to church often believe obedience and helping others to be important values to instill in children. Religiously conservative parents want their children to obey them, while liberal parents would rather their children think for themselves. (What about those of us who want both???)

Questions of right and wrong regarding a number of ethical issues (homosexuality, claiming government benefits to which you are not entitled, cheating on taxes, abortion, etc.) elicited surprising results. Young adults have shifted towards a relativistic stance. People are more likely to ignore what the church says about money, while they listen to what the church says about sexuality and life. Perhaps this is because church teachings have concentrated on a narrower sphere of activities.

Religious participation increases the likelihood of people to feel empathy (the ability to identify with and act on behalf of people less fortunate than oneself). Religious involvement encourages empathy.

Wuthnow believes that one of the least understood dimensions of young adulthood is fear. In fact, he sees this fear playing itself out in the mindset among young people that the mass media is actually hostile to their moral and values. Even a significant minority of those who are not religiously affiliated believe that the mass media is a threat to families. Wuthnow suggests that faith communities should provide emotional and social support.

Young people are more accepting of the possibility that their child might marry someone of another faith. Still, this idea of tolerance plays out differently when the hypothetical situation becomes a reality. If we have learned anything in this chapter it is this: faith matters, but behavior does not always conform to beliefs.

Tomorrow we look at religion and public life… 

In chapter 6 of After the Baby Boomers, Robert Wuthnow discusses “spirituality” and how spiritual practices shape the lives of the younger generation. Wuthnow defines spirituality as “the shorthand term we use in our society to talk about a person’s relationship with God.” Spirituality manifests itself in what people do, “especially those activities through which they attempt to relate to God or follow God.”

What kinds of choices are young people making regarding their spiritual lives?

Church Shopping and Church Hopping

First, Wuthnow examines the difference between Church Shopping and Church Hopping. Church shopping takes place when someone is looking for a religious congregation to join. Church hopping involves going from one congregation to another, without a commitment to settle into a single church.

Most people “shop” for a place of worship if they have changed residencies. Other factors that increase the likelihood of church shopping are the social class of the parents and the education level of the shopper. Wuthnow’s conclusion? “People with more resources and greater opportunities are the ones most likely to engage in church shopping.”

Church hopping involves “staying in the market.” The same factors that lead to church shopping also lead to church hopping, but church hopping is more common among single people and those without children. It is a function of being unsettled. Often, church hopping is a matter of expedience (visiting relatives, to see friends, etc.).

Social Networks

Are young adults finding the majority of their friends in church? Statistics show that young adults are more likely to have few or no friends in their congregations. What influences this fact? Movement. If a person has grown up in one community and one church, that person is more likely to have friends in church.

Surprisingly, the vast majority of young adults claim to have discussions about religion with their friends at least once or twice a year. Almost half of all young adults talk about religion at least once a week! In fact, the proportion of people who talk about religion with their friends is highest among adults in their twenties. No one can assume that religion is a “private matter” anymore.

Because reading is lowest among young adults, it seems that religious ideas are circulating by word of mouth – not through books and sermons. Young people are influencing each other more than they are being shaped by the beliefs of religious institutions. In other words, young adults are looking to each other for spiritual guidance.

Civility

Young adults speak of religious convictions in a language of opinion and feeling, not dogmatic fact. Young adults are more likely to agree that they should “spread their faith” than that they should “convert others.” Young adults see themselves spreading the faith by living according to the Golden Rule.

Evangelicals (especially young ones), however, are more likely to believe in conversion. The statistics show evangelicals actively proselytizing friends, family members, and co-workers. But careful consideration of the statistics shows that these evangelicals are not witnessing so much to people from other religions, but from other denominations. The people they evangelize are nominal Christians – “people who do not go to church.”

Converts to evangelicalism are surprisingly less likely to actively evangelize than those who grew up going to evangelical churches.

Spiritual Seeking and Practices 

Young adults seek for spiritual answers in a multiplicity of venues. Some seek to find answers by taking an intellectual route. Others seek answers through the use of dreams, symbols, and rituals. Of course, many point to Christianity as providing answers to the tough questions of human existence, although more and more are turning to Eastern religions. Traditional boundaries have been transcended.

Spiritual practices are neglected among most young adults. Prayer is less common among young people. Few young adults read their Bibles daily. Listening to music seems to have replaced these disciplines as a “spiritual activity.” For those who do pray, ambience is important. Many report the importance of praying with candles, paintings, etc.

Young adults are more likely to see spirituality and art as interrelated. But this does not translate into fans of Christian contemporary music.

The idea that young adults are “spiritual, but not religious” is not correct. Young adults do emphasize personal experience over church doctrines. But those who are involved in religious congregations are more likely to indicate an interest in spirituality. It is inaccurate to generalize by saying that young adults are spiritual, but not religious.

Tomorrow, we look at faith and family.

Chapter 5 of After the Baby Boomers is fascinating, as it gives an account of religious beliefs among younger adults and how these beliefs are shifting. The statistics may surprise you. Young people are almost as likely to advocate orthodox religious beliefs as the previous generation. Why might this be so? And what does it suggest? Wuthnow lists 7 possible scenarios regarding the recent trends in religious beliefs.

1. Orthodox beliefs have declined among young adults, but not in the American population as a whole. Perhaps the decline is attributable to the fact that younger adults may have reasons to be less orthodox.
2. The idea of orthodoxy is more fluid than usually imagined. Could young adults be offering a secular interpretation of traditional religious teachings?
3. Orthodox beliefs have remained constant because of other societal forces (keeping company with like-minded believers who don’t question their faith, or experiencing religious diversity that has forced young adults to better grasp their own belief system).
4. People can be orthodox and heterodox at the same time by “cognitive bargaining.” People voice acceptance of orthodoxy, and yet hedge their bets through negotiation.
5. Young adults are not all the same and are not all exposed to the same cultural influences (college, for example).
6. The relationship between education and orthodox belief may be changing, so that religious tradition and higher education are no longer seen as mutually incompatible.
7. Orthodox beliefs are faring differently in different faith communities (evangelicals feel embattled, for example, and therefore are holding tighter to orthodoxy).

The data reveals that there are few differences between younger adults and older adults regarding religious beliefs. There is no evidence of declining beliefs in orthodoxy. In fact, research shows that belief in “life after death” has actually risen among those in their twenties.

Wuthnow believes the single most telling question he can ask a young adult is their view of the Bible. His statistics on young adult views of the Bible have remained stable.

Religious diversity tends to be associated with lower levels of orthodox belief, and such is the case. But it could be that orthodox believers avoid contact with other religious groups. Most people do not have extensive contacts with people who hold to non-Western religions.

Wuthnow believes that the stability of orthodox beliefs tells a different story. People hold traditional views, while adapting to the culture in other ways, so that there is room to interpret the Bible and still be comfortable in a secular society. Examples? He quotes people who believe in evolution and creation. He shows how 64% of those who claim to be biblical literalists agree that “all major religions contain some truth about God.” He notices how many biblical literalists relativize their view that Christianity is the only way to God by saying it is the best for them personally. Increasingly, religious beliefs are personal and private, detached from the religious congregation.

Wuthnow notices that since the early 1980’s, young adults with some higher education have become more orthodox, reversing the typical view that college necessarily lessens a commitment to religious faith. This could be taking place for many reasons. Since college attendance is up, more like-minded people can join together. College is no longer for the elite.

Tomorrow, we look at spirituality and spiritual practices – the role of faith in personal life.

In this chapter, Wuthnow provides an analysis of the different religious traditions to see which ones are best reaching the younger generation. Wuthnow breaks down the religious traditions this way:

• Evangelical
• Mainline
• Black Protestant
• Catholic
• Jewish
• Other Faith/Nonaffiliated.

The charts reveal how important younger adults are to the major traditions. At least 40% of the adherents of every major faith tradition are between the ages of 21 and 45. Still, younger adults make up a smaller proportion of the adherents today than they did a generation ago.

Evangelicals have done well in retaining a good percentage of younger adults, but the proportion of evangelicals in their twenties has dropped dramatically. It’s even worse for the mainline denominations – from 1 in 6 in the 1970’s to 1 in 10 today.

Catholics, black Protestants and Jews have maintained a high proportion of younger adults and show remarkable stability. (Wuthnow offers some reasons later in the chapter to explain why this is so.)

Wuthnow believes that media reports have exaggerated the “tremendous growth, vitality, and rising influence” of American evangelicals. Among younger adults, the proportion of those who identify themselves as evangelicals has not risen. Compared to the mainliners, evangelicals have indeed done well in successfully attracting new recruits. But the result of evangelical growth has not come from mainliners (in fact, the number of younger adults switching from mainline denominations to evangelicalism has decreased), but from former Catholics.

Evangelicalism has seen dramatic shifts in recent years, most notably in the move from the small towns and rural areas to the suburbs. One of the key reasons why evangelicals have grown is because of their outreach to new movers. 66% of converts to evangelicalism have moved somewhere other than where they were living when they were 16.

Evangelicals and mainline Protestants have faced the same social changes, but evangelicals have definitely adapted better.

Evangelicals have the upper hand also when it comes to retaining younger adults. Why is this the case? First, geographic mobility is higher for people in mainline denominations, causing doors to other denominations to open more readily. Secondly, the two traditions differ in the timing of marriage (evangelicals marry younger). Also, the education level of evangelicals is 30 years behind their mainline counterparts.

I won’t go into as much detail regarding the black Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. Suffice it to say that the Catholic numbers, at least, have been bolstered by immigration.

Regarding other faiths (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, etc.) and the non-affiliated, these numbers are rising sharply. Retention rates are very high (above 90%), as many immigrants hold on to their religious identities as they come to the United States. 25% of those in the “other faiths category” have converted from another faith.

On Monday, we pick back up and take a look at recent trends in religious beliefs.

In Chapter 3, Wuthnow examines the statistics surrounding religious participation, specifically – who is attending? Among younger adults, there has been a decline in the percentage of those who attend regularly, while there has been an increase in the percentage of those who seldom or never attend. After the breakdown, Wuthnow estimates that the average congregation has lost 21 younger adults.

Why is religious participation declining? Wuthnow offers 4 reasons.

1. Marriage – religious participation is a traditional role. Married couples are attending religious services at the same rate now as a generation ago, but because marriage is being delayed, there are significantly fewer young married couples.
2. Children – wanting to set a good example for children is one reason adults attend church. Those who have more than one child are more likely to attend, but the number of married couples with more than one child has declined.
3. Employment Patterns – full-time employment means less time for other things. Women (who outnumber men at church) are working full time and still doing most of the housework. A woman’s self-identity is no longer invested in the church, but in one’s work.
4. Education – religious attendance is generally higher among men and women with higher education, but those with higher education still constitute a minority.

Put all these together and you have a cumulative impact that significantly reduces the number of younger adults who attend church. Wuthnow then takes a closer look at some of the key findings.

First, he shows that marriage is a stronger influence on church-going than having children. Secondly, he points out that young men are significantly less likely to attend church than young women, no matter their family status. Third, he observes the cutting of geographical ties from churches. Church attendance is no longer rooted in neighborhoods and local communities.

Wuthnow addresses the inevitable comparisons of American religion to the European religious trajectory. Is the United States becoming more like Europe? One graph quickly dispels that myth. The United States is still far more religious than Europe.

The chapter ends with a profile of regular church-goers. Most younger attenders are disproportionately female. Younger adults in their twenties are nearly absent. Regular church attenders are usually married.

The post-boomer generation is so different from the boomers. The major difference regarding church attendance is that the social influences that reinforce religious participation are weaker than they were a generation ago. This has caused fewer younger adults to be involved in churches.

Tomorrow we’ll look at Chapter 4’s take on the major religious traditions.

Wuthnow’s After the Baby Boomers now turns to the social environment in which religious participation takes place. If religious leaders will understand the next generation, they will have to come to grips with several key trends in the “life worlds” of young adults. Wuthnow shows statistics for each of these 7 trends. I will summarize the findings briefly.

1. Delayed Marriage. 
   Younger adults are getting married later than their parents. Married couples in their twenties were typical in the 1970’s. They are atypical by 2000.
2. Children – Fewer and Later
   Younger adults are having fewer children than previous generations and they are having children later in life. Only a small percentage of younger adults desire to have no children at all, but statistics show that despite a good attitude toward child-rearing, 20% of younger adults probably will not have children.
3. Uncertainties of Work and Money
   Due to heightened financial pressures, we are seeing the rise of the dual-income family. Younger adults believe they should have financial independence by age 21. Women and men alike are expected to work full-time. The turnover rate for employees is higher than in the past, which has pushed younger adults into more lines of work. The uncertainty causes stress in making family, housing, and other financial decisions. Life is more expensive. Credit card companies market aggressively, leading many into debt. Younger adults are most likely to be poor. Young adults who enter the labor market today experience lower wage growth and greater inequality than those of the previous generation.
4. Higher Education (for Some)
   Only a small minority of younger adults have earned college or graduate degrees. But this trend is on the rise, especially among women.
5. Loosening Relationships
   Social relationships are changing. Voter participation has declined significantly. More younger adults are volunteering, but they are channeling their energies into charities and ministries that give greater flexibility and require looser connections. Some kinds of social interaction have dropped off (bowling, dinner parties, picnics), but other types of interaction have replaced them (going to movies, going out to lunch). Church congregations relying on picnics and dinner parties to attract newcomers may be out of touch.
6. Globalization
   Merchandise exports have increased. International travel is more common. Immigration has changed the landscape of American culture. Increasingly, the common assumption of many Americans that the United States is a special people with a special relationship with God is being questioned.
7. Culture – An Information Explosion
   Information is far more accessible and diverse today. Music is more readily available. The Internet is easily accessed. Younger adults are less likely to spend long hours in front of the TV. Newspaper reading has declined sharply. Culturally speaking, younger adults are more “tolerant,” though more younger adults today define themselves as “conservative” than their parents.

Tomorrow, we look at who is participating in religious congregations.

The first chapter of Wuthnow’s After the Baby Boomers highlights the ways in which the upcoming generation of young adults is different from their parents and how the trends lead to an uncertain future for American religion.

Baby boomers influenced American religion “in sheer volume” and are quickly becoming the most active church members, biggest contributors, and loudest lamenters that things are not as good as they were in the past. Though the younger generation is a smaller percentage of the population, Wuthnow believes the future of American religion “is in the hands of adults now in their twenties and thirties.”

But the entire idea of “generations” needs to be revisited. Wuthnow sees the boomer concept of generations as being “largely defined by some major event or attribute” that people share in common. This way of defining generations has led to the Builders, Boomers, and now “Busters,” “Millennials” etc.

Wuthnow is skeptical about using this method of describing younger adults. First, he sees no evidence that younger adults are shaped by historical events in the way their parents were. (The reason why history so shaped the boomers is because they affected family and personal life.) Second, the popular usages of generational language causes people to sharply contrast the younger generation with the boomers, a practice that is misleading because it does not recognize both differences along with the continuities that exist.

Why does Wuthnow includes people up to their mid-forties when discussing younger adults?

People are living longer now than before, which has moved the midpoint of adult life to age 49. The additional years of “younger adult life” have caused many to wait longer to start families, decide on a line of work, etc. Younger adults are postponing developmental tasks that used to take place earlier in life.

Wuthnow points out how society provides institutions for the support and socialization of those not yet considered adults (elementary and secondary schools, for example). Unfortunately, by the time a person turns 21 or 22, the institutional support for the developmental tasks disappear. Younger adults are on their own, having to “invent their own ways of making decision and seeking support for those decisions.” The absence of attention on twenty and thirty-somethings has forced young adults to be individualistic.

Young adults approach religion and spirituality as “tinkerers” – those who put together a life “from whatever skills, ideas, and resources are readily at hand.” Tinkerers are eclectic, refusing to rely on only one way of doing things. Predefined solutions do not help them resolve problems.

Another term that Wuthnow employs is bricolage – “the joining together of seemingly inconsistent, disparate compoments.” Younger generations are looking for answers in a variety of places, yet many are content in their seeking and uncertainty.

What does this mean for religion? Wuthnow is not optimistic. He sees the statistics showing how younger adults are less involved than those of a generation ago. Religious involvement is not based in conviction as much as commitment to career, family and community. The mainline churches have declined, not so much due to their liberalism, but to the demographic change and falling birth rate of people in these denominations.

Tomorrow, we take a look at chapter 2 – The Changing Life Worlds of Young Adults.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

Today we begin a series that will take us through Robert Wuthnow’s book After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty- and Thirty-Somethings are Shaping the Future of American Religion (2007, Princeton University Press).

Wuthnow’s book provides meticulous research that helps us understand the religious beliefs and practices of this (my own) generation. I look forward to summarizing each chapter and providing a few thoughts along the way.

Wuthnow’s preface lays out the three main reasons why people conduct research about religion.

1. Contemporary History – a historical description and interpretation of the time one lives in. This type of analysis provides documentation for upcoming generations.
2. Deep journalism – “useful not only for future readers, but also for individuals and groups seeking to make sense of their times.”
3. Policy Analysis – seeks “to help decision makers by providing information that bears directly on the decisions they face.”

After the Baby Boomers falls into category #3.  

Wuthnow reiterates the importance of understanding the post-boomer generation. The young 20 and 30-somethings cannot be defined by historical connections such as the civil rights movement or the Vietnam war. Though much attention still goes to the baby boomers who are now becoming elderly, it is the younger generation that makes up more than 1/3 of the U.S. population.

Regarding the religious beliefs and practices of this younger generation, Wuthnow turns to words like “uncertainty, diversity, fluidity, searching, tinkering.” He then says,

“The evidence from young adults points to a future in which some will be more committed than ever to rigid interpretations of faith traditions while others will not be involved in religion at all.”

Next, he issues a puzzling statement I hope he will elaborate on later:

“The future that already exists among young adults is one of growing complexity, too, where it is possible not only for some people to be orthodox and others to be heterodox, but also for the same person to be both.”

Wuthnow sees young adults as being even more divided than those of the previous generation.

Tomorrow, we look at Chapter 1: American Religion – An Uncertain Future.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog