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

• Fasting & Prayer Conference next Saturday; meals included.
• The Peacemakers meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
• Don’t let worry kill you off – let the Church help.
• This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
• Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B. S. is done.
• The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: “I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours.”

• The church will host an evening of fine dining, superb entertainment, and gracious hostility.
• The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday morning.
• Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday. Please use the back door.
• The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7:00 p.m. The Congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
• Weight Watchers will meet at 7:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

• The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing “Break Forth into Joy.”
• Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
• Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
• Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
• Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person(s) you want remembered.