Listening to the Faith of Millennials

Daniel Jones opens his rented home in Holland, Mich., to homeless people as one way to show his Christian faith.

Although church is important to him, Matthew Koster finds even more meaning in sitting around a campfire and talking theology with his friends.

Erin Drews, a seminary student, experiences God’s presence in Sunday worship as well as in a small group of unmarried young people who meet regularly to talk about their lives.

And Austin Young, who was raised Baptist but doesn’t attend church any longer, is closest to God when he reads the Bible every night before bed.

Jones, Koster, Drews, and Young were part of a panel of young people that met this week to discuss the topic “Millennials and the Church.”

Sponsored by the Great Lakes Coaching Group of Christian Reformed Home Missions, the panel was held to get a sense of how young people view the church and how the church might be able to serve their needs, said Stanley Koster, coordinator of the coaching group.

Impetus to meet with these young people—called millennials because this group of 18 and thirty-somethings were the last generation to be born in the 20th century —came from a new study titled Making Space for Millennials, said Koster, whose grandson is Matthew Koster.

Conducted by the Barna Group and the Cornerstone Knowledge Network, the study found that millennials are highly skeptical of the traditional church and yet are hungry for transcendence.

In addition, according to the study, this group looks for people who live out, instead of simply speak about, their Christianity. In addition, they don’t see church buildings, especially soaring cathedrals, as being central to their faith.

When they do think about church structures, says the study, they like ones that are simple, honor nature, and offer space for reflection and prayer.

Other studies have found that millennials are leaving the organized church in record numbers.

“We wanted to listen to these young people and hear them talk about what the church is or is not doing for them,” said Koster.

“By their own statements, the group making up the panel have varying degrees of involvement in the church, from ‘none’ to ‘very involved,’” he said.

The importance of living out an authentic faith, one that is rich and full and not tarnished by false claims and advertising slogans, was a theme that the young people spoke about during the discussion held at the Grand Rapids, Mich., office of the CRC.

“We want to see pastors living out the life of Christ,” said Peter Schuett, who recently moved from Minneapolis, Minn., to Holland, Mich., where he serves as a part-time youth minister and works at a logistics and freight company.

“The church will be transformed when we live like Jesus. From him, we saw a trickle-down effect. Jesus invested in the 12 disciples and they went out and invested in others. We need to be more invested in people and not in a church.”

Another theme was the importance of community.

“I feel closer to God when I’m with my friends and my community and doing for them and hashing out things that are important to us,” said Mathew Koster, a computer software specialist and a member of Shawnee Park CRC in Grand Rapids.

“Church is all of us coming together. I don’t think of it as an organization per se,” said Schuett. “The Holy Spirit works between us.”

Ways of worship was another theme.

Erin Drews said she deeply appreciates the music and prayer and preaching at her congregation, Pillar Church in Holland, where she is a youth leader.

“But I think the importance of church fluctuates depending on where you are in life,” said Drews, who is working on a master’s degree in ministry at Western Theological Seminary in Holland.

“Going to church and being part of the worship is high on my scale right now,” she said.

Anthony Young, who grew up on a farm in Tennessee and now lives in Holland, has never been a fan of formal worship.

“Whenever I would go to church, I’d always end up in the back pew. I felt like a misfit,” he said. “For me to have religion, I don’t need to be with people.”

Asked if he would go to church if he found one where he felt accepted and comfortable, Young—the young man who reads the Bible every night—said he would be willing to give a church like that a try.

Daniel Jones, who works in Holland as a press operator, grew up as an orphan and got into trouble as he grew older. He has never really attended church, but God is important to him, he said.

“I believe God is real. He has been with me all my life,” he said.

Art VanWyhe, pastor of outreach and missions at VictoryPoint Ministries in Holland, is the one who helped him find a place to stay when he was homeless, said Young. (VanWyhe joined with Stanley Koster to set up the panel.)

Because VanWyhe helped him, said Young, he is now able to open his home to others. “I’ve been through it [being homeless], and I don’t like to see others going through it. I want to help them figure out what they need to do.”