Rachel Held Evans on What Drives Millennials (and Others) Away from Church

David Clow via Compfight

Have you been wondering why so many churches are dwindling in numbers? Rachel Held Evans was asked to speak about what drives millennials away from church, but her response has struck a nerve with a whole lot of people who are not millennials. It’s time for the church to take a good hard look at more than “relevance”.

From Rachel’s reflection:

What millennials really want from the church is not a change in style but a change in substance.

We want an end to the culture wars. We want a truce between science and faith. We want to be known for what we stand for, not what we are against.

We want to ask questions that don’t have predetermined answers.

We want churches that emphasize an allegiance to the kingdom of God over an allegiance to a single political party or a single nation.

We want our LGBT friends to feel truly welcome in our faith communities.

We want to be challenged to live lives of holiness, not only when it comes to sex, but also when it comes to living simply, caring for the poor and oppressed, pursuing reconciliation, engaging in creation care and becoming peacemakers.

Yes.