First, apparently, by leaving it.
According to America’s Changing Religious Landscape, the latest report from the Pew Forum, the percentage of adults who describe themselves as Christians dropped from 78.4% in 2007 to 70.6% in 2014. In the same period, the percentage of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated—atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular”—jumped from 16.1% to 22.8%. One of the most important factors in this shift is the weak connection between Millennials and the church: 36% of those between 18 to 25 and 34% of those 25 to 33 are religiously unaffiliated. To be fair, it’s not just Millennials that are leaving – nearly a quarter of Generation Xers (b. 1965-1980) are now unaffiliated and even Baby Boomers are slightly more likely to be “nones.” But the large number of unaffiliated Millenials is a big deal for the church! Among other things, the median age of mainline Protestants has risen from 50 to 52 since 2007 and will almost certainly continue to climb.
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