Mormon millenials leaving in large numbers

[_Maksutov]

http://kutv.com/news/local/losing-their ... ing-church

From the article:

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — (KUTV) Nearly 60 percent of all millennials raised in a church have stopped going.
They're not in search of a new faith, they simply want out.
The mass exodus from church pews nationwide has been studied at length in recent years by the Pew Research Center, which tracks Millennials by state, religion and faith. It's research has found that no religion has been safe in these drastic membership losses each one is still grappling with a way to bring them back.

[_Kishkumen]

Wow. What a surprise! They don't give a crap whether their friends are gay and get married, and the church that makes a huge stink about it becomes odious in their eyes. Who could have seen that coming?

[_Maksutov]

Wow. What a surprise! They don't give a crap whether their friends are gay and get married, and the church that makes a huge stink about it becomes odious in their eyes. Who could have seen that coming?

Perhaps the Brethren will consider this the "lost generation".

What do you see, Reverend, among your students? Can you see trends or is the topic ever raised openly in class?

[_Kishkumen]

Perhaps the Brethren will consider this the "lost generation".

What do you see, Reverend, among your students? Can you see trends or is the topic ever raised openly in class?

It is not a topic that comes up in my classes. When sexuality is raised in my classes, it is ancient sexuality, not modern, that is the topic of conversation.

And, maybe I am wrong about the reasons for the millennials jumping ship. It could be that the biggest reason is that they can't actually sit still for a one-hour college lecture, and three hours of church is pushing it way too far.

[_sock puppet]

Perhaps to become effective in this social media age, instead of boring church meetings, the 'message' will be Tweeted out to the masses. But unlike Trump's use of Twitter to foment discontent to the point people would actually go vote--for him--I don't see how religious Tweeting will motivate the recipients to give money to the Tweeting Oracles.

[_consiglieri]

Too long and too boring is probably the biggest of the many issues. Which is to say, ultimately, it's about how much value the church is adding to a particular person's life. The church has made itself all about church. And unfortunately for the church, the leadership just isn't very good. I do not perceive anything inspirational that is worth following. And since I am not allowed the freedom to develop on my own, or even engage in service among my peers, there is literally nothing for me.

Good points, Water Dog.

Of course, church has always been too long and too boring. But we stuck with it anyway, because we really believed deep down that it was true.

The shared belief that the LDS Church was the one and only true church was the glue that kept members going back to endlessly boring meetings.

I think it may be the glue that is starting to weaken.

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

[_Dr. Shades]

But then things got to a point where I couldn't help the others around me either... my attempting to do just that landed me in the hot seat.

Sounds like there's a good story in there. In what way did you attempt to help the others around you, and how/why did it backfire?

[_Kishkumen]

If only the broken people showed up, well, who's going to help them? Lead them to make better choices and whatnot. So I told myself. I didn't feel like I personally was really getting much out of it, but at some level I did feel like I was able to help others, however trivial that help might be. But then things got to a point where I couldn't help the others around me either... my attempting to do just that landed me in the hot seat. So what's left? Everything about church became a source of stress. That time would be better spent in a yoga class.

In my adult life the only wards I enjoyed attending, really enjoyed, were urban wards with a lot of needy members. There, if you went semi-regularly, you were welcomed with open arms. Usually the urban membership was more interesting and more diverse. My wife and I got along famously with the urban members. Then there were the suburban people who would be shipped into a ward, or the transient graduate student members who were there until they landed that big job in law or high finance. The latter were almost insufferable to deal with. What a difference.

Honestly, I didn't realize until too long into the game that the people that the young student couples looked down on were the best members. They were the people who kept me in the LDS Church another decade. If my church experience consisted of life in communities such as those, then I would have stayed in it even longer. I doubt I was any big help to them. I was part of the community, and that was wonderful. But, I saw a clear trend in these units of suburban leadership being shipped in to keep the urban members in line. The church didn't want bishops spending a lot of money on welfare, and importing suburban leaders with an assignment to keep such things in check was the m.o.

I guess what I am saying here is that I suspect I sympathize with some of what you are saying. The LDS Church has become so restrictive and constraining in its programs, not just welfare but every program, that unless you like checking the boxes and doing what they say, there is little you can do. Whatever their intentions were in doing all of this (financial, legal, vel sim.), it is a disaster. It destroys any sense of community one might actually develop. "Oh, you can help, but only in the way we tell you." It is hard to feel invested in a pseudo-community like that.

[_Jersey Girl]

I guess what I am saying here is that I suspect I sympathize with some of what you are saying. The LDS Church has become so restrictive and constraining in its programs, not just welfare but every program, that unless you like checking the boxes and doing what they say, there is little you can do. Whatever their intentions were in doing all of this (financial, legal, vel sim.), it is a disaster. It destroys any sense of community one might actually develop. "Oh, you can help, but only in the way we tell you." It is hard to feel invested in a pseudo-community like that.

Wow.

[_Craig Paxton]

To quote a LDS apologist friend of mine... "the church is hemorrhaging Millennials." He mentioned access to information as the reason. Interesting that "Information" is the reason these kids are leaving. why would information cause this generation to leave unless it conflicts with what they had been taught to believe..and rings more truth than the so-called truths they had been taught..