engaging youth
With our various ecclesial voices, Christians must reclaim Christianity in the public square – urgently. And we must recruit our youth to help us, before they give up on Christianity entirely. Can we engage with Christianity’s unfaithful past in America and those who still embrace it? Can we prepare youth to embody Christianity in ways that lead to social change?
Young Millennials, Brocreative/Shutterstock.com
As part of the rollout for "Millennial Values Survey" from Public Religion Research and the Berkley Center, I sat at Georgetown University and listened to a very long list of what pollsters think makes up college-age millennials. I’m in the right age bracket, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what a difference just a few years makes.
I’m part of the millennial generation, albeit at the high end of the spectrum. At 29, my attitudes and behaviors look completely different to those on the lower end. Part of it, of course, is phase of life. I’m a professional, married, with a few life experiences under my belt. Most of the respondents of the survey are in college or recently graduated—half live with their parents.
In discussing the survey results with a 23-year-old friend, we worked through both obvious and subtle differences. Some key characteristics of this cohort, and perhaps ways to engage them, surfaced.