do you know any young Christians

[zope]

MIL (in her 60s and religious) recently came to stay with us and I accompanied her to church when we got there i was really shocked by how few people under the age of 60 there seemed to be to the point where I (now in my mid 40s) felt young again. There were a number of small children with grandparents but virtually no one age 10-60. I haven’t been to church since I was a child myself so I was quite taken aback, is this what most churches are like nowadays or was this a one off. Do you personally know any young as in teenagers or in their 20s/30s Christians and do they have many friends who are also Christian? I would honestly be interested?

I know literally hundreds, more likely thousands (either friends or acquaintances) in the 18-40 bracket. I know of far fewer churches with the elderly being the main cohort, but I imagine that's much more the norm. (My granny's is one of them!)

Yes, a housemate at uni was president of the Christian society and used to host the group in our living room often. In our late 20s now but she was the child of a vicar.

I also volunteer for a few different things - running a community building and a children’s clothing exchange. Quite a few families in their 30s at each. They do a lot of ‘Messy Church’ which seems to be services for families rather than the traditional sitting quietly in the pews on a Sunday.

Yes loads. I go to a church of around 500 people, the vast majority are under 40.

Yes, loads. I do find that younger people will gravitate to other churches where there are other young people. I remember when I was young I went to the church nearest my house and getting annoyed when loads of the people my age left in droves to go to the "cooler" church on the other side of town where all the good looking boys went

Late 30s, practicing Christian here, go to a CofE church but discerning whether to convert to Catholicism. CofE congregations do tend to be a lot of senior citizens plus some families with preschool children and not a lot in between in my experience

I know very few Christians at all, despite living in a village where the church has traditionally been very central.

Our current society is not very fair to great swathes of people. When life is shit it doesn't really lend itself to belief in a kind, benevolent god.

Also in my experience Christians tend to be friends with other Christians so if you are in those circles/are Christian yourself you probably know loads of others, nonetheless church attendance has been on the wane in the UK for years.

i am one! 20 years old and catholic since birth 😊 i do have lots of catholic friends from school many of whom still practice.

I know a lot - in their teens and 20s. There’s a huge active scene and some almost mega-churches or events. But they don’t go to those traditional Anglican parish churches. They think those are dying. Where I live there are also a lot of African churches with a large following.

I'm in my early 20s and a regular church-goer, currently online due to the pandemic and chronic illness and other circumstance. The balance of my congregation (small, non-conformist) probably tips towards the older end, although there are about 6 of us between 19 and 25. In my uni town there is also a massive evangelical CofE church which has a special "student service" and a huge congregation. Unfortunately it's also extremely homophobic, misogynistic, and "backwards" in its teachings, so although I originally attended that church due to the number of other students, I decided to leave after a term. It makes me sad that the church that so many of the young Christians choose to attend is so damaging.

DS had a phase of being quite religious when he was at school and university, but he's really moved away from it subsequently. Even when he was going to church regularly he disliked the evangelical types, and subsequently when he left university he found the people at his local church really unwelcoming.

I think it depends what you mean by ‘Christian’. I certainly don’t know many young people (or older people to be honest) who go to an Anglican Church service every day or even every Sunday, and I’m not surprised it was mostly older people at the service you went to with your MIL. I’m not a Christian myself but my own MIL is a church warden and the regular services are mainly older people. But they do monthly services specifically for parents and young kids as well, and MIL says those are well-attended.

I certainly know lots of younger people who would identify themselves as Christian, though. They might not be regular church goers or especially devout, but they would certainly say that they believe in God and Jesus and the basic principles of Christianity, would have their own kids christened, want a Christian wedding or funeral etc.

Yes. I'm Catholic and we also have loads of families and young people. We have a very good youth service and strong university chaplaincies.

I’m one. So I know quite a few. Agree it depends on the church. Ours has a family service, Sunday school, stuff for teenagers and for students specifically… C of E (Evangelical)

Though I hate the idea that young people like bands and modern music. Give me choir, organ and smells and bells!

Yes. Quite a few. Depends on the church and the service. I went to one where I was, in my late 40s, the youngster, (40+ years younger than the oldest) but other services at the same church are a mixture of ages.

Depends on the church. My DD's attend (20's) and I do (40's). Village and town churches tend to have fewer families than cities

A friend that I went to school with is a Mormon. He’s very active in his church, and has spent a lot of time in Utah (home of the Mormon church I believe?). He’s also travelled all over the world on mission with friends from his church. They are all mid-20’s

Evangelical ones, yes.

Traditional anglican, no.

And it’s a shame because I am in my 30s and would go to a traditional Anglican service, if I had anyone to go with. It’s calmer, more measured, almost mindful. Peaceful. Reflective.

Evangelical churches stress me out, their songs are like brainwashing and the welcome makes me feel mobbed.

Growing up Catholic, our local church was mostly grannies. Other kids where a rarity.

However, I know a few baptists and the Baptist church seems to have a lot more young people.

Went to a toddler group in the local baptist church and found it the most welcoming group I had been to

There are lots of families with young children at the church I attend (so parents in 20s-40s). It’s probably about half of the congregation with the other half being 60+.

That’s a Catholic Church, btw.

Yes I know quite a few. I’ve realised off the back of this thread that I don’t know any white Christians though, which is usually how Christians are portrayed on the tv, etc in the uk - majority of the Christians I know are of African heritage. I know more white Muslims than Christians which again goes against how different religions are portrayed in the media

@Toddlerteaplease

Though I hate the idea that young people like bands and modern music. Give me choir, organ and smells and bells!

I'm exactly the same - although we did go to a smells and bells church and ended up 'defecting' to an electric guitar band one because the people were so much nicer

St Helen's, an Evangelical C of E church in the city of London, has a large congregation of young singles and married people. They hold midweek lunchtime services for people who work in the city which are also very well attended. My husband and I are Christians (I came from a non Christian background) and go to an independent Evangelical church not far from where we live - congregation of young marrieds and a good number of teenagers. Whenever we've moved areas we've always found a good, bible teaching church and they are always well attended. Experience has shown us that churches of all denominations where the bible is taught well are very popular with all age groups. Those churches which teach a Daily Mail type of morality and only give a quick nod to biblical teachings are those which are not well attended.