College Students More Likely to Attend Church? by Steve Watters on Aug 27, 2007 at 1:34 PM

Ted wrote about retaining your faith in college. Would you believe, that college students are more  likely to stay connected to church than those who don't go to college.

In an interview with Christianity Today, Mark Regenerus (head of a research project on faith and education) makes this unconventional observation:

...we're now convinced that it's not higher education that secularizes, but rather the freedoms that young adults experience during this period of life. We think the story is in what kind of young people avoid college today: They're largely not the familial types from previous generations who would rather marry and start families than pursue higher education. Instead, they're more troubled, they're more likely to come from broken families, exhibit a lack of planfulness about the future, and struggle with substance use and abuse. And we know from plenty of social science research that the most religious Americans tend not to exhibit these traits. As a result, an increasing number of devout youth are pursuing higher education (though largely not growing in faith during those years).

Here are some other interesting findings from Regenerus:

One thing that we're quite convinced of is that most of the seeds for "secularization" are planted well before college, but it's only during college that the diminished participation in organized religion emerges and becomes evident.

... a key finding of our research is that young Americans aren't changing their minds about religion as much as we had thought. Most of them are just putting their religious faith in the closet during the college years, only to pull it out after a time, dust it off, and put it on again.

I see the point Regenerus is making about the difference between college students and those not attending college today and I also see his point about faith going dormant during college without dying altogether. I have to wonder, however, just what the long-term impact is of the secularization that colleges do emphasize. Specifically, what is the impact of a student's faith going dormant during an incredible season of discovery and transition?

While this study provides hope that faith can survive college, wouldn't a student still need to be especially intentional if they want their faith to thrive in college?

Comments

[1. Matt Anderson had the following to say on Aug 27 at 1:54 PM:]

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I think one of the most interesting things about this study was that there was very few students surveyed reported that their religious beliefs were less important to them, but most students ceased going to church. The level of cognitive dissonance that it takes to say that Christianity is extremely important to someone but yet that person won't attend church borders on self-deception. It also indicates a lack of instruction in our youth groups on the importance of attending church to the preservation and strengthening of our faith.

[2. Christina had the following to say on Aug 27 at 2:28 PM:]

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I like what was said on how the seeds of secularization are planted before going to college.

I didn't grow a whole lot in college when it comes to the spiritual, but occassionally I did get "intentional" about it, and I think that you have to be where your faith is concerned.

In High School, I don't remember being taught about intentional faith and focusing on God. I enjoyed praise and worship, and going to youth group. But as soon as I left there, no matter how genuine I was about my faith, my peers didn't seem to be anywhere near so intentional.

And the unfortunate thing about being a genuine christian in a secular world is that it leads to loneliness. And late high school, college years...you want to be social. So I wouldn't be surprised if what was learned in High School about being social and intentional about your faith doesn't spur declining interest in church in college.

[3. Patricia had the following to say on Aug 27 at 4:27 PM:]

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I personally actually found my faith grow in college. When I was in high school, I went to church because my parents expected me to but in college I had to choose every week whether to attend. For me, having supportive Christian friends was key. Secularization forced me to examine more what I believed, which I think in the end was positive.

[4. Christina had the following to say on Dec 18 at 7:35 AM:]

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Searching for something and decided to add one more thing to this...

Have you ever moved to a new town and noticed how difficult it is to find a new church? How much energy it takes to get involved in it? And often how little the church helps you get involved or integrates you into their community?

A lot of these students could very well be dormant for similar reasons - only they have 4 years to get settled in a new living environment, a new social environment, a new academic environment, and a new spiritual environment. That's a lot of "new"s, and honestly when you are fully capable of studying scripture on your own and you find yourself questioning everything put in front of you from a biblical perspective, the need for dealing with a foreign church community when they do little but watch you show up week after week becomes a miniscule detail that doesn't really affect you at all. Its just one more class you have to show up for...only its the one other class where your not likely to make friends with the people sitting next to you.

Yes, Christian community in college is VERY important, but established churches usually fail drastically in this category. Attending a new church for four years isn't long enough to build that kind of community that you left at home. I've seen students build christian communities among their friends, sharing ideas, thoughts, bible studies amongst themselves - and this often becomes much more beneficial in developing christian community and life long friends.

You seriously don't need rows of pews, a preacher in a pulpit, or the music to grow in Christ. And if a supportive community is more readily established outside of the building than in it, then more power to you.

And the one tradition that I WOULD go to church for, the vast majority of the churches don't do on a consistent basis >.<