Young churchgoers may be turning to YouVersion rather than their pew Bible during the Sunday sermon. Or they may be skeptically Googling what their pastor just said.
Earlier this week, Barna Group released the results of "what happens when the unique spiritual characteristics and technological trends among Millennials collide?"
Their top four findings:
1) Read Scripture on a cell phone or online: 70 percent of practicing Christian millennials, vs. 34 percent of all millennials.
2) Search for spiritual content online: 59 percent of practicing Christian millennials, vs. 30 percent of all millennials.
3) Watch online videos about faith or spirituality: 54 percent of practicing Christian millennials, vs. 31 percent of all millennials.
4) Research a church, temple, or synagogue online: 56 percent of practicing Christian millennials, vs. 34 percent of all millennials.
But the most interesting finding: Nearly 4 out of 10 practicing Christian millennials are fact-checking their pastor's sermons. Notes Barna:
The one-way communication from pulpit to pew is not how Millennials experience faith. By nature of digital connectedness, Millennial life is interactive. For many of them, faith is interactive as well—whether their churches are ready for it or not. It's an ongoing conversation, and it's all happening on their computers, tablets and smart phones. What's more, many of them bring their devices with them to church. Now with the ability to fact-check at their fingertips, Millennials aren't taking the teaching of faith leaders for granted. In fact, 14% of Millennials say they search to verify something a faith leader has said. A striking 38% of practicing Christian Millennials say the same.
CT regularly covers millennials and surveys.
