SaVaughn McClaine spent most of his childhood at church, bonding with his grandmother, a church secretary, and regularly attending service. It’s been almost a decade since this routine, but McClaine has no plans to return to church. It’s a decision born from the overall impact the church had on his mental health.
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“When I was younger, a lot of my faith was fueled by fear,” he told The Root. “I prayed twice a day because they constantly preached that Jesus might come back tomorrow, and you don’t want to be on the wrong side of that.”
Now, the 23-year-old identifies as spiritual after his concerns about Christianity were never truly addressed. “Certain things weren’t allowing me to enjoy my life, and certain practices weren’t best for my mental health,” he said.
In McClaine’s home state of Kansas– which ranks number 10 for states with highly religious adults, according to Pew Research Center — Black children are often raised in the church.
Now, they’re leaving in droves.
Around 28 percent of Gen Z and 33 percent of millennials consider themselves nonreligious– a 10 percent increase from prior generations, Pew Research reported. Although experts point to many catalysts, McClaine said the emphasis on fear and patriarchy was enough to drive him away for good.
“The church will die without the young people,” McClaine recalled a pastor saying. That’s why pastors like Keion Henderson, founder of The Lighthouse Church in Houston, one of the nation’s fastest-growing churches, are trying to meet the demands of the Black youth.
“Our grandparents trusted institutions. Our parents tolerated them, but this generation is testing them,” Henderson said, adding that the best way for the church to understand the youth is to fully incorporate them at every step of the way.
“You can use that bridge to get a couple generations to cross over at the same time, as opposed to creating this dichotomy of division,” he added. “[Black youth] feel spiritually engaged…they just don’t feel institutionally present…they’re letting us know they don’t have a problem with God, they got a problem with us.”
That dichotomy has always existed for Runiesha Williams, who was raised by a preacher in a sheltered environment.
“I would like to learn about other religions, but I grew up with Christianity so that’s all I know,” she said. Williams still considers herself Christian, but like others in her generation, she admitted to being inconsistent. “I have my own mind,” she said. “If I don’t want to go, I don’t have to go.”
Scandals involving church leaders haven’t helped matters. Whether it’s Bishop Eddie Long’s sexual assault allegations in 2010 or leaders of Kingdom of God Global Church being charged with money laundering in August, instances like these often deter the youth from joining.
“The church seems to be one of the only organizations that think that it can put a stake in the ground and be unmoved while everything else changes around it,” Henderson said. “We also have to make adjustments to make sure that we don’t seem, blind, deaf and cold in the world that’s ever evolving.”
Ensuring evolution means fully integrating younger generations, the pastor told us. “We don’t isolate them, we include them. They are part of the tapestry. They are part of the decision making… They are structured. They are part of the bones,” he said.
Some young Black Americans are returning to the church, however… just on their own terms. Za’Kari Jones reignited her faith within the last year after finding a church home. “If I am going to find the church if I am gonna get back into the church, it has to make sense for me,” Jones said.
Jones grew up Christian but considered herself spiritual for years. She’s now a member of The Believer’s House Church, where she feels valued. “As I started to have more faith and read the Bible for myself, it made a lot of things clear for me,” she told us.
Church isn’t “one size fits all” especially not for many curious Americans who are more cynical than generations before. “Don’t be alarmed because people are not skeptical about the Black church. They’re skeptical about everything,” Henderson said, adding that people should acknowledge the church’s inextricable connection to Black Americans.
“That has been a part of the African American experience because of the history of our nation and the exclusion that we’ve experienced,” he said.
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