Are Young People Leaving Faith—Or Is It Something Deeper?
In South Korea today, the number of young adults identifying as having “no religion” is rapidly growing. Church pews are increasingly empty, and youth groups that once flourished now struggle to gather even single-digit attendance. While some megachurches still maintain sizable youth ministries, the broader trend is undeniable: “None” is no longer a fringe identity but a defining self-description among the younger generation. This shift cannot be explained by dismissing today’s youth as lazy or spiritually apathetic. Instead, it reflects a complex convergence of factors—growing distrust in the institutional church, cultural disconnects, and the church’s inability to meet the practical needs of life.
Why the Church Is Losing a Generation
There are recurring reasons cited for why young people are leaving the church. First is the gap between the church’s message and the lived realities of young adults. Faith may still matter to them, but the language the church uses often fails to speak into their real-life struggles. Phrases like “Have faith and overcome,” or “Just pray and God will answer” no longer suffice. Young people are confronting issues such as employment, housing, mental health, and relational stress—and they’re disappointed that the church’s teachings offer little wisdom or comfort in these areas.
Second, the hierarchical culture within churches remains largely unresolved. Vertical leadership structures, age-based authority, intolerance for honest questioning, and control over things as trivial as clothing and expression are experienced as oppressive. Many young people want to ask questions, engage in discussion, and articulate faith in their own language. But the church continues to demand conformity within a narrow mold—making it difficult for youth to approach faith on their own terms.
Third, disillusionment with the church’s moral credibility runs deep. Scandals involving clergy misconduct, abuse, nepotism, and overt political bias have convinced many that the church has lost its moral compass. Faith is deeply personal, but institutional corruption can undermine even the strongest private belief. “If I can’t trust the church, what’s the point of keeping my faith?”—this skepticism is spreading widely among the next generation.
Plenty of Critique, but Few Alternatives
What’s striking is that many young people haven’t given up on faith altogether. While they may have left the church, many still express interest in spirituality. Meditation, self-help, therapy, and spiritual wellness content reflect a search for alternatives. Unfortunately, churches often respond by labeling these pursuits as secularization or rebellion. Rather than engaging with these trends, churches have distanced themselves—further isolating themselves from the very people they hope to reach.
Many young adults also feel worn down by the church’s obsession with having the “right answers.” A culture that sees every question as a threat to faith, labels doubt as sin, and offers simplistic comfort for complex emotions only deepens the disconnect. Instead of learning to make honest confessions or walk the long road of healing, many feel they’ve only been taught how to suppress their struggles and perform belief.
Modern young adults are navigating immense pressure from family, society, and within themselves. Faith should relieve some of that burden—not add to it. When church fails to offer that support—or worse, adds to the weight—leaving becomes the most natural choice.
Faith Is Restored Through Relationship
How should the church respond? Slick programs and flashy events are no longer effective. Young people are not looking for more content—they’re seeking real connection. They want to be heard, seen, and valued within a community that respects their presence. Youth ministry today isn’t about strategy or technology—it’s about sincerity and empathy. Churches must listen before speaking, walk with youth rather than preach at them, and offer space for dialogue without judgment.
Worship models need reevaluation. Emotional praise or trendy visuals cannot hold attention for long. What young people crave is authenticity. They are hungry for worship experiences they can shape and own—spaces that feel participatory and not merely performative. Small groups that connect Scripture to life and encourage shared reflection can be more transformative than any stage performance.
When young people leave the church, it’s not mere rebellion—it’s a cry for help. If the church fails to hear it, it risks losing a generation. This is a moment for deep reflection.
The Church Must Change Its Questions—and Its Posture
Asking “How can we bring them back?” is not enough. That question still centers the church’s agenda and treats youth as passive targets. Instead, the church must be willing to receive hard questions: “Why did we lose their trust?” “Why don’t they want to be with us?” “What have we become to them?” A new kind of conversation begins only when we shift the focus.
Young people are not just evangelism targets—they are part of the church, co-laborers in faith. When we respect their language, their way of seeing the world, and their interpretation of life, healing begins. Too many churches still only pay lip service to change, while holding on to outdated systems, hierarchical roles, and top-down communication. Youth remain on the margins, with little authority or agency.
Rebuilding Trust, Not Just Restructuring
The first step toward reconnecting with young adults is rebuilding trust. Programs can’t manufacture it. Unless churches become transparent and accountable, young people will not return. Transparency in finances, integrity in pastoral life and preaching, honest responses to conflict, and above all, a community-wide pursuit of living out the Word—these form the foundation of credibility.
Young people are sensitive to even the smallest inconsistencies. A church that preaches love and grace but promotes exclusion or political bias outside its walls will not be trusted. This generation watches the church’s posture more than its proclamations. They want a gospel that is not only preached but embodied.
The Gospel Must Speak to Real Life
The church must re-explain the gospel. Young people are not rejecting the gospel itself—they’re distancing themselves from a church that failed to connect it to real life. If the gospel focuses only on afterlife salvation or forgiveness of sins, while remaining silent about how to live here and now, young people find it irrelevant.
Saying “believe in Jesus and go to heaven” is not enough. The gospel must speak to identity, purpose, work, relationships, anxiety, and failure. Young people are no longer asking, “Why should I believe?” They’re asking, “If I believe, how should I live?” The church must answer without delay.
New Models, New Language Are Needed
Traditional youth ministry must be restructured. The old leader-centered, top-down approach is no longer effective. Ministry must now be youth-driven, horizontal, and collaborative. Young adults should plan gatherings, create content, design worship, and share life together. The church’s role is to support, encourage, and offer safe boundaries—not to control.
Faith language must also be translated. Words like “holiness,” “sin,” “salvation,” and “repentance” often sound abstract or unfamiliar to young people. It’s not about changing the gospel, but re-articulating it in today’s terms. The goal is not to water it down, but to make it alive.
Toward a Community of Belonging, Participation, and Responsibility
Ultimately, the church must help young adults feel that they belong. They must not just attend—they must be given real responsibility. When they are entrusted with roles and decisions, they experience being needed—and that experience strengthens their faith.
The church is, at its core, a community of relationships. Relationships take time, honesty, presence, and openness. When a church loses its youth, it’s not just because it’s unattractive—it’s because it gave up on building real connection. Now is the time to ask again, to listen harder, and to change sincerely. Not slogans, but real transformation is the only way to bring young people back.
Maeil Scripture Journal | Today’s World, A View Through the Word
