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Abstract

Based on the personal and professional experience with college students at a Protestant Christian university, the researchers designed a research study that explores how emerging adults who have disaffiliated from a Christian tradition understand faith, articulate why they are “done” with the church, and want to receive spiritual care. This article is part one of a two-part exploration of the results of this study, which triangulates data points for a deep understanding of emerging adults who are “done” with church. Part one overviews the research on emerging adult spirituality and specifically the trend of religious disaffiliation among 18-29 year olds. This article then articulates the methodology and results of the quantitative portion of this study, which featured a survey of college students at a Protestant Christian university that identify as “done.” In the survey, the participants shared both beneficial and harmful experiences they have had in religious spaces and how they ultimately ended up disaffiliating from church. Part two of this article explores the qualitative portion of this study, including an analysis and application of the results.

Author Bio

Falon is the Campus Minister for the University Church of Christ at Pepperdine, focusing primarily on the spiritual formation of college students. She also co-hosts a podcast called Emerge: Questions that Matter for Young Adult Spirituality. She has her Doctor of Ministry from the Hazelip School of Theology at Lipscomb University, as well as an MA in Religion and BAs in Journalism and Hispanic Studies from Pepperdine University. She is especially interested in the calling on disciples of Jesus to love our neighbors by caring for God’s earth.

Rachel is a Visiting Assistant Instructor of Religion at Pepperdine University and a former Associate Chaplain. Her work in higher education focuses on the ways spiritual struggle contributes to the spiritual formation of emerging adults. She holds an MDiv with an emphasis in Christian Ethics from Fuller Theological Seminary, as well as an MBA with a certificate in dispute resolution from Pepperdine University.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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