“These days, the Millennials engaged in and engaging churches seem less concerned with sectarian diatribe or gospel gimmicks than with the captivating person of Jesus and his still-radical responses to struggling humanity. If Jesus is right and those who clothe the naked, feed the hungry and care for the sick have actually “done it also unto me,” then Millennials may be more “religious” than they or we think.”

The Millennials are at hand! Millennials — that’s what sociologists call the generation of 18- to 33-year-olds now coming of age in America. A new study from the Pew Research Center details the nature of their unique location in American society as compared to earlier age groups that include Gen Xers (34-49), Boomers (50-68) and the Silent Generation (69-86). Pew research echoes previous findings published by Robert Putnam and David Campbell in American Grace and recently expanded by Paul Taylor in The Next America.

Pew’s research suggests that Millennials “are relatively unattached to organized politics and religion, linked by social media, burdened by debt, distrustful of people, in no rush to marry — optimistic about the future.” With 43 percent non-white, they are the nation’s most racially diverse generation, a minority that should become a majority around 2043.

Millennials make no secret of their distrust for traditional institutions political or religious, with 50 percent calling themselves political independents, and three in 10 (29 percent) indicating no discernible religious affiliation. While 86 percent affirm a belief in God, only 58 percent of that number is “absolutely certain” about it. Eleven percent claims no belief in God at all, a category larger than the other age groups. While they hope for marriage, only 26 percent of Millennials have done so between 18 and 33, a much smaller percentage than their elders at that age.

Pew labels Millennials “digital natives” reared on technology, widely engaged in social media, with 81 percent “friending” on Facebook. Amid this social network, many continue to live with their parents, a phenomenon often dictated by economics and difficulties in securing permanent employment. Their higher education debt is considerable, averaging $27,000 after completing the bachelor’s degree, another statistical high.

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