The Rise of the Nones in Modern Christianity

By Jillian Gaier
AUSTIN, TexasWhen Bryan Rolli left his small hometown of Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania to
attend The University of Texas, he needed a sense of comfort, a substitute for home. Whether it
was their ice cream social during orientation or their welcoming members, the Christian Students
on Campus organization turned out to be the perfect remedy.
Upon starting his freshman year, Rolli was attending club gatherings, events and dinners
regularly. He began reading the Bible on a daily basis, with the intention of really understanding
its passages and adopting its messages. But he doesnt identify with a particular denomination.
He says, simply, Im a Christian.
Despite all the branches within Christianity, many millennials are refraining from associating
themselves with a specific label. In fact, fewer than six out of 10 millennials identify with any
branch of Christianity, according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in May. But
as seen with Rolli, this lack of affiliation does not mean that religion is entirely irrelevant to the
younger generation.
Its hard to see on an individual level, but I think if you pull out and look at it on a broader
scale, there are more and more people developing a relationship with Christ. In terms of them
and Christand thats it, Rolli said. Apart from any sort of denominational influence.
And hes right. According to the Pew study, 30 percent of these so-called nones still affirmed
that religion was either very or somewhat important to them.
A similar mindset can be found within the Emerging church movement, which is Christian in
principle but does not have a standardized viewpoint or conformed congregation.
Our deal is that were trying to follow Jesus, and Jesus said to love God and love people, and
everything else is just details, said the Rev. Rick Diamond, senior pastor and executive director
of Journey Imperfect Faith Community.
Diamond said his community loosely resembles an Emerging church, but would best be
described as a place of disorganized religion. To him, the 21st century will be a time in which
the church will either change or die.
I think that more and more millennials and their children will be people who dont want to go to
church at all, Diamond said. Their sense of spirituality and worship doesnt necessarily have to
be connected to the traditional model of a well-educated white man speaking to a group of
people on Sundays at 11 a.m.
Like Diamond, other church leaders are also trying to make sense of the lack of labels among
younger Christians.

[Millennials] would probably shun the label none like they would shun the label Baptist or
Methodist or Evangelical because people dont want to be pigeonholed, said the Rev. Tom
Goodman, lead pastor at Hillcrest Baptist Church. And I think thats partly because theyve seen
that people immediately think certain things of you when youve got a label and you think,
Well, thats not everything that I am.
But for Goodman, who sits in between the millennial and baby boomer generations, there is
value in self-identification. He said that over time, he believes millennials will learn to embrace
classifications.
Whatever label you haveCowboys fan, Longhorn, Republican, Jewyoure going to bear the
pride and the shame of that label, he said. Somewhere along the way, people have to grit their
teeth over the automatic negative attitudes others might have and just own it.
Goodman also mentioned Love Where You Live: The Art of Neighboring, an interdenominational initiative in Austin that communicates a broad, positive message about the
beauty of community. The lecture series acknowledges the fragmentation within Christianity, but
strives to bring everyone together regardless.
This message of unity within Christianity is one to which Rolli and many other college students
can relate.
A lot of on-campus ministries recognize that college is a very easy time for students to abandon
their faith and put it on the backburner, he said. And so I really think their main focus is not so
much to divide young adult Christians, but instead to unite them and appeal to them through the
universal love for Christ.
Looking forward, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding Christianity. But Goodman said he is
confident the change will be for the better.
I think that continued experience with the church will positively change millennials and
millennials will positively change the church.