Ashley Williams is an outsider, even in her own family.
She grew up in a Christian home. Her uncle is a pastor. She sat in church, bored.
“When I was young, my mom took my brothers and I to church, but I’ve never been super religious,” said Williams, a 22-year-old UF public relations alumna. “I would consider myself an atheist.”
She isn’t alone.
More Millennials, the generation that grew up near the year 2000, are switching from the Protestant denomination to being religiously unaffiliated, according to a study published Oct. 9 by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
The study states that one in three American adults ages 18 to 22 are now unaffiliated with religion.
As recently as the 1960s, two in three Americans called themselves Protestants, according to the study.
The study states that in the last five years, the amount of unaffiliated U.S. adults increased from more than 15 percent to about 20 percent.
The Millennial generation is the first of its kind to come of age in a more secular society, and the effects are easily seen in such a diverse, college-aged population as Gainesville.
The Baptist Collegiate Ministry Student Center, 1604 W. University Ave., felt the impact firsthand.
“There are definitely less students involved than in years past,” said David Wood, associate director of the student center. “In the four and a half years that I have been here, I have seen a steady decline.”
Wood said the center is combating the change by advertising in the Gator Greenbacks coupon books and handing out fliers on campus.
The staff is brainstorming other ways to reach out to students, but so far, its techniques aren’t showing any difference in student attendance.
“We’re a student organization, and we work heavily with UF,” he said. “Our doors are open to all students. I wish I could wave a wand and let everyone on campus know what we have to offer, but it’s not that simple.”
The Rev. Dan Wunderlich, associate pastor of the Gator Wesley Foundation, a Methodist student center, 1380 W. University Ave., said that although national student membership is low for Protestant churches, the Gator Wesley Foundation slowly gained membership in the past few years.
Since Wunderlich became a pastor six years ago, the number of active students steadily rose to about 200 active student members.
Amanda Long, a 21-year-old biology junior, is involved in Theta Alpha, one of two Christian-based sororities on campus.
“I think as young adults we see this trend on a very normal basis,” she said. “My best friend can be placed in this category, and while I wish it weren’t the case, she is still the friend I know and love.”
Wunderlich said he hopes students find something to believe in, regardless of their belief systems.
“If students maybe had a negative experience in church growing up or have had a negative experience with churches since coming to college, there are spiritual centers, whatever your faith or background, that are interested in meeting you where you’re at, rather than expecting you to be something when you walk in the door,” he said.
