Fading faith? Survey shows generation gap in religious devotion

SALT LAKE CITY — Studies suggest today's current crop of young

adults — labeled the "Millennial Generation" — is less religious than

preceding generations.

But a closer look suggests they really may not be much different than preceding generations at the same age.

Whatever the case, religious leaders haven't lost faith in the Millennials.

Millennials

were born in 1981 or after and will be coming of age in the early 2000s

— the new millennium. They follow past generations: "Gen X" (birth

years between 1965 and 1980), "Boomer" (1946-1964), "Silent"

(1928-1945) and "Greatest" (born before 1928).

__IMAGE1__In

a collection of national surveys compiled by the Pew Forum on Religion

and Public Life, Americans ages 18 to 29 are considered less religious

than their older counterparts. More than one in four Millennials — or

26 percent — say they are unaffiliated in religion (see survey results).

The forum survey is at pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=510.

Millennials,

it seems, are less inclined to pray, to regularly attend worship

services or to participate in other religious practices than are other

generations today.

But when the Pew

Forum looked at survey results from past generations in their

respective young-adult stages, the Millennial numbers aren't always

drastically different.

For example,

40 percent of Millennials say religion is very important in their lives

while 60 percent of Boomers agree now with that statement. But only 39