50,000 expected at faith-based event

Passion 2017 targets young Christians from 90 nations.

Brad Jones thinks that just maybe some of those national studies that show millennials are losing faith in God are off base.

He has more than 50,000 reasons to think so.

That’s how many 18- to 25-year-olds are expected to pack the Georgia Dome and the Georgia World Congress Center Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for Passion 2017, a huge faith-based conference that will bring together young Christians from more than 90 nations.

“Maybe the statistics are wrong because it looks like Jesus is doing something big in this generation,” said Jones, global ambassador for Passion conferences and a pastor at Passion City Church in Atlanta. “I don’t believe it’s as bad as it seems.

A 2015 study by the Pew Research Center found that millennials are less likely than older Americans to be religious, although they may believe in God and have spiritual practices. Only about four-in-10 millennials say religion is very important in their lives.

Additional, 27 percent of millennials say they attend religious services on a weekly basis, much lower than 38 percent of baby boomers and 51 percent of the so-called silent and greatest generations.

“College students are at that critical time in life and the decisions you make can affect the trajectory of your life, specifically about your faith,” Jones said. “We want to stand at that crossroads and point people toward what matters most and that, we would say, is the name and glory of Jesus.”

Passion grew out of a Bible study started in Texas two decades ago by Louie and Shelley Giglio as a way to reach college students and their leaders interested in a deeper understanding of Christianity and God. It includes several prominent speakers, including Louie Giglio, lead pastor of Passion City Church; Levi Lusko, Francis Chan, Beth Moore, John Piper, Christine Caine and Katherine and Jay Wolf.

In 2013, Giglio withdrew from delivering the benediction at President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony after gay rights activists complained about antigay comments the evangelical pastor made in a 1990s sermon.