By Jessyka Dooley … Who’s your team? People in Colorado love the Broncos, like really love them. When my husband and I picked up our sweet puppy Paddie, we were given a Ziplock bag of her food, a few toys, a little Broncos baby blanket. As a transplant to the Denver area, the Broncos are not my team. Needless to say, the Bronco blanket is not on display, but rather folded nicely in the back of a closet.

So much gets wrapped up into our affiliation and loyalty with sports teams. I’ve watched grown adults shed tears over games and take days off of work or school to mourn their losses. Entire cities erupt in geographical joy when their team brings home a big win. It’s a little over the top if you really pause to think about it—a bunch of men in uniforms getting paid incredible amounts of money to play a produced version of a game kids play at the park. Why is this? Because, it’s more than a game. Loyalty to sports teams creates a deep sense of belonging and community. While staying loyal to a team can increase the quality of life for fans, The Wall Street Journal contains an article on the benefits for players who stay loyal to one team for the majority of their career. Shirley S. Wang wrote: “Professional football players also may benefit from sticking with one team. Football statistician Rupert Patrick observed that players perform better initially in the year following a change, but in the long term, those who remain on the same team for at least five years do better.

Wang writes, “Players may have greater motivation when they get to a new team, or the coaching staff may be more willing to highlight the player and give him more playing time, says Mr. Patrick. . . . But when a player isn’t moving around, he works with the same playbook and teammates, which can help in the long run, he says.” You see, loyalty has great long-term effects on players when they are able to actively work on a familiar team. Then why is it so common for players to be traded around? Where is their loyalty to their team?

Much like NFL football players, the Millennial generation was born with little opportunity to stay in one place. LinkedIn conducted a survey reporting that Millennials do more job-hopping than any other generation. Where is their loyalty to their workplace? I believe there is a strong correlation between NFL players hopping teams and Millennials hopping jobs; neither will stay where they are not valued and where they are being underpaid. Their loyalty does not lie with a team or with a company, but rather in themselves and the value they can bring.

Young people’s lack of loyalty to the church and their mass exodus from Adventism is a redundant topic, to say
the least. It’s redundant because there is nothing new to share. The information is there, but a solution is it seems just as ambiguous as the problem itself. What if, metaphorically speaking, we have benched the next generation for too many games? What if we’ve paid minimum wage without benefits for too long?

The church often asks, “Why are they leaving?” When for many young adults still in the church the question is, “Why haven’t you left?”

I’ve been asked a handful of times about my loyalty to the Adventist Church. “Why do you stay?” “Why do you stay if you cannot be recognized the same as your male colleagues?” “Why do you stay when the church is silent on moral and social justice issues?” “Why do you stay working for an outdated system?” “Why?”

It has taken me a few years to fully form an honest answer, but at the end of the day, it’s quite simple: “Because I get to be a part of positive change and growth in the church.” I don’t get benched . . . at least not every game, but I’m the exception. I can count on one hand, one hand, the number of people my age that work within our conference. Seats at the table are just not being insisted upon for the next generation. Let’s give this generation, and the next, and the next, a place to sit, a place to stay. The upcoming generations are fiercely loyal, but not in the traditional sense. They are not specifically loyal to organizations, but rather to values. Do not just assume they will be fans of your team because of the name itself. Being loyal to a church organization and being loyal to God are not always synonymous.

Team sports give us something to believe in. Religion gives us someone to believe in. It brings us together. We’re willing to tough it out with teams when they’re going through tough patches and just can’t seem to win a game. Millennials are willing to tough it out with the Adventist Church, but the church needs to recognize that the next generations aren’t merely fans, rather we are on the team. We bring fresh energy, new plays, and a love for the game.

Put us in, Coach!

–Jessyka Dooley is RMC associate youth director. Email her at: [email protected]

*“A Healthy Dose of Loyalty; Being Loyal Is Our Innate State, Scientists Say; It Yields Benefits,” June 21, 2011.