Study finds Protestants and Catholics leaving the faith, more atheists

Christianity in the United States is declining at an unprecedented rate, according to a new Pew Research study, yet the number of atheists in the country has doubled since 2009.

Millennials are a less religious generation and people are not affiliating themselves with a religion.

University of St. Thomas Campus Minister Nicole Labadie said people across religious denominations are leaving the faith, especially Catholics who go to other religions.

"We are living in a very individualistic society, where faith is sort of one, amongst many, different kind of religious truths," said Labadie. "I think it is something to pay attention to. And, I think it becomes important to think about the ways in which we minister to people, the ways in which we seek to evangelize and to reach people where they are."

She said this is something to pay attention to and important to the ways to reach people.

"This is the reality of the church now and it's the reality that we need to pay attention to, because as we've seen with statistics, that number keeps growing," said Labadie.

Research found the number of religiously unaffiliated adults in the U.S. has grown by almost 30 million since 2009.