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The church is losing its youth
Yet another study, this one completed in just the last month, shows that the evangelical church continues to hemorrhage internally. Churched youth are checking out of the church when they leave home for college, and many 20-somethings who were formerly regular, faithful members of youth groups are opting out of the church.
I experienced this trend first-hand in my 8 years as a collegiate minister at UAM. We consistently saw supposedly faithful members of area youth groups avoid our campus ministries, as well as local churches throughout their college career (and some of them made a career out of college!). Choosing instead to get involved in other forms of campus “life,” many lived profligate lifestyles.
Take it for what it’s worth, but I believe that the high dropout rate is due to the continuing treatment of our teenaged youth as a subcongregation to be entertained. High energy worship settings, mini-sermons, and big events dropped all combine to create a regular attender, but not necessarily a disciple or a true worshipper.
I think churches today need to seriously reconsider discipling their students, beginning as soon as 3rd grade. We should no longer seek to entertain youth by creating a separate youth congregation but rather by modeling, training, and freeing them to do active ministry in the community, church, and regions that we live in. The sit, soak, and shout method has been proven not to work. The Barna study is another resounding alarm to its failure.
David Kinnaman, the director of the research, said:
?Much of the ministry to teenagers in America needs an overhaul ? not because churches fail to attract significant numbers of young people, but because so much of those efforts are not creating a sustainable faith beyond high school. There are certainly effective youth ministries across the country, but the levels of disengagement among twentysomethings suggest that youth ministry fails too often at discipleship and faith formation. A new standard for viable youth ministry should be ? not the number of attenders, the sophistication of the events, or the ?cool? factor of the youth group ? but whether teens have the commitment, passion and resources to pursue Christ intentionally and whole-heartedly after they leave the youth ministry nest.?
May our churches rise up and think deeply about how to stop the bleeding and start the blessing of this generation of youth.
Related Posts:
Scott McKnight at Jesus Creed
Let me clarify what I’ve said.
Pure entertainment for youth ministry
– not good.
Providing an atmosphere where the Gospel message of Christ is preached, intense-heartfelt worship is welcome and encouraged, where the Presence of God can be experienced, while grounding believers in the Word – good.
Providing that atmosphere for every age in the church, and making no apologies for doing so – Extremely Good!
You summed it all up when you said one word, and that word was “ENTERTAINMENT”. What saved people in the past will save people today and that is the blood of Jesus. The church doesn’t need to change with the times. We need more Jesus and less entertainment.
Hey guys, perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. I wasn’t saying that youth shouldn’t ever get to experience vibrant worship or specific messages enculturized to their level and growth. I was saying that our current religious practices of having a “youth group” which is miniaturized, contemporized mockup of a traditional worship service falls far short of engaging our youth’s intellect and enabling them to be fruit-bearing disciples of Christ. Many churches still think that having some kind of high-powered Wednesday night mini-worship service for youth will produce a disciple. “Just come to this weekly event for 6 years, and we… Read more »
K.T., Shocking! I am very sorry that you had to sit and listen to such trash in church. I can’t believe a decent minister would utter such idiotic nonsense just to stir up fear and trouble within the congregation. Sounds to me like the guy was likely some kind of pervert and a real wolf in sheep’s clothing. No teenage girl should have to go through such unwarranted, blanket condemnation of her sex, especially from a so-called man of God. This experience, plus what you said about gossip can be a very big turn-off for younger generations who abhor being… Read more »
Hey, Wait a minute-I am 25……LOL,For perspective from first hand knowledge of myself and then to follow, my fellow 25- ers…I will give you input as to why most do not continue to attend church.For us,My husband and I,we dont currently attend because of his work schedule(he is in construction)…..Now as to my friends and acquaintances (other than those you know)…..I know one girl who does not attend because she gets a “guilty feeling”when she is in church,that no amount of asking forgivness seems to relieve,not only that, she has what I perceive as a misconception ,as do many of… Read more »
Excellent points all around. Having been one of those missing twenty-somethings, however, I would like to say a word about just how deep this issue goes. I believe that the comments so far but scratch the surface of the cultural forces at work here. Not long ago, our own culture, for social and perhaps political ends, created the identity of the ?teenager.? The ?teenager? label cut off young men and women who were coming of age from wielding much power in the public sphere. They were given their own sub-cultural norms, fashion, and (impotent) status. In doing this, the older… Read more »
I do believe we are losing our youth. I firmly believe that one thing that we are definately missing in probably all denominations is discipling them into a true love for Christ and the Word. The new Christians, young and old are suffering from Biblical illiteracy. They do not love the Word, and lack the sure foundation that it provides. I have to respectfully disagree, however, with the thought of removing what gives a generation the ability to be passionate about connecting with God out. We have a generation of young people who are passionate about their culture. When anyone… Read more »
Yes, Yes, and Yes! Continuing confirmation of a deep personal belief and continued research! For many years, I’ve studied the ‘twentysomething’ age group…more specifically, 18-25. And the result of this Barna study strongly echos everything that I have personally found. The gap in our churches today, distinctly falls in this age group. All across denominational and racial lines, this group is missing. However I do somewhat disagree with your reasoning. I do believe that we as church leaders have ‘figured it out’ how to reach our teenagers. Be it big events, high-energy worship, or whatever, we ARE getting them in…we… Read more »
Hmmm, interesting post. I’ve heard these stats for years, and I honestly don’t think that 20’s dropping out of church equals an inefficient youth group at all. I’ve seen the same thing from Christian school grads, public school grads and youth group leaders. I don’t think it matters one iota what kind of youth group, if any, a student attended. College is a time when we examine our beliefs about everything- politics, relationships, sexuality, and yes-religion. Either I would conclude that it’s just one of those things you can’t prevent, or I would say it’s the horrible failure of churches… Read more »
Good thoughts, Pam. However, do you think if youth were trained to sustain their own faith in a vibrant way while in their youth group that perhaps they would be more apt to understand what they believe and why before they arrived in college?
You fasust pig, it’s people like you who drive the youth and the educatted away from the churches. Your dogmatic ways and slander of an entire generation prove that. You sit there and pretend you’re some kind of web menister. Jesus never spoke of punishing 3rd graders, he would let them chose their own paths then welcom them back on their return, if they chose to return. Overzelious and dogmatic teachings and parentings drive people away from God not to him. Next time you happen to read a bible, and I’m going to assume you’re kidding when you say you… Read more »