One of the areas we talk about often at the Red Brick Church is retaining our youth.
Marc at 5 Solas recently shared why he believes we are losing our youth. The post begins:
We all know them, the kids who were raised in church. They were stars of the youth group. They maybe even sang in the praise band or led worship. And then… they graduate from High School and they leave church. What happened?
It seems to happen so often that I wanted to do some digging; To talk to these kids and get some honest answers. I work in a major college town with a large number of 20-somethings. Nearly all of them were raised in very typical evangelical churches. Nearly all of them have left the church with no intention of returning. I spend a lot of time with them and it takes very little to get them to vent, and I’m happy to listen. So, after lots of hours spent in coffee shops and after buying a few lunches, here are the most common thoughts taken from dozens of conversations. I hope some of them make you angry. Not at the message, but at the failure of our pragmatic replacement of the gospel of the cross with an Americanized gospel of glory. This isn’t a negative “beat up on the church” post. I love the church, and I want to see American evangelicalism return to the gospel of repentance and faith in christ for the forgiveness of sins; not just as something on our “what we believe” page on our website, but as the core of what we preach from our pulpits to our children, our youth, and our adults.
The facts:
The statistics are jaw-droppingly horrific: 70% of youth stop attending church when they graduate from High School. Nearly a decade later, about half return to church.
Half.
Let that sink in.
It continues with a top 10 list:
10. The Church is “Relevant.”
9. They never attended church to begin with.
8. They get smart.
7. You sent them out unarmed.
6. You gave them hand-me-downs.
5. Community.
4. They found better feelings.
3. They got tired of pretending.
2. They know the truth.
1. They don’t need it.
Read the whole thing including explanations here.
HT: JT
I read the article, and it can make parents afraid (and everyone else argue about what are the causes and what should/shouldn’t be done). My kids aren’t teens, but I try to do what my mom always taught me: Make Jesus your treasure and your joy. Pray like crazy. Worry less.
For various reasons, most churches are horrible at handling a teens transition to adulthood. There are additional sociological, geographic and economic reasons as well but it ultimately comes down to two things: a relational connection with God and a relational connection with others in the church, especially those with whom they can develop a shared identity.