A recent survey by George Barna reports that roughly 60% of twenty-somethings are less spiritually active than they were as teens. Roughly 20% continued to be spiritually active as adults while roughly 20% had never been spiritually active. Read the entire report online at http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=245.
I want to know if this reflects your spiritual experience. More importantly, what is important to you in a church? In what ways do you want the church to serve you? In what ways do you want to be able to serve the church? For teens, what are the most likely factors to keep you active in church or to cause you to leave the church? Inquiring minds want to know....
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This is what happened to me. I left the church right after graduation from high school, and returned when I started dating my husband. I did not become serious with church though until after I had childern. I think the reason why I left was (well I went away to school) but even so, i became disinterested in the church. I felt there was noone my age to connect with, and noone else trying to make that connection. For me, I felt that at that age, I was trying to find out who I was, and was not grounded enough in my faith to really stick with the church. Unfortunetly, I found that I liked to have fun more than worship. But thankfully, I came back. What would help the twenty-something? I have no idea, but I can definetly relate. Kerri
Kerri,
Why were you going to church in high school? Was it real to you, or just a social opportunity? How do we help teens make it real?
Who are you connecting with now? Is it more with people in your age category, or people of a variety of ages? Do we place too much emphasis on age specific ministries, or do we need more of them?
Kevin
I started going with my parents as a young child. They quite going and I kept. I went because it was mostly a social outlet and I had a huge crush on my husband (surpise huh?)
I connect well with your wife, you know that. For me, I don't think it matters what age I hang out with. But I think for teens and 20's its important that they have people there own age to relate too.
So I don't know if more age related ministries would help.
It's hard because I know alot of younger people come from homes with no christian background. It's hard to stay consistent if you have no support from home. I have no idea how to make it more real to the younger crowd, except pray that the LOrd stays with them Kerri
Some food for thought: (from George Barna in his recent manual, Third Millennium Teens: Research on the Minds, Hearts, and Souls of America’s Teenagers)
Generic tools such as videos about the life of Jesus, WWJD bracelets, proclamation Web sites, gospel concerts and other tools are just that--merely tools that might open doors or raise questions. They are not, by themselves, effective evangelism. Teens must experience the truth of the gospel through the lives of others, and the current cycle of teenagers must experience it through authentic relationships with credible believers.”
In other words, teenagers are not looking for knowledge or entertainment or gimmicks, but for something that can touch their lives where they are.
A couple of years ago, after a discussion in his drama class, my son said to me, “Boy, have I ever led a sheltered life!” Every other teen in his class had been directly impacted by divorce, blended families, live-in relationships, abortion, and parents who were never around. This is the latchkey generation—kids who have largely raised themselves. They know what the problems are, and they are doing the best they can to help each other; the problem is they may not have any of the right tools.
Ted Stump of High Impact Ministries calls these kids “the walking wounded in search of the family they never had.” He says they are amazingly open and optimistic. “After 20 years of working with youth, I believe there is something totally different about the present generation of teens These kids, all around the world, are passionate and serious-minded about their faith, but they are also very, very broken. They yearn for relationship with God—they want to know him, experience him, touch him. When they worship, they are spending hours showing genuine love for God, open, honest testimonies, heartfelt prayer for others—they are experiencing God.”
I think it has to be Guerilla Warfare in a way. One on one, meeting them where they are at in their lives on a personal level.
May of the students at HCC for example are not from here, they are away from their families for a couple of years, maybe longer and I think it would be a great opportunity to reach out and say "hey, someone here cares about you"
On a personal note however, I left the church during midway through college and did my own thing. It wasn't until I hit some rough spots in life that I returned. I think we need to meet young people where they are hurting. No one escapes life unscathed and it's not until we reach rock bottom sometimes, or close, that we realize we need something bigger than ourselves... if there isn't anyone there to show us that the bigger thing we desire is God we will reach for whatever dulls the pain.
For those who walked away and came back later, why did you leave? Were you backsliding, or just hadn't trusted Jesus yet? As a teen, did you really understand that apart from Jesus you were going to hell, or did you know that and leave anyway?
Personally, I think a lot of our kids are so used to us praising them, that they don't understand their need for a savior. Are we doing a good enough job of helping them to despair over their own depravity so that they can see a need for a savior?
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