Young People in Church

Many churches, like ours, today are asking, Where are all the young people? Of course, there are several ways to answer that question. Below is a snippet of information I found in a newsletter I subscribe to online "Church Leaders Report" by Lifeway. I share this information with you for your consideration and commentary.


Young Church Dropouts
LifeWay Research reveals that more than 70% of young adults who attend a Protestant church for at least a year in high school will stop attending church regularly for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22. 97% of dropouts list a life change or life situation as the reason for leaving. Their reasons are: wanted a break from church (27%), moved to college and stopped attending (25%), work responsibilities prevented me attending, (23%) and moved too far away to continue (22%). Also 22% became too busy, though still wanted to attend, and 17% chose to spend more time with non-church friends. LifeWay VP Brad Waggoner observes, “Relationships are often the glue that keeps people in church or serves as the attraction to begin attending again following a period of absenteeism.” About 66% of those who leave do return at some level. Baptist Press 8/7/07

So, what can we glean from this report? One thing that occurs to me, is to make church (worship) available at times other than Sunday morning when a lot of young people are out in the workforce. What about those who are too busy? It would be easy to say, "You have to just make the time." Pat answer; not helpful to the young people, I think. Our lives are always going to be too busy unless there's some dramatic change in the atmosphere, something akin to what caused the dinosaurs to become extinct!

What about the way worship looks? Might that be something to change so that it is attractive (catches the eye) of the busy young person? Maybe music and teaching and prayer are the way to a young person's heart. Maybe understanding "their" music and culture would help us help them connect to Christ. I guess what I am thinking is that it's not all about changing them to meet Christ our way but to educate ourselves to speak a language that connects all of us to the Lord.

What do you think?