Why Students Are Not Leaving the Church

Josh on January 16th, 2008

Jason pointed out a great new article from Outreach Magazine on high schoolers and leaving the faith after graduating. Here’s a clip from the surprising report:

From our data, we can infer that one substantial reason many students do not plan to leave after high school is because their church is taking an active role in their lives. In other words, the church is essential to students because they know that they are essential to the church. Students are not looking for freedom; they desire responsibility.

Sadly, many students do leave the church after high school. But the heart of the issue isn’t freedom—it involves a disconnect between the local church and the lives of the students. In high school, most students do not make that vital connection with their church. And when church doesn’t play a critical role, these students end up replacing one social venue with another. Church is out; college life is now in. The church wasn’t essential to them in high school, so why would it change in college?

Now that we’ve debunked the “freedom” myth, it’s clear that all the blame doesn’t fall on students for exiting the church. While everyone is certainly accountable for his or her own actions, each church has the responsibility to make students a valued part of ministry. An array of responsibilities always need to be filled within the church—sound and lighting technicians, ushers, greeters, nursery workers and parking attendants. Ask students to pray during services. Train those who are more spiritually mature to teach elementary school children.

The essential church utilizes all capable believers in the body for service, including students. Want to keep your students? Put them to the task and then watch them grow.

JG

Leave a Comment

Nigel Lane at 10:23pm January 16

Excellent conclusion. In my Master’s Degree research – “Why Young People Leave the Church” the result was very similar – with a specific leaning towards the fact that ‘they didn’t have a relationship with a caring adult’ – i.e. did not feel connected.

If anyone would like a free 4 part report on my research just go to http://www.youthworkercoach.com

Glen Davis at 4:08pm January 29

Not directly related, but tangential and interesting: one counterintuitive finding of recent research is that students who go to college are LESS likely to leave the faith than those who don’t go on to college.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/augustweb-only/133-42.0.html