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Church dilemma: stemming the outflow of young adults

by: Ken Walker

A recent survey by LifeWay Research shows that 70 percent of young people who attend church for at least one year in high school then drop out of church for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22. While there are many reasons for those decisions, this represents a wake-up call to the Church if it hopes to have a future.

It is encouraging that 35 percent of the dropouts resume attendance at least twice a month between ages 23 and 30, and another 30 percent occasionally. But it also means that about a third of those dropouts leave for good.

No matter what your perspective on these numbers, within the headlines is a wake-up call for the Church, as noted by Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay’s research arm.

"This is sobering news that the church needs to change the way it does ministry," says Stetzer, a veteran church planter and co-author of a new book on local church innovation.

One area crying for improvement is children’s instruction, according to Rob Faircloth, a church consultant from Alabama.

His experience has shown that it is so inadequate that as soon as they can make the decision for themselves, older teens and young adults quit wasting time with the Christianity they have been taught.

Faircloth says the prevalence of throw-away crafts, Bible crosswords and scripture trivia in youth discipleship teach a weak Christianity and an anemic Christ.

"When faced with the reality of the working world or the new intellectual vistas of college, young adults find that the Christianity that was handed to them is at best insufficient, or at worst, fraudulent," Faircloth says.

"They must then beef up their faith on their own, or, in most cases, scrap it entirely for something that more consistently explains reality."

Ever been in a congregation that proclaimed its desire to see more young people, but reacted angrily to any hint of updating the worship music or modifying the order of service?

Not only was I once in such a church, a couple years ago I encountered a consultant working with a church. The elderly members were hatching a plan to stop young people from bringing any more "modern music" into their midst.

"Don’t stop them," he told the man who asked him what could be done. "Encourage them. Otherwise, they’ll go somewhere else."

The Church’s actions must match its words of wanting more young people. David Bowman of Church Diagnostics in Baytown, Texas, points out that many larger ones have young adult/next generation pastors and ministries to this age group.

As an example, Bowman mentions Bear Valley Community Church in Colleyville, Texas, and Pastor Lee Johnson.

Johnson has a vision for starting campus churches at colleges and universities where a large number of graduates remain in the community.

"Bear Valley experienced initial success with this model at the University of Texas at Arlington’s Impact Fellowship," Bowman says. "Bear Valley’s leadership plans on making this one of their priorities as they plant churches in the future."

One other clue to increasing young adults’ involvement comes from a separate study LifeWay recently completed, which showed two crucial needs for young adults.

One is a longing for community and fellowship with peers. Says Jim Johnston, director of young adult ministry for LifeWay Christian Resources, "The church ought to be the author and purveyor of the best, deepest, most loving friendships around.

The other is participation in small group meetings, where Johnston says young people want to wrestle with finding the truth instead of having it "spoon-fed" to them.

"What draws people is a climate of honesty," one respondent told LifeWay’s researchers. "We don’t come and say we’re going to hide from each other…and give Sunday school answers."

Truth, authentic faith, community. Sounds like a good plan for successfully reaching young adults can be found in the book of Acts.