Though I can no longer claim the status of "20-something" as I moved
into the realm of "30-somethings" and gray hair this past year, I found
this article/study highly pertinent. Partly becuase it is my "age and
stage" (as long as you're not a legalist) but also because the study
points out the ways youth ministry is failing to keep people connected
once they "graduate" from youth group. I hope you find it
disconcerting, but that you won't stop there. Something clearly needs
to be done. What can we do? Love to hear your thoughts.
Click here to read the article.
One thought is that there are more young people doing volunteer work than before. A good number of them want to take on jobs that can make a difference such as teaching and joining the peace corp. Parents, of course, are not happy since they prefer their kids to get better paying jobs. How this relates to church is perhaps they do not see the church as an entity to make real changes but one that just goes through the motion. It's sorta like the movies when the mafia are Catholics yet there is no difference in their lives.
ReplyDeleteOne thing we can start is to make real changes that correspond to what we say we believe. The other thing is if Christian parents have high expectations of their kids to take on "prestigeous" careers, then are they sending the right message to their kids? For example, I know parents who think it's great to go into the ministry or foreign missions as long as it's not their child. The result is kids seeing that their parents don't really mean what they say.
The other is that people see church as just another country club to join and that since everything is spiritual going to meditate is the same. They see it not as a fundamental but as optional so go when they feel like it. In other words, they see church as not making a big difference in their lives.
I agree with what MercyNow says about ministry and service. I have seen a greater turn around in students returning to ministry, or finding a placei in their college churches, or otherwise, when they are invested as students now.
ReplyDeleteWe try to promote service with the studnets now so they see the joy of caring for others, meeting needs, and participating in the church when they are in HS. These students have leadership postions in the church, leading worship, teaching classes, etc. they do some of the same things that adults do in the church.
There are some notes in the book Affluenza which are sobering. Chapters 7-9 really confirmed a lot of things that I saw about studetns just wanting to make money and have things rather than caring for people, engaging in relationships, etc.
I still believe that stuff like this begins in the home, not in the ministry. What is being cultivated in the lives of children in the home? materialism? self-centeredness? What are we cultivating in 3, 4 and 5 year olds that develops in them a care for other people all over the world? How do we promote generosity and service in children pre-elementary? I think that is the question that will respond to some of the things we are seeing as they grow up.