My quest for accurate statistics began with a 2003 column by Mike Yaconelli on this very page of YouthWorker Journal titled “The Failure of Youth Ministry.” Following issues contained articles by ministry leaders who said, “We are in a crisis.” Of course, the answer to the crisis was to read their book, come to their conference, or follow their philosophy.
If I hear one more Christian group or leader say, “88 percent of the children raised in evangelical homes leave church at the age of 18, never to return,” I am going to scream.
This statement appeared in 2002 in an annual report for a large denomination in the United States. It is bogus.
A headline on products pitched to graduating high school seniors read this way: 75 percent of kids raised in Christian homes who attend secular universities reject their faith by their first year in college.
“Statistics suggest the majority of students who grow up in church abandon their faith when they graduate from high school,” said a workshop leader who wants us to rethink the church.
Are we in a crisis? I don’t know, but I have reached some conclusions.
We Will Always Have Children
I don’t need someone saying there is a crisis to motivate me to love the next generation in the church. The mandate to raise our children to know God has been with us for centuries. The psalmist frames it by declaring what we need to tell our children:
I will open my mouth in parables, / I will utter hidden things, things from of old— what we have heard and known, / what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; / we will tell the next generation / the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, / his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob / and established the law in Israel, / which he commanded our forefathers / to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, / even the children yet to be born, / and they in turn would tell their children. (
There will always be children and young people among us who need us to point them to an awesome God.
It would be more valuable for youth ministry leaders in churches and parachurch organizations to survey their own alumni to find out where they are today. Study your own youth, present and past, before you recycle questionable statistics from others. My friends here in Young Life in urban Portland, Oregon, cried when they did such an assessment after two of their students murdered another man. They struggled when they thought of the low percentage of students who were connecting with churches after they had put so much energy into ministering to them. They have changed their strategies in light of their reflection.
Props to them! I am for healthy assessment that leads to changed strategies leading to changes that will help us fulfill biblical mandates. Maybe you will discover your ministry has been successful in producing serious followers of Christ and you can share your strategies with others.
Adjusting through Research
Our research should help us understand “why” students don’t follow Christ and participate in Kingdom of God – advancing churches when they get older. That research can help us adjust our strategies.
Talk about retention causes us to focus only on people in our churches. What about youth in our communities who don’t know any follower of Christ on a personal level? How many of the youth in our communities have a chance to hear the gospel, or watch it being lived out? 10 percent? 20 percent?
So, please stop abusing lame statistics. My friends are tired of hearing me rant about the subject.
