Bob's Blog

"Most churched teenagers will put their faith on the shelf in their 20's and never return to it," says David Kinnaman president of Barna Group. In an article done for Ministry Today (May/June 2007), Barna's research is showing that on average, three out of every four churched teen (74%) will leave the church for a period of time with some never to return to their faith. Although, he does reassure that many will come back to the church, it will not be as many as have previous generations. His team asked some 2,400 teenagers what they look for in a church. Here are some of their answers.

• 71% - Understand better in what I believe.
• 66% - Worship or make a connection with God.
• 65% - Volunteer to help others.
• 55% - Learn more about prayer.
• 49% - Be mentored or coached in my spiritual development.
• 46% - Participate in a study class about faith.

In light of this, Kinnaman offers these insights in reaching Gen Y teenagers.

• Have the right standards for success. Don't measure your youth ministry by how many attend but by who they are once they graduate from the youth group.
• Be more personalized. Each teen is different so not "one size fits all" youth groups will work. Reach them as individuals in helping them see who God intended them to be.
• Facilitate life-on-life mentoring. They need mentors and not just to find the right answers in the Bible. They need mentors to help them navigate through life.
• Allow ambiguity and mystery to propel learning. They understand life is not easy so they don't want easy answers. They want assistance in finding biblical answers through the complexities of life.
• Realize that learning is not about teaching. Some of my best times in youth/college ministry were those teaching times "on the road" of life. If you give them your heart, they'll remember that forever.
• Build a team of uniquely gifted people. I'm huge with this. I never had all the gifts to reach my kids and I've learned through the years that a strong team will accomplish so much more than one person.

Kinnaman does tell us that they still need to do more research on Gen Y as a group but that opportunities are there to make an impact in their lives. If today's leaders don't take those opportunities, this generation could be the beginning of the decline of Christianity in America.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 9, 2007 at 10:05 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.