The Secret to Retaining Youth in Church
- Keith Haney
- Jan 9, 2018
- 4 min read
The church’s desire to connect and retain teens is an age-old battle. However, as the church continues to suffer considerable losses in membership, this problem takes on greater significance. The church may see youth as the one group that can rescue a bleak future. “If we can just stop the youth from drifting away after High School, then we have a chance to reverse the decline.” Look around, this is a very different generation. Their values have shifted. What matters to them is different than previous generations. What matters to their marginally committed parents has changed. This post will be based on some research by Barna on the different goals for youth ministry between senior pastors and youth ministers and the parents of those elusive teens. But just look at the unexpected changes to culture and notice how little time it took for the changes to occur.
Surveys in 1986:
70% of high school grads leave the church, never to return 65% of evangelical teens never read their Bibles 33% believe religion is out of date and out of touch 40% of all teens believe in astrology 30% read astrology column daily 93% know their sign 58% of Protestant teens believe students should have access to contraceptives. 25% of high school students contract some form of V.D. 42% of protestant teens say there are many ways to God. 60% question that miracles are possible 28% feel the content of the Bible are not accurate.
According to surveys in 1990:
65% of all H.S. Christian students are sexually active 75% of all H.S. students cheat regularly 30% of all H.S. students have shoplifted in the past 30 days 45-50% of all teen pregnancies are aborted 3.3 million teens are alcoholics 1,000 teens try to commit suicide daily 10% of H.S. students have experimented with or are involved in a homosexual lifestyle.
-Bruce Wilkinson, 7 Laws of the Learner.
Imagine what the survey would discover today. As church leaders what are you trying to accomplish with young people today? When I asked this question of a young couple one striking observation was shared with me. “After High School, the church had nothing for us to do. We weren’t a part of their planning and strategy. There was no space nor place for us or our friends. So, we just drifted away.” Church, what is your plan to reach post-High School students? Do you have a ministry plan for the youth you claim you desire desperately to engage? If you are not intentionally planning and preparing to connect with youth and their parents, it probably will not happen.
It is my prayer that this post and the ones that follow will give you encouragement and direction.
One of the questions the Barna researchers asked was: “What are the goals of the pastoral leadership team?”
The goals of the pastor and youth leadership team?
The Barna researchers found that senior pastors and youth leaders were fairly united with the goals they were seeking to accomplish. Barna’s research discovered this:
The top two goals of youth ministry for a substantial majority of church leaders were: “discipleship and spiritual instruction.” Also, seven in 10 senior pastors (71%) and three-quarters of youth pastors (75%) say this is one of their top goals.
“Building relationships with students” is a primary objective for about half of youth pastors (48%) and two in five senior pastors (40%), while “evangelism and outreach to youth” is selected by roughly one-quarter of each group (29% senior pastors, 24% youth pastors). “Evangelism to the parents of teens,” on the other hand, does not appear to be as important (7% senior pastors, 4% among youth pastors).
Even if most church leaders don’t prioritize reaching out to parents, many express a hope that parents will reach in. One in six senior pastors believes “getting parents involved with spiritual formation” is a top goal of youth ministry (18%). And youth pastors are even more likely to say so: One-quarter identifies this as a priority for their ministry (23%).[1]
One of the shocking revelations is that most pastors and youth do not rank evangelism to the parents as a high priority. This may explain why youth groups have become a safe house ministry more than an outreach opportunity.
Two other interesting facts came out of the research involving engaging youth in community outreach.
Similar percentages of senior pastors (12%) and youth pastors (10%) feel that providing a “safe and nurturing environment” is an important goal—which, as we will see, is a much higher priority among parents.
Senior pastors (17%) are more likely than youth pastors (10%) to emphasize “serving the community”— but “serving the church body” is at the bottom of both groups’ lists (6% senior pastors and 4% youth pastors).
Church, you are missing the boat if you ignore involving youth in service outside their church. Studies also show that teens are flocking to churches that are involved in the community.
One bright spot in the research is that teenagers are flocking to the local church when they feel the urge to volunteer. The desire to be a part of a community that is making a difference in the world is our doorway. What are the most common forms of service for teens?
The most requested form of service is feeding the hungry/helping the homeless (35%)
Second are educational opportunities (31%)
Then environmental/cleanup (28%)
Less popular are volunteering with animals (20%), service trips (18%), social advocacy/political (11%), or medical or healthcare (10%).[2]
Retaining young people today is not low hanging fruit. It will require the church working hard to find a way to connect with them and their families by creating a community that engages their passion to serve outside the walls of the church. What a tremendous opportunity. Here is your assignment: Do you have youth ministry as a priority in your church? If so, what are you doing to connect with them and their families? If you don’t what will you need to change to make youth a priority? Let’s start a discussion of what is working.
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