Posted on 10/06/2006 9:57:37 AM PDT by kiriath_jearim
Despite their packed megachurches, their political clout and their increasing visibility on the national stage, evangelical Christian leaders are warning one another that their teenagers are abandoning the faith in droves.
At an unusual series of leadership meetings in 44 cities this fall, more than 6,000 pastors are hearing dire forecasts from some of the biggest names in the conservative evangelical movement.
Their alarm has been stoked by a highly suspect claim that if current trends continue, only 4 percent of teenagers will be “Bible-believing Christians” as adults. That would be a sharp decline compared with 35 percent of the current generation of baby boomers, and before that, 65 percent of the World War II generation.
While some critics say the statistics are greatly exaggerated (one evangelical magazine for youth ministers dubbed it “the 4 percent panic attack”), there is widespread consensus among evangelical leaders that they risk losing their teenagers.
“I’m looking at the data,” said Ron Luce, who organized the meetings and founded Teen Mania, a 20-year-old youth ministry, “and we’ve become post-Christian America, like post-Christian Europe. We’ve been working as hard as we know how to work — everyone in youth ministry is working hard — but we’re losing.”
The board of the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group representing 60 denominations and dozens of ministries, passed a resolution this year deploring “the epidemic of young people leaving the evangelical church.”
Among the leaders speaking at the meetings are Ted Haggard, president of the evangelical association; the Rev. Jerry Falwell; and nationally known preachers like Jack Hayford and Tommy Barnett.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The New York Times is slavering.
Funny, everything else I have seen claims just the opposite. I have seen several reports that more kids are returning to faith than ever.
Ya think? Paging Luis Palau, we need some skate parks and destiny's child over here pronto.
Many youth ministries are doing a great job, but the real center of gravity for training godly young people has shifted to the Christian home school movement.
... with a very high success rate.
Yeah, me too....there is a resurgence of faith among young people in American compared to the eighties for example.
Perhaps they are leaving the Evangelicals and hooking up with other denominations?
Well if they are, they ain't reading The Times.
Raise up a child in the way they should go, and they will not depart, so says the Word.
Yes, some rebel. They were not destined to be saved anyway.
But, for the vast majority....if you teach them values, they will keep them.
IOW, I don't believe this panic attack.
I know a lot of young people that are leaving megachurches for more conservative denominational churches because they like the tradition.
Most young people do like modern praise and worship, but many also like traditional music (I am surprised at how many since I thought I was in the minority by far here), which they don't get very much in megachurches.
Many will wander, not understanding the chaos that surrounds them until they are old enough to gain some wisdom and return to the faith.
At least that is how it worked for me.
Kids raised in faith, will go their own way as young adults until they get married. By then most will be in their late 20's and early 30's and will see the cost and price of the free living that secularists advocate. By that age they will experience death of a friend from DUI, they will find out some of their friends have STD, divorced friends who cheated or have spouse who cheated, and other sad situations caused by the wages of sin. When they have their first child they will wonder how they want to ground him/her morally. These kids will return to their church. The church must remain constant and true to scripture in order to re attract them.
I must take issue with your statement, here. Many who rebel in youth, return.
It's true. You tend to wander a bit as a young adult, because you have no idea how hard life really is.
A few whaps into the wall of life brings you back to reality and God.
I go to school in one of the bluest cities in the country. Since it's the start of theterm, all the student groups are out in force, trying to get new members. Yeah, we've got the socialists and the LaRouchers, but we also have the Chinese Christians, the Korean Christians, Hillel, Newman Club, assorted American Christian groups - and there are always groups of kids around the tables for these groups. It looks like young people are continuing their spiritual life just fine.
And we will keep pushing till it's ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!
bump
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