Why Youth Leave the Church

Introduction With such an army of workers as our early days, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the mental object of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Savior might be carried to the whole world (Education, p. 271). Wow, what a statement. This is probably the most well cognise statement by Sister Ellen White concerning the youth. These actors line be so powerful and motivating, that they inspire the caprice to look forward to its fulfillment, to the day when this army of dedicated Christian young deal give be spread out around the world to bring the message of Jesus soon reelect to everyone.I must confess that simply the thought of this sends shivers down my spine. I am, however, forced to question whether this dream get outing ever become a reality. The church, it seems, is facing a dilemma, in that we are losing the youth. Many of our young people are leaving the church, and in seeking to answer the question of why this is happening, I would like to deal out wit h you the resource that I intrust to most accurately describe the reason for the youth leaving the church, as well as what to do to stem the flow of this widespread desertion. Recommended Resource(s)The main resource that I believe to be the best and that I would like to recommend, is the volume, Why our Teenagers Leave the perform, written by author Roger L. Dudley. I will also be referring to two other resources that I used, both of which is found on the in a higher place mentioned book. The first and most important is an article with the same title, and by the same author. It is basically a condensed recitation of the book, and it covers the basics of the research done, as well as the results and what can be done to prevent the youth from leaving the church. The second is a sermon by Pastor Dwight K.Nelson, titled, Primer for the next generation XNY 101. In the sermon Pastor Nelson briefly explains how the study was done, the results attained, and the remedy to the problem. I will now proceed to reason the two secondary resources (Article Why our teenagers furnish the church Sermon Primer for the next generation XNY 101), based on the premise of the primary resource (Book Why our teenagers leave the church). Primary Resource Roger Dudleys book is the culmination of an expansive 10 year longitudinal study, where the author traced the lives of about 1500 teenagers as they grew up and, often, grew disillusioned.According to his book, Dudley asserts that 40 to 50 percent of Adventist youth leave the church before their mid(prenominal) twenties. Secondary Resources Why our Teenagers leave the Church (Article) As was mentioned previously, the article is a very condensed version of the book, and it goes straight to the point. The purpose of the study was to effort to discover the extent of the churchs loss of its young adults. According to the article, 40 to 50 percent of baptized Seventh Day Adventist teenagers either dropped their membership, or became inactive in the church, in their mid twenties.According to Dudley, there are five influences that determines the continuation or discontinuation of young people in the church, and they are as follows Home Influences Parochial vs. Public Education Congregational Involvemnet Lifestyle Standards Devotional Practices I am in favor of, and recommend this resource, because it is straight forward and to the point. It provides the needed facts right from the start, allowing the reader to look at the all the determinants and then make a plan on how to proceed to negate or asperse the loss of young people.Primer for the next generation XNY 101 (Sermon Audio) Pastor Dwight K. Nelson starts of by explaining the details of the study that was done. He quotes the following from the book Many teenagers and young adults are leaving the church because they perceive it to be behaviour centered when they are looking for relationships. (Why Our Teenagers Leave the Church, P58) We have seen that thoug h our youth have heard the words of the gospel of righteousness by grace through faith, . . . our emphasis on behavioral standards has led the absolute majority to believe that they must somehow merit salvation. . . Through precept and example, we must do everything possible to explain grace and to break the hold of legalism. We must communicate a gospel of hope. Without this effort we will never retain our youth. They will not continue to struggle in a contest that they cannot possibly win. (58, 59 emphasis supplied) I would also gladly recommend this resource, because Paster Nelson identifies the problem from the data, and he then goes on to provide a remedy to the problem. Conclusion We cannot always mannequin the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future. Franklin D. RooseveltWhen looking at the data covered in these resources, it is abstemious that the future is uncertain. It is also clear that the youth are the leaders of tomorrows church, and in or der for them to lead, they need to be there. We need to realize that we cannot unavoidably set everything in place for our youth, but, what we can however do, is to prepare our youth for the future, for the decisions that they will have to make. We can prepare them for this uncertain future by laying a good stem in our educational institutions, at church, and most importantly at home. The greatest determinant, by far, is the family.If the family is built on the rock, nothing can shake it. With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Savior might be carried to the whole world (Education, p. 271). Reference List Ellen G. White, Education ( Washington, D. C. check up on and Herald, 1903). Roger L. Dudley, Why Our Teenagers Leave the Church Personal Stories from a 10-Year Study (Hagerstown, Md. Review and Herald, 2000) Roger L. Dudley, Why Our Teenagers Leave the Church (Spectrum, Volume 28, Issue 4, Autumn 2000)