When I first got into full time Youth Ministry, my friends all asked the same three questions: “You work at a church?”, “What do you do all day?” and “WHY?”
Why? It’s easy:
1) I used to be a teenager. Specifically, a teenager who was made to go to church every weekend by my mother, but I did not believe in God. In fact, I did not accept Christ until I was 25 years old. I have a heart for and a passion to reach youth who may be in the same situation, as well as youth who believe, but they really don’t know why.
2) I love teenagers. They aren’t afraid to tell you when they think you are wrong, when you don’t do a good job, or when you are boring. They aren’t afraid to ask the hard questions, and sometimes, they listen when you tell them hard answers. They are unpredictable… you never know really what to expect.
3) God told me to. I firmly believe that I am exactly where God has called me to be and that I am doing exactly what He wants me to do at this point in my life. I can’t imagine doing anything else but working with teenagers and introducing them to and helping them get to know Christ.
4) 4%. The number that keeps me focused…
The Statistics
George Barna is an Episcopalian who, for more than 15 years now, has been constantly monitoring the Christian Church. He sends out endless surveys to churches of all sizes and denominations to get the “pulse” of the modern Christian church. Much of his focus recently has been on the youth of the Church. Barna predicts that, at the current rate of evangelism in the US Church, that we will reach only 4% of the Millennial generation.
4%. That number keeps me up at night.
Let me give you some perspective. The Boomer generation, people born between 1946-1964, is made up of about 35% Bible believing church attenders. The Boomers have shaped the world that we live in now. With only 35% of our Boomers being committed Christians, this is what our world looks like right now:
• We have morally corrupt films and television programs
• An increasingly perverted music industry
• An internet loaded with perversion and predators
• Groups who use “Freedom of Religion” to take away public signs of our belief
That is where we are now, with 35% of our leaders being committed Christians. Where will we be when the Millennials are running things at 4%?
A Shrinking Window
A statistic that hasn’t changed in the nearly nine years that I have done youth ministry: 9 out of 10 people who make a decision to live for Christ, do it by the age of 18. That means that if we do not reach this generation by the age of 18, we basically have a 1 in 10 shot at it later. As of May 2006, the largest age group in America are teens 15 years old. There are more 15 year olds in the US right now than there has ever been in history.
When I hear that, I hear a clock ticking. I have three years to reach those kids. Three years.
You may be thinking what a lot of people think right about now. “But our church is full of teenagers. The youth group is growing, we have a bazillion acolytes,” etc..
I want to show you some stats that were just released in April of 2006 by the National Study of Youth and Religion.
Teens Surveyed: Episcopal Protestant Other
Believe in God 72% 90% 85%
Say Faith is very important to Daily Life 40% 60% 51%
Morality is Relative 54% 41% 45%
Believe in Life after Death 35% 55% 50%
Read the Bible once or more a week 8% 32% 26%
Have made a personal commitment to Christ 32% 69% 56%
Believe most/all adults are hypocrites 35% 7% 7%
The Good News…
Philippians 1:6 says that “…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:13 says “For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.”
Romans 8:28 says that “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
In Isaiah 55:11, God says, “…the words that come out of my mouth will not come back empty--handed. They'll do the work I sent them to do, they'll complete the assignment I gave them.”
God has made promises in his Word. That if we do our part, if we can help to begin that good work in a teenager, that He will give us the strength we need and all things will come together for His purposes.
That’s why I do what I do. Not to keep kids out of trouble, off drugs, away from sex, and to give them a safe place to hang out in. Don’t get me wrong, at twentyfourseven, we strive to do all that. But my mission is to introduce these kids to Christ so that He (not me) can change their lives.
So, Why Are You Telling Me All of This?
I have been around the Episcopal Church a relatively short time compared to a lot of people. Only ten years. I have been actively involved in Youth Ministry for the last seven, the last five years full-time. I’ve been in three different dioceses.
In that time, and in all three dioceses, I have seen a disturbing trend in the Episcopal Church. In many of our churches, youth ministry is not a priority. Most Episcopal churches do not even have a youth minister on staff. Many of the churches that do are still ministering to their youth the same way they were doing it 10 or even 20 years ago. It’s no wonder that the Episcopal Church is shrinking. An inevitable question that always comes up in youth ministry circles when meeting someone new is “How many kids come to your youth group”. No one likes to answer, and we often sit around and even wonder why we even ask. Everyone exaggerates. One of the things that I have always noticed is that if a group is small, the youth minister always qualifies his group’s size on one of two things. Either his church is small, and therefore his group is small, or “it’s not about quantity, it’s about quality.” Meanwhile his kids don’t know if Ephesians is in the New Testament or the Old Testament.
I thank God that Fr. David has been obedient to God’s call to reach the next generation(s). I thank God that Fr. David has done whatever it takes to make sure that the futures or our youth and children are in good hands and that they are receiving not only the Word of God, but also His Love.
So why am I telling you this? Because its time to grow. Our youth population needs to grow. Our adult leader population needs to grow. Our entire church needs to realize that if we aren’t growing, then we are stagnant, and the most effective place to begin our growth is within the lives of our young people. Not only our youth, but our children as well.
I am going on “tour” this fall to most of the ministries within Holy Spirit Church and School. I am going to be speaking to all of these groups on the information that you’ve just read, and to challenge them all with this:
If you aren’t involved in the youth ministry at this church, you should be involved in our children’s ministry.
Let’s make an investment not only into the future of our church, but most importantly, into the lives of our young people.
Time is running out.
Why? It’s easy:
1) I used to be a teenager. Specifically, a teenager who was made to go to church every weekend by my mother, but I did not believe in God. In fact, I did not accept Christ until I was 25 years old. I have a heart for and a passion to reach youth who may be in the same situation, as well as youth who believe, but they really don’t know why.
2) I love teenagers. They aren’t afraid to tell you when they think you are wrong, when you don’t do a good job, or when you are boring. They aren’t afraid to ask the hard questions, and sometimes, they listen when you tell them hard answers. They are unpredictable… you never know really what to expect.
3) God told me to. I firmly believe that I am exactly where God has called me to be and that I am doing exactly what He wants me to do at this point in my life. I can’t imagine doing anything else but working with teenagers and introducing them to and helping them get to know Christ.
4) 4%. The number that keeps me focused…
The Statistics
George Barna is an Episcopalian who, for more than 15 years now, has been constantly monitoring the Christian Church. He sends out endless surveys to churches of all sizes and denominations to get the “pulse” of the modern Christian church. Much of his focus recently has been on the youth of the Church. Barna predicts that, at the current rate of evangelism in the US Church, that we will reach only 4% of the Millennial generation.
4%. That number keeps me up at night.
Let me give you some perspective. The Boomer generation, people born between 1946-1964, is made up of about 35% Bible believing church attenders. The Boomers have shaped the world that we live in now. With only 35% of our Boomers being committed Christians, this is what our world looks like right now:
• We have morally corrupt films and television programs
• An increasingly perverted music industry
• An internet loaded with perversion and predators
• Groups who use “Freedom of Religion” to take away public signs of our belief
That is where we are now, with 35% of our leaders being committed Christians. Where will we be when the Millennials are running things at 4%?
A Shrinking Window
A statistic that hasn’t changed in the nearly nine years that I have done youth ministry: 9 out of 10 people who make a decision to live for Christ, do it by the age of 18. That means that if we do not reach this generation by the age of 18, we basically have a 1 in 10 shot at it later. As of May 2006, the largest age group in America are teens 15 years old. There are more 15 year olds in the US right now than there has ever been in history.
When I hear that, I hear a clock ticking. I have three years to reach those kids. Three years.
You may be thinking what a lot of people think right about now. “But our church is full of teenagers. The youth group is growing, we have a bazillion acolytes,” etc..
I want to show you some stats that were just released in April of 2006 by the National Study of Youth and Religion.
Teens Surveyed: Episcopal Protestant Other
Believe in God 72% 90% 85%
Say Faith is very important to Daily Life 40% 60% 51%
Morality is Relative 54% 41% 45%
Believe in Life after Death 35% 55% 50%
Read the Bible once or more a week 8% 32% 26%
Have made a personal commitment to Christ 32% 69% 56%
Believe most/all adults are hypocrites 35% 7% 7%
The Good News…
Philippians 1:6 says that “…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:13 says “For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.”
Romans 8:28 says that “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
In Isaiah 55:11, God says, “…the words that come out of my mouth will not come back empty--handed. They'll do the work I sent them to do, they'll complete the assignment I gave them.”
God has made promises in his Word. That if we do our part, if we can help to begin that good work in a teenager, that He will give us the strength we need and all things will come together for His purposes.
That’s why I do what I do. Not to keep kids out of trouble, off drugs, away from sex, and to give them a safe place to hang out in. Don’t get me wrong, at twentyfourseven, we strive to do all that. But my mission is to introduce these kids to Christ so that He (not me) can change their lives.
So, Why Are You Telling Me All of This?
I have been around the Episcopal Church a relatively short time compared to a lot of people. Only ten years. I have been actively involved in Youth Ministry for the last seven, the last five years full-time. I’ve been in three different dioceses.
In that time, and in all three dioceses, I have seen a disturbing trend in the Episcopal Church. In many of our churches, youth ministry is not a priority. Most Episcopal churches do not even have a youth minister on staff. Many of the churches that do are still ministering to their youth the same way they were doing it 10 or even 20 years ago. It’s no wonder that the Episcopal Church is shrinking. An inevitable question that always comes up in youth ministry circles when meeting someone new is “How many kids come to your youth group”. No one likes to answer, and we often sit around and even wonder why we even ask. Everyone exaggerates. One of the things that I have always noticed is that if a group is small, the youth minister always qualifies his group’s size on one of two things. Either his church is small, and therefore his group is small, or “it’s not about quantity, it’s about quality.” Meanwhile his kids don’t know if Ephesians is in the New Testament or the Old Testament.
I thank God that Fr. David has been obedient to God’s call to reach the next generation(s). I thank God that Fr. David has done whatever it takes to make sure that the futures or our youth and children are in good hands and that they are receiving not only the Word of God, but also His Love.
So why am I telling you this? Because its time to grow. Our youth population needs to grow. Our adult leader population needs to grow. Our entire church needs to realize that if we aren’t growing, then we are stagnant, and the most effective place to begin our growth is within the lives of our young people. Not only our youth, but our children as well.
I am going on “tour” this fall to most of the ministries within Holy Spirit Church and School. I am going to be speaking to all of these groups on the information that you’ve just read, and to challenge them all with this:
If you aren’t involved in the youth ministry at this church, you should be involved in our children’s ministry.
Let’s make an investment not only into the future of our church, but most importantly, into the lives of our young people.
Time is running out.
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