Dr Paul Allen

Author Matt Marino. Take a look at these two shocking items: 1. 20-30 year olds attend church at 1/2 the rate of their parents and ¼ the rate of their grandparents. Think about the implication for those of us in youth ministry: Thousands of us have invested our lives in reproducing faith in the next generation and the group we were tasked with reaching left the church when they left us. 2. 61% of churched high school students graduate and never go back! ( Time Magazine , 2009) Even worse: 78% to 88% of those in youth programs today will leave church, most to never return. ( Lifeway , 2010) Please read those last two statistics again. Ask yourself why attending a church with nothing seems to be more effective at retaining youth than our youth programs. We look at our youth group now and we feel good. But the youth group of today is the church of tomorrow, and study after study after study suggests that what we are building for the future is… …empty churches. We build big groups

Saddleback Church Refinery (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) A veteran youth minister evaluates the state of youth ministry and “big church”–he doesn’t like what he sees: We look at our youth group now and we feel good. But the youth group of today is the church of tomorrow, and study after study suggests that what we are building for the future is … empty churches .  at Pastor Marino says is not necessarily new, but it is helpful to have a man who has spent his entire ministry working with youth to say these things. Equally eye-opening are the comments that follow his post where other youth ministers either applaud or argue his premise.  In response to one, Marino says: The blog article comes from a seminar I put together a few years ago for the Urban Youth Workers Institute. Interestingly, when I did the seminar people over 35 would sit with their arms folded and youth workers under 25 would literally be standing and cheering. I can say that they resonated with what I was saying