"Only 4 percent of teenagers will be “Bible-believing Christians” as adults, compared with 35 percent of the current generation of baby boomers, and before that, 65 percent of the World War II generation." - Ron Luce, Acquire The Fire and Battle Cry as quoted in The New York Times
This was the statistic that got me started. It came from the book “The Bridger Generation" by Thom S. Rainer, a Southern Baptist and a former professor of ministry.
This book is a great reference and provides some useful insights into this generation as well as the church's efforts, both effective and ineffective, to reach them. I will refer to it more in later posts.
While the book was written in 1996, it is still quite useful today. In fact, research by the Barna Group in the years since this book was published has been consistent with Rainer's findings and predictions.
While experts may disagree as to whether the 4% figure that Luce/Rainer use is accurate, it is undeniable that the percentage of bible believing teens has been diminishing greatly compared to previous generations. It is also undeniable that there are ominous implications if this trend continues.
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The Bridger Generation
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1 comment:
4% of teenagers? alarming! couple that with the fact that 80-90% of them will lose their faith while in college. we've got a task ahead of us. it almost seems dismal, but there is hope as we only need one reformer to rise up and change the course of history.
one moses, one joseph... one you or I!
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