Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it.

 

The following is an excerpt from  We Must Reclaim the Church Before We Can Even Begin to Reclaim the Culture by Brannon Howse.

Ken Ham has written an excellent book with Britt Beemer and Todd Hillard entitled, Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it. Ham worked with a professional pollster to survey those who went to church every week or nearly every week and they deliberately polled conservative congregations, not liberal ones. Let me share some highlights from their book that confirm that the church needs to be reclaimed before we even attempt to reclaim the culture.

• A mass exodus is underway. Most youth of today will not be coming to church tomorrow. Nationwide polls and denominational reports are showing that the next generation is calling it quits on the traditional church. And it's not just happening on the nominal fringe; it's happening at the core of the faith.
• Only 11 percent of those who have left the Church did so during the college years. Almost 90 percent of them were lost in middle school and high school. By the time they got to college they were already gone! About 40 percent are leaving the Church during elementary and middle school years!
• If you look around in your church today, two-thirds of those who are sitting among us have already left in their hearts; it will only take a couple years before their bodies are absent as well.
• The numbers indicate that Sunday school actually didn't do anything to help them develop a Christian worldview...The brutal conclusion is that, on the whole, the Sunday school programs of today are statistical failures.
• Part of the concern is that the mere existence of youth ministry and Sunday school allows parents to shrug off their responsibility as the primary teachers, mentors, and pastors to their family.[1]

The answer to this crisis is Biblical worldview and apologetics training. The church in America has had billions of dollars at their disposal in modern times, with which to fulfill the Great Commission-making disciples of Jesus Christ. Training and equipping adults and students in apologetics and a Biblical worldview is how this is accomplished. Yet, with all their billions of dollars, the modern-church has largely failed. Untold billions have been spent on buildings and entertainment. This news report details that one church denomination has over 7 billion in their annuity fund. I mention this just to back up my claim that the modern church has had billions and billions at its disposal by which to aggressively teach a comprehensive Biblical worldview yet surveys reveal that only 1% of adults have a Biblical worldview, only 51% of our pastors have a Biblical worldview and our teens are leaving the church in huge numbers because of lack of Biblical worldview training.

What do you think?

---

[1] Ken Ham & Britt Beemer with Todd Hillard, Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it (Master Books, Green Forest, AR., 2009) p. 22, 33, 41,

Eastern University :: Major in Youth Ministry

Eastern University :: Major in Youth Ministry: "Eastern University Department of Youth Ministry"

I ran across a Bachelors program in Youth Ministry at Eastern College. I don't know anything about the school or the program but it might be worth investigating.

I ran across this program while researching Duffy Robbins, the author of a very good series of articles entitled: "How to Evaluate Your Youth Ministry—Part 1" (follow the links on the article for parts 2-3)

Listening to Students About Leaving the Church, by Jeff Schadt

 

While doing this study, we found that many individuals, churches, and ministries are already actively engaging the Church Dropout problem. I think you will see many similarities between the Church Dropout Study LifeWay Research released this week and the experiences of Jeff Schadt from Youth Transition Network. We at LifeWay Research were encouraged to find so many diverse ministries working together to address the transition issue.

Meet Jeff and then visit the Youth Transition Network:

Over the past 18 months, the Youth Transition Network has held open forum discussions with over 500 high school students from across the country and interviewed 140 college students about their transition from high school to college.

This article will review the most frequent and compelling lessons learned from our interaction with these students.

High School Students
First, most high school students were not planning on leaving the church; second, few had given any thought to finding a new ministry home upon graduation. It was simply not on their radar screen.

In our sessions with the high school students, they have echoed each other when asked why they believe so many leave the church. The transparency of their answers has been both heartfelt and alarming. These discussions with them have resulted in between 20 and 25 reasons each session, with answers ranging from busy-ness and priorities to guilt and hypocrisy.

The top responses include:
• Sex
• Guilt
• Judgmental
• Hypocrisy
• Strict environment
• Freedom
• Deceptive dual life culture in the youth group
• Lack of a safe place to address failure

The story that has emerged from these sessions, which has been confirmed by taped follow-up interviews, has a similar pattern. It goes like this:

“We entered the youth group with a moderate faith. We enjoyed the program and the leader and found it fun to be involved in our youth group. Yet the messages we heard were primarily focused on sin avoidance, which we perceive as sin intolerance, leaving little room for failure.”

“Then we discovered that the subculture among the upperclassmen was unhealthy and alluring. The obvious hypocrisy of seeing the upperclassmen singing and going on mission trips and, yet, leading this hidden life was disillusioning.” (In the sessions they define this as an intentionally deceptive dual life, one that youth leaders and parents often have no idea is occurring, according to the students.) “Eventually we gave in to the subculture, resulting in guilt and a sense of being unacceptable to God.”

In these sessions high school students consistently said that they cannot share their failure with parents or youth leaders. Parents will punish them and they have seen such information leak into their youth ministries, resulting in significant social ramifications for students within the church.

Once participating in the subculture in their youth ministry, they find it hard to escape because it keeps pulling them down. They helplessly try to extract themselves from the situation by themselves, while being told they should be able to avoid sin. The level of defeat that results, leads many we have encountered to say that, they “never feel successful in their faith”. In our sessions we have asked the students to estimate the percentage of students from their own youth group that are leading this intentionally deceptive dual life. At Urbana, a national mission conference, high school seniors started their estimates at 75% and ranged to 95% as they reflected upon the students in their youth groups!

High school students also report that as they look forward to graduation. They do not expect they will encounter anything different in college, career or military ministries, leaving little motivation to seek them out.

College Students
Our interviews with college students who have made the transition, some successfully and many through the fire, give more room for hope that something can be done. In these interviews, students consistently brought up three main issues with transition.
1. Aloneness
2. Making friends
3. A desire to find a church, but not knowing how

The relational connection is critical as students are separated from many of their anchor points: friends, parents, their church, and their own room, resulting in a heightened need to fit in, be accepted and be loved. Many college students have told us that the result of this stress for them was that they bonded to the first group that accepted them on campus. This could mean at a party, a boyfriend/girlfriend or a ministry.

In fact, in our interviews we found that only 7% of college students knew the name of one college ministry before arriving on campus. 93% did not know the name of any of the college/career ministries, creating a credibility problem for the college ministries. These ministries are desperately trying to find the freshmen before they get sucked into the black hole of collegiate culture. This desperation has led ministries to more overt tactics to identify Christians during the first week of school. In the eyes of our high school students just arriving on campus, they perceive these tactics as strange or aggressive, since they do not know the names and, thus, do not perceive them to be reputable. In some instances, this actually causes our graduates to avoid the very ministries we hope they will connect to.

The consequences of taking a break from the Lord in college are significant, as it is during these critical years that students will set their life trajectory apart from their parents’ influence. In these years they set their lifestyle, career and often find their spouse. Doing so, apart from the Lord, often has life-long consequences.

For those that did connect to a college or military ministry, they give three reasons why being involved in a college ministry was different from their youth ministry.

1. All the students who come want to be there!
2. The leaders want to help with the real issues you are struggling with.
3. The ministries care about you, will disciple you and are not concerned with how cool you are.

We can influence the course of our graduates during their junior and senior years, given that many have not consciously decided to walk away from the church. Helping them understand the challenges, stress and loneliness they can face when leaving home and educating them about the ministry options can go a long way in itself. Further, students who have participated in “Be Prepared” sessions and watched the consequence video produced by YTN reported a significant increase in their desire to connect with a college/career ministry, find Christian roommates and to continue walking with the Lord. One high school senior summarized it well when he said, “Up until I watched the video, I had not even thought about connecting to a ministry when I got to campus. Now it is my top priority before I leave home!”

The Youth Transition Network is a coalition of our nation’s denominations, youth, college and career ministries working together to motivate, prepare and transition our youth to their next spiritual home. The coalition includes: Baptist Collegiate Ministries, LifeWay Research, The Assemblies of God, Campus Crusade for Christ, Youth for Christ InterVarsity and the Navigators, along with many more. YTN has assembled two sites to aid in the preparation and transition process: one for leaders (YouthTransitionNetwork.org) and another for students (LiveAbove.com), which has 5,400 ministries on over 3,000 campuses for students to connect with before they leave home. Preparing our youth for the future and connecting them through LiveAbove.com will help the middle 50% of youth group students that have not set the course of walking away, but are vulnerable without a relational connection in transition.

http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2007/08/listening_to_students_about_le_1.html

College Attrition

I just spent two days meeting with Jeff Schadt, Executive Director of Youth Transition Network (www.YouthTransitionNetwork.org   and www.LiveAbove.com )  discussing these issues. Jeff has done a great deal of research on the subject and the issues are much deeper than those revealed by the Lifeway Study on which Thom Rainer's book was based.

According to Jeff, unless college freshmen (who were church going high school students) plug in with a local church or campus ministry with 72hrs of arriving on campus they will probably fall away. Without this connection, the loneliness and desire to fit in is so great they these freshmen quickly fall in with the wrong crowd. Subsequently, peer pressure leads them to do things which they swore they would never do and it is the resulting guilt which keeps them away from God.

He has created a ministry (Youth Transition Network www.YouthTransitionNetwork.org)  which provides materials to local youth groups (www.LiveAbove.com) to prepare students for the transition to college and to connect them with campus ministries/churches before they arrive on campus. This program was first tested at Arizona State University which saw campus ministry participation almost double after implementing this program.

I highly recommend ordering his DVD to share with your youth group.

If you are part of a college ministry, I highly recommend you review his materials and perhaps partner with his ministry to help connect with teens before they reach college.

News and Trends

The following is an excerpt from an Oct 2008 Mission America Newsletter.

email: info@missionamerica.org

internet: http://www.missionamerica.org

Mail: Mission America Coalition | P.O. Box 13930 | Palm Desert, CA 92255

---

Christian Marketplace Influencers
Executive Marketplace Intelligence for Ministry Decision Makers!

Time Magazine on Rick Warren Rick Warren says he and his staff have given "purpose-driven training" to 500,000 pastors worldwide, and that 1 out of 20 U.S. churches has done 40 Days of Purpose exercises. In all, says fellow mega-pastor Joel Hunter, Warren's is "easily the broadest and most influential church network in the world." He (Warren) got a conventional theology doctorate and an unconventional education from a friend, management guru Peter Drucker, who refined Warren's organizational gift and offered a secular vocabulary with which to express it." (Time 8/7/08)

Defining 'Evangelical' Ellison Research asked the average adult American what they believe is an "evangelical Christian." 36% said they had no idea. 18% said it is a Christian who tries to spread his or her faith. 9%: Christians particularly devoted or zealous about their faith (but not to the point of fanaticism) and totally sold-out to their beliefs. 8%: focused strongly on the Bible, believing in the Bible as God's inerrant word allowing it to guide their lives. 8%: saved by Christ, saved by grace, believe in a born-again experience, and believe in eternal life through Christ, among other theological definitions. 2% gave a dramatically off-base theological definition. 6%: conservative, ultra-conservative or radical right, anti-homosexual, Republican, highly involved in politics, etc. 5%: fanatical about their beliefs. 4%: closed-minded about religion. 3%: focus on money rather than God. 3%: want to impose their beliefs or standards on others. Researchers stressed almost half of Americans cannot give a definition of evangelical that has any substance to it. (The Christian Post 9/4/08)

Avoiding Dropout Further analysis of an earlier released LifeWay Research project on reasons 18-22-year-olds drop out of church finds these views together best predict a young person will stay in church:

• "I wanted the church to help guide my decisions in everyday life (prior to age 18)."
• "At age 17 my parents were still married to each other and both attended church."
• "The pastor's sermons were relevant to my life (prior to age 18)."
• "At least 1 adult from church made a significant investment in me personally and spiritually between the ages of 15 and 18." (LifeWay Research Insights 7/08)

Amish Growth In the last 16 years, the Amish population has nearly doubled, according to researchers from Elizabethtown College's Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies. Over the same period, Amish settlements have been established in 7 new states (Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, Washington and West Virginia), putting them in at least 28 states. (The Associated Press)

Diverse Religion The U.S. is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world with adherents from all of the world's major religions. A recent Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey finds the U.S. is on the verge of becoming a minority Protestant country for the first time in its history. The number of Americans who claim they are members of Protestant denominations is now barely 51% vs. more than 60% in the '70s and '80s. More than 25% of American adults have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another or no religion at all. (The Pew Forum 8/20/08)

U.S. Religious Affiliations
Evangelical Protestant Churches 26.3%
Historically Black Churches 6.9%
Mormon 1.7%
Orthodox 0.6%
Jewish 1.7%
Muslim 0.6%
Other World Religions <0.3%
Unaffiliated 16.1%
Mainline Protestant Churches 18.1%
Jehovah's Witness 0.7%
Other Christian 0.3%
Buddhist 0.7%
Hindu 0.4%
Other Faiths 1.2%
Don't Know / Refused 0.8%
(The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, U.S. Religious Landscape 9/08)

Morality 55% of American adults discuss moral issues with others in a typical week. The Barna Group asked adults about 8 moral behaviors. Liberals were twice as likely as conservatives to participate in morally questionable activities. Evangelicals were the most likely to follow traditional morality, while atheists and agnostics most unlikely. While evangelicals averaged 6% participation in each of the 8 behaviors, skeptics averaged 29%. Within the Christian community, there were few differences between Protestants and Catholics in relation to moral behavior. George Barna says, "The consistent deterioration of the Bible as the source of moral truth has led to a nation where people become independent judges of right and wrong, basing their choices on feelings and circumstances." (The Barna Group 8/25/08)

Divine Intervention When it comes to saving lives, God trumps doctors for many Americans. A Univ. of Connecticut survey reveals widespread belief that divine intervention can revive dying patients. And, researchers said, doctors "need to be prepared to deal with families who are waiting for a miracle." 57% of randomly surveyed adults said God's intervention could save a family member even if physicians declared treatment would be futile. And nearly three-quarters said patients have a right to demand such treatment. When asked to imagine their own relatives being gravely ill or injured, nearly 20% of doctors and other medical workers said God could reverse a hopeless outcome. (The Church Report 8/20/08)

Digital World Internet Retailer reports, in early '07, 12% of all retail sales of consumer media products (books, music, video, etc.) were via e-commerce. This is twice the percentage of all retail products sold through e-commerce. (CBA Retailers+Resources 8/08)

Bible Sales In a bleak retail economy, including many independent Christian retail stores, Bibles continue to be one of the bright spots. Not only do Bibles remain the heart and soul of a Christian retailer's mission, but they also continue to be in strong demand. (Christian e-Tailing 8/21/08)

Pastor Pay Churches of 101 to 300 people weekly pay their senior pastor $72,664 annually, including benefits. Churches of 310 to 500 pay an average of $88,502, while those with 501 to 750 pay $102,623. On average, pastors who complete post-grad work earn $14,000 more than those with a master's and $24,000 more than those with a bachelor's. Presbyterian and Lutheran senior pastors earn the most: $100,751 and $100,593. (The 2009 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff)

Underpaid 51% of Americans feel they are underpaid for their work, finds a Gallup survey. 46% feel they are paid about the right amount, while 3% feel they are overpaid. Middle- and lower-income Americans are more likely to say they are underpaid. 62% of those making less than $75,000 a year agree vs. 38% of those making more than $75,000. 47% of men and 55% of women say they are underpaid. 51% of both whites and non-whites feel underpaid. Also, 49% of those with high school educations or less say they are underpaid vs. 52% of those with at least some college. (Pastors Weekly Briefing 8/22/08)

Childless The percentage of childless women in the U.S. who have reached the end of their child-bearing years has doubled from 10% to 20% in the last 30 years, reports the U.S. Census Bureau. The survey reports, "Women 40-44 will end their childbearing years with an average of 1.9 children each, a number below replacement-level fertility." This compares to 3.1 in '76. 36% of the women who gave birth in '06 were separated, widowed, divorced or never married. 5% were living with a partner. Most women who go on to post-secondary education wait until age 30 to 34 to have children. 27% of women with undergraduate degrees and upwards are childless. Only the U.S. Hispanic and Black populations are replacing themselves with an average of 2.3 and 2.0 children born per woman, making them the only stabilizing force in the population. At this rate, experts say, whites will be the U.S. minority by 2042. (LifeSite News 8/19/08)

Inappropriate A national survey shows more than a quarter of Christian women personally have experienced sexually inappropriate behavior, and a fourth of those said it happened in a church or ministry setting. Not all incidents reported fall under the legal definition of sexual harassment, i.e. "unwelcome attention due to one's gender." 53% who have experienced inappropriate behavior say they do not plan to report these instances to avoid stirring up controversy. Nonprofit attorney and CPA Frank Sommerville says, "Juries tend to award larger damages to victims of sexual harassment within churches, because they think a church should be a safe place." (Pastors Weekly Briefing 8/22/08)

Woman Power The economic power of women is huge: $3.7 trillion in consumer spending and $1.5 trillion in commercial spending each year. Women make most of the consumer decisions about everything, including more than 80% of big ticket decisions like automobiles and homes, as well as everyday decisions. Over 91 % of women feel advertisers don't understand them. 66% feel misunderstood by health care marketers, 74% by auto makers and 84% investment marketers. (American Marketing Association Newsletter 8/9/08)

Donors cite the #1 reason for ceasing their support is the way they were treated, from not being thanked to an avalanche of needy appeals. It is indeed cheaper to keep a customer/donor than to find a new one. Thank your donors 3 times as often as you appeal for donations. Make your thank-you message personal and show them their impact. (Network for Good Learning Center 8/14/08)

Young Adult Readers Up "There have been significant increases in sales of YA (young adult) books over the past several years," says Zonderkidz Marketing VP Alicia Mey. A Children's Book Council Sales Survey finds YA sales have increased from more than 13% in '01 to more than 34% in '05. Mey adds, "We know that in the Christian channel, teens want more books to meet their spiritual needs as well as their entertainment needs." An '06 Barna Group study says 66% of all born-again Christians make a profession of faith before age 18. Nelson, Zondervan, FaithWords, Multnomah and NavPress have all recently launched or beefed up their YA offerings. (Christian e-Tailing 8/26/08)

VeggieTales characters take to the stage this fall to perform for audiences nationwide during their 50-city, major-market VeggieTales God Made You Special, Live! Tour. Kicked off on Sept. 4 in Austin, TX, other cities include Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Boston, Minneapolis, Nashville, Orlando and Phoenix. (CBA Retailers+Resources Industry Brief 9/2/08)

Home-Schooled Students do just as well or better than their public school peers. They typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests, according to the National Home Education Research Institute. (chron.com 8/25/08)

Church Kids Get Better Grades Church attendance has as much greater effect on a teen's GPA than whether the parents earned a college degree. 7th to 12th graders who went to church weekly also had lower dropout rates and felt more a part of their schools. On average, students whose parents received a 4-year college degree average a GPA 0.12 higher than those whose parents completed only high school. Students who attend religious services weekly average a GPA 0.144 higher than those who never attend services, found the Univ. of Iowa study. Why do these students do better? • They have regular contact with role model adults from various generations. • Their parents are more likely to communicate with their friends' parents. • They develop friendships with peers who have similar norms and values. • They're more likely to participate in extracurricular activities. Other studies have shown regular church-goers breathe easier and live longer. Kids whose parents go to church are better behaved and more well-adjusted. Researchers cite the social-network and psychological benefits of churches. (CR Online 8/23/08)

Teens and Marriage Center for Law and Social Policy research finds almost 70% of white girls ages 15-19 who got pregnant in the first half of the '60s chose to get married. By the early '90s, that number had fallen to 19%. Among black teens, it fell from 36% to less than 7%. According to Time's 9/1/08 issue, 1 of every 3 mothers who gave birth in the past 12 months was unmarried, separated, divorced or widowed at the time. (pluggedinonline.com)

Economy Because of higher gas and food price concerns, 48% of U.S. consumers plan to reduce their household spending by more than $100. In addition, consumers will change where and how they shop. The number of people who shopped at club stores such as Costco, B.J.'s and Sam's Club increased 3.6% from 9/07 to 4/08. (Center for Media Research Brief 8/21/08

Debt Burden The average American household is now buried under mortgage debt of $84,911, car and tuition loans of $14,414, home equity loans of $10,062 and credit card debt of $8,565—in sum, outstanding debt totaling $117,952. Federal Reserve data says the average household savings this year are a mere $392. (AARP Bulletin 9/08)

U.S. Not Alone According to a Financial Times/Harris Poll, most people in France, Germany, Great Britain, Spain and the U.S. believe their economies are getting worse. Within the past year, 72% of British adults feel their household's economic well-being has become worse, compared to 56% of Germans and Americans. (Harris Poll Weekly 9/3/08)

Asian Americans Although Asians only represent 5% of the U.S. population, they are among the most educated and affluent U.S. consumers. Census Bureau data reveals the median age among Asian Americans is 34.8 vs. 36.2 for the total population. They spent $459 billion on products and services in '07. Direct-mail influences 22% of their product purchases. 48% have earned a bachelor's degree, and they earn an impressive median annual income of $63,900. They are also among the most active in the digital world. (Deliver Magazine Issue 4, Vol. 4, 9/08)

Wealthy The U.S. government estimates 20% of all U. S. households have an income of $100,000+, accounting for more than one half of the nation's household income. (Center for Media research Brief 9/19/08)

Spain's "Express Divorce" Law, which has facilitated the dissolution of marriages, has resulted in a divorce rate of 69%, that is, for every 4 marriages celebrated, 3 are broken. (LifeSite News 9/9/08)

Shower Your Pig According to Agence France-Presse, new legislation adopted in Switzerland spells out in detail how all domestic animals are to be treated. For example, live goldfish may not be flushed down the toilet but must be first knocked out and then killed before the body can be disposed. The law applies to pets, farm animals, wild animals in zoos/circuses and animals used in experiments. The law also bans catch-and-release fishing; stipulates that hamsters, sheep and goats should not live alone; and that pigs have the right to a shower. (worldnetdaily.com, news.com)

Global Warming Myth Contrary to major media reports, data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center finds a dramatic increase in sea ice extent in the Arctic regions. The growth over the past year covers an area of 700,000 square kilometers, an amount twice the size of Germany. With the Arctic melting season over for '08, ice cover will continue to increase until melting begins anew next spring. August '08 data indicates a total sea ice area of 5 million square kilometers, up 13% from a year ago. (Daily Tech 9/3/08)

Social Media Sleuths A new CareerBuilder.com survey finds 22% of all hiring managers have combed through social media profiles (mostly on LinkedIn and Facebook) to help evaluate potential hires, up from 11% in '06. (Online Media Daily 9/11/08)

Fast Facts:

• 31% of men who experience major depression have always attended religious services vs. 24% among those who have stopped attending.
• A Gallup Poll finds 66% of Americans said if they needed a mental health professional, they would prefer going to one with spiritual values and beliefs.
• More than 80% of Americans prefer to have their own values and beliefs integrated into their counseling process.
• 56% of Protestants and 62% of Catholics participated in at least some training in the past year. (LifeWay Research Insights 8/15/08)
• 50% of Americans know a member of the Christian clergy very well, while another 20% know one casually. (LifeWay Research Insights 8/15/08)
• An estimated 220,000 black students were home-schooled in '07, up from 84,000 in '99.
• About 78% of women use the Internet for product information before making a purchase.
• 77% of Hispanics have a bank account versus 98% of general market consumers.
• 72% of the general consumer market has a retirement account (including 401(k) and IRA) vs. just 4% of African Americans and 32% of Hispanics.
• Microsoft spends more than $8 billion per year on research and development.
• There have been 4.3 million births in the U.S. since '06 (latest data available). This is the highest birthrate since 1961.
• 14% of self-described evangelicals have no definition of what an evangelical is.
• 23% of pastors say their congregation has little or no security screening for the people working with young people.
• Barna Research reports there are 24 million teens in the U.S., and more than half attend a church on a weekly basis.
• An additional 31% of U.S. teens experiment with attending church but have not committed.
• 75% of teens discuss matters of faith with their peers.
• 33% of U.S. young people are members of Christian clubs at their high schools and colleges.
• 75% of U.S. young adults have participated in at least one psychic- or witchcraft-related activity during their teens.
• 94% of Millenials say they would accept a lower salary to work with a socially responsible company.
• Wal-Mart distributes 25% of America's newsstand products.
• Gallup data shows people who have TVs in their homes report greater well-being than do those who do not.
• On average, the effects of owning a TV are stronger in poorer as opposed to wealthier countries.
• Depression affects about 121 million people worldwide, 17 million in America.
• 30% of U.S. adults will experience depression at some point in their lifetimes.
• The World Health Organization predicts by 2020, depression will be second only to heart disease in its impact on global health.
• Food price inflation averaged just 2.3% from '96 to '06 vs. 6.1% from '07 to 6/08.
• A Nielsen Mobile study finds 1 in 5 U.S. wireless households could be wireless-only by the end of '08.

Information compiled and edited by Gary Foster, President of Gary D Foster Consulting, a firm that assists Christian ministries and product companies in solving management, marketing, donor/customer service and product development problems. Contact Gary at: 419.238.4082, GFosterCns@rmi.net or go to www.GaryDFoster.com.

A Second Reformation?

I read a Great article on Youth Ministry By Mark Driscoll & Chris Seay called A Second Reformation Is at Hand.

The modern, church-as-franchise mentality where "one size fits all" no longer exists, either. Your contexts are all unique—your kids and your situations and your churches and the local communities in which God’s planted you all are special.

That’s why you—the youth workers of the new century—must become missionaries to your local cultures and communities. You must train and equip your students to reach out to their particular contexts. Because it will be your students —on their own cutting edges—who will do the work, not you. You’re not going to live in a youth culture 24 hours a day, seven days a week! And even if you could, no one person can reach all those cutting edges. You can, however, train a whole fleet of missionaries. And they can transform a culture! Click here for the whole article.

The title of the above article struck me as much as its content.

I wonder... is this what we need in America... a second reformation by which we once again cast off the trappings of culture that pass for religion and embrace a truer faith, stripped down to its raw essence? Are we too timid in our calls for "change" in the way we do this business of church when what we really need is something much more radical?

Centuries ago, brave men stood for truth against a culture which was hostile towards the same. They rocked boats. They rocked the world.

Centuries later other men took a stand for truth, leaving their homes and a dead religious system to come to a new world where they could start fresh and build a church on different principles. These men and their descendants founded this great nation, or perhaps I should say once great nation, which has fallen so far from the place she once stood.

Is God raising up men (and women) today for another Reformation... if we are bold enough to follow Him?

What do you think?

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod]

4-14 Window

Here's an excerpt from and a link to a great article on 

 THE “4/14 WINDOW” 

Child Ministries and Mission Strategies∗ 

Dr. Dan Brewster 

The “4/14 Window” 

Some years ago, Dr. Bryant Myers, Director of World Vision’s MARC Ministries, made an excellent presentation to the EFMA Executive Retreat. The title was “The State of the World’s Children: A Cultural Challenge to the Christian Mission in the 1990’s.” Bryant painted a sobering picture of the numbers and conditions of children and youth throughout the world today, and noted some of the implications that this huge and often suffering people group presents to mission strategists today. But the most significant portion of his presentation was the stunning graphic below, which shows that in the USA, nearly 85 percent of people who make a decision for Christ, do so between the ages of 4 and 14! 

Recently, important confirmation that this is true, at least in the USA, has come from the well-known Church researcher, George Barna. In a new book, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions,1 Barna presents results of extensive research related to faith decisions in the US. 

Barna reports that most 13 year-olds in the US, 93 percent consider themselves to be Christian, though only about 34 percent of these really have an understanding of what it means to be a Christian.2 However, if people are going to become a Christian, they are far more likely to make that decision by the age of 13 than after that age. Barna states that: 

…the probability of someone embracing Jesus as his or her Saviour was 32 percent for those between the ages of 5 and 12; 4 percent for those in the 13-18 range; and 6 percent for people 19 or older. In other words, if people do not embrace Jesus Christ as their Savior before they reach their teenage years, the chance of their doing so at all is slim.³ 

Barna urges us to “Consider the facts. People are much more likely to accept Christ as their Savior when they are young. Absorption of biblical information and principles typically peaks during the preteen years. . . . Habits related to the practice of one’s faith develop when one is young and change surprisingly little over time.”4 

“The implication of these findings is clear,” says Barna. “Anyone who wishes to have significant influence on the development of a person’s moral and spiritual foundations had better exert that influence while the person is still open-minded and impressionable – in other words, while the person is still young.”

A Second Reformation Is at Hand

Great article on Youth Ministry By Mark Driscoll & Chris Seay called A Second Reformation Is at Hand

The modern, church-as-franchise mentality where "one size fits all" no longer exists, either. Your contexts are all unique—your kids and your situations and your churches and the local communities in which God’s planted you all are special.

That’s why you—the youth workers of the new century—must become missionaries to your local cultures and communities. You must train and equip your students to reach out to their particular contexts. Because it will be your students —on their own cutting edges—who will do the work, not you. You’re not going to live in a youth culture 24 hours a day, seven days a week! And even if you could, no one person can reach all those cutting edges. You can, however, train a whole fleet of missionaries. And they can transform a culture!

Click here for the whole article...

The title of the above article struck me as much as its content. I wonder... is this what we need in America... a second reformation by which we once again cast off the trappings of culture that pass for religion and embrace a truer faith, stripped down to its raw essence? Are we too timid in our calls for "change" in the way we do this business of church when what we really need is something much more radical?

Centuries ago, brave men stood for truth against a culture which was hostile towards the same. They rocked boats. They rocked the world. Centuries later other men took a stand for truth, leaving their homes and a dead religious system to come to a new world where they could start fresh and build a church on different principles. These men and their descendants founded this great nation, or perhaps I should say once great nation, which has fallen so far from the place she once stood.


Is God raising up men (and women) today for another Reformation... if we are bold enough to follow Him?

What do you think?

America's changing role in world missions.

The Globalization of the American Church is an interesting article by Dr. Roger Parrott, President of Belhaven College regarding a recent meeting of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization where they discussed America's changing role in world missions.

A brief quote:

“The purpose of this consultation was to discuss the changing role of the American Church in world evangelization,” said the Rev. Doug Birdsall, executive chair of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization.  “In recent years, many international church leaders have been asking, ‘Is the American Church still with us?  Does the American Church have the humility to learn from us, to work together in authentic partnership?’ We answered several of those questions during the week.”

While American missions have done a lot of good in spreading the Gospel throughout the globe in the last 100 years, several speakers said that the time has come for a change. Theological educator and evangelist Dr. Peter Kuzmic of Croatia said that U.S. Christians must stop acting as if “salvation is in the hands of Americans.”  He said that Western Christians have, along with the good, also done damage to the image of Christ around the world.

click here for the rest of the article...

Internet Links RE: Sunday School/Christian Education/Children & Youth Ministry

Internet Links RE: Sunday School/Christian Education/Children & Youth Ministry

Barna Research Online's Top Trends in Christian Education and Youth

Calling All Kids - Outreach (Mar-Apr 2003)/Natalie Gillespie
Church for the Youth Culture – next-wave (Dec 2001)/Dan King 
Confessions of a Youth Minister - Merv Stoltzfus, Marlene Frankenfield, Curt Weaver
Flake Formula for Building a Sunday School - Arthur Flake
How Adults Really Learn - Web Evangelism
How Do I Understand and Reach the Unchurched Teen? - The Source for Youth Ministry/Jonathan McKee
How to Grow an Effective Sunday School - Elmer Towns (complete book online)
Life Changes - OnLineRev.com/Kurt Climie
Most Amazing Statistic (on reaching children/youth) - Milton Jones
Preaching to the Choir: A Church with Children at Heart - CBS News
Prepare for Impact - First Priority (Summer 2000)/Alvin Reid
Purpose Driven Principles Help Iowa Youth Ministry Mobilize Teens for Missions - pastors.com/Kathie Scott
Put Some Youth into It - OnLineRev.com
Reaching Younger Generations - Self-Scoring Assessment Tool
Reaching Youth Through Relationships - First Priority (Summer 2001)/Josh McDowell
The Second Reformation Is at Hand - Youthworker (Jan-Feb 2000)/Mark Driscoll & Chris Seay
Sidewalk Sunday School - an outreach to children and youth
Source for Youth Ministry - free youth ministry resources and ideas for youth leaders
Surviving the Marathon of Youth Ministry: 10 Commitments - MinistryToolBox (Aug 14 2002)/Doug Fields
Teenage Life Online - Pew Foundation (2001)
Ten Sunday Schools That Dared to Change - Elmer Towns (complete book online)
Top 10 Tips for Starting a New Children's Ministry - Kidology.org/Roger Fields
Turning This Week's Pop Culture into Next Week's Curriculum - Youthworker (Winter 1995)/Quentin Schultze
Why Young People Leave the Church - TeenCoach.org/Nigel Lane
Youth Evangelism in a Rural Community - good idea! (Autumn 2001)/Pete Molloy
Youthworker - a contemporary journal for youth ministry

Rate Your Church's Young Adult Friendliness

Many North American congregations have far fewer young adult members than they want.  Some others find that the young adults they have as members are not heavily involved in congregational life.  How friendly and welcoming is the atmosphere in your church for young adults?  Churches which are successfully reaching young adults often check 13 or more of these items.

___ 1.  Our church has young adults on the board, council, or other  primary administrative body of the church, so that we remain sensitive to young adult issues.

___ 2.  Our church offers child care at any events at which we hope for young adult participation.

___ 3.  People in our church accept the fact that many young adults may only attend two or three times a month and don't make them feel guilty for not coming every Sunday.

___ 4.  People are welcome to dress informally for worship, and that is modeled by ushers and greeters.

___ 5.  If a single parent comes to our church, that person can go through an entire morning without being asked where his or her spouse is.

___ 6.  Our church can make decisions quickly and doesn't frustrate people with slowness to change.

___ 7.  Our church has a caregiver system so that there is quick follow-up when persons who have been regular in attendance stop coming.

___ 8.  Our worship services are child-friendly.

___ 9.  Our church programming doesn't constantly assume that everyone who might participate is married or part of a family.

___ 10. Our church recognizes in its programming that most young adults would rather DO something (feed the hungry; remodel a house for the poor; work with youth) than TALK about doing something in endless committee meetings.

___ 11. Our worship services move quickly and offer a healthy variety of activities.

___ 12. Our worship services offer contemporary music as well as traditional music.

___ 13. Our pastor(s) is(are) comfortable relating to young adults.

___ 14. Our church can truly welcome a couple who are living together but are not yet married,  feeling grateful that they want to be involved in the church.

___ 15. Older members of our church are comfortable reaching out to  young adults.

___ 16. Our church offers one or more class or group opportunities for young adults.

You are free to reproduce this questionnaire for use in your own congregation. Thank you for giving credit to New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org 

 

Prepared for Visitors to Your Sunday School?

Use this checklist to help determine how prepared your church is to welcome and involve visitors through your Christian education program.

___ Are teachers prepared to greet new students as they enter the classroom?

___ Are teachers of children comfortable introducing themselves to the parents of visitors? Do teachers know whether or not visiting children should remain in the room until their parents return?

___ Are the rooms all neat, including updated bulletin boards?

___ Are class members encouraged to hang banners, posters, and other results of class activity?

___ Are teachers comfortable introducing visitors to the rest of the class?

___ Do teachers provide opportunity for some sharing to help visitors feel more at home?

___ Is there a procedure to record the name, address, and phone of any visitors to a class or group?

___ Is there a procedure for sharing information about visitors with the church office?

___ Do adult classes have coffee and tea available?

___ Do youth classes have juice and donuts?

___ Are extra copies of curriculum and other study resources available for visitors?

___ Are visitors informed of any coming social events and encouraged to participate?

___ Is there a procedure for follow-up on anyone who visits a Christian education class or event?

___ Do students in the class or group take a part in that follow-up process rather than leaving it all to the teacher or leader?

___ Are the classrooms all attractive, comfortable places to meet?

___ Are there greeters who can direct visitors to the appropriate classes?

___ Are class or group members encouraged to invite friends to the group?

From New Life Ministries Report 3: "Healthy Sunday School – Growing Church."

You are free to reproduce this questionnaire for use in your own congregation. Thank you for giving credit to New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org 

Youth Group Outreach Checklist Here is a short exercise to help youth groups and classes assess how open they are to one another and how intentional they are about reaching out to new people and making them feel part of the group.  Check all that are true for you or for your group. ___   1.  I frequently ask others in the group to share their opinions. ___   2.  People in the group frequently ask for my opinion. ___   3.  No one gets put down in this group for having a different opinion than most. ___   4.  If I miss a group meeting, another group member lets me know that I was missed and helps me feel that my presence is important. ___   5.  If someone else misses a group meeting, I let that person know I missed him or her and help that person feel that his or her presence is important. ___   6.  If a new person visits this group, I’ll personally reach out to that individual in some way during the week. ___   7.  If a new person visits this group, others in the group reach out to that person during the week. ___   8.  I have invited a friend or acquaintance to come to a group or class meeting or to share in another church activity. ___   9.  Other people in the group or class have invited friends or acquaintances to come to a meeting or to share in another church activity. ___ 10. If someone visits a meeting or another activity, that person normally returns for another visit. ___ 11. This group has taught me how to share my faith with others. ___ 12. I have, at least once, shared my faith with a person outside of this church. ___ 13. This group helps me better understand God. ___ 14. This group helps me relate my faith to daily life. ___ 15. This group helps me feel more like part of the church. ___ 16. This group helps me grow closer to other people. ___ 17. I have told friends who are not active in a church how much my youth class or group means to me. ___ 18. I think this is a group which does a good job incorporating new people. ___ 19. The adult(s) who work with this group encourage us to reach out to people outside the church. ___ 20. The adult(s) who work with this group help new people feel welcome. After group members complete the checklist, discuss each statement together. You are free to reproduce this questionnaire for use in your own congregation. Thank you for giving credit to New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org With slight modification, this checklist can be used for adult groups as well.

2000-2008 New Life Ministries (www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org). All Rights Reserved.  (see information on our copyright policy)

The Most Amazing Statistic©

The Most Amazing Statistic© 
by Milton Jones 1

"Ninety-five percent of the people in America who become Christians do so before the age of 25. Think about that. If we don't reach people with the gospel before they reach the age of 25, we are going to miss 95 percent of them."

Numbers -- God must love them or else we wouldn't have a book in our Bible with that name. There are times when I really love numbers in evangelism. That's usually when the church is growing. And then.. there are the other times. How much should we pay attention to numbers? God does mention the 3,000 in Acts 2. And yet he mentions the shepherd leaving the 99 to look for the one. I try to be careful with numbers. There have been times when I declare their unimportance simply because I don't want to see reality so clearly. And yet there have been other times when I tended to mention them more out of pride than out of a passion for the lost. When it comes to trends, how important are the numbers? I certainly think that we should be wise and shrewd in how we approach outreach. Devoting myself to a method that doesn't work can hardly be justified. But writing someone off just because they are in the minority hardly seems loving. On the other hand, if a certain group of people are open to the gospel, shouldn't we be there more than ever? Having stated all this, let me tell you the most amazing statistic on evangelism that I have heard of in years. When I first heard it, I didn't believe it. In fact, my skepticism was so great that I had to prove it to myself in order to believe it. After traveling around and testing this statistic, I now believe it to be true. It was just a few years ago when Paul Tans wrote his study entitled "Signs of the Times," that I became aware of this overwhelming statistic. What is it? Ninety-five percent of the people in America who become Christians do so before the age of 25. Think about that. If we don't reach people with the gospel before they reach the age of 25, we are going to miss 95 percent of them. Why aren't we very evangelistic anymore? This is what so many people are asking. Why aren't churches growing more? Maybe the answer is simple-we aren't reaching young people. When I examined most of our outreach methods, events, and programs, they seemed to be designed for people much older than 25. If that is true, we are only going after five percent of the most open group of people. I certainly want older people to be saved (I like people my age), but the truth is most people my age and older have already made decisions one way or another. Should we still try and reach them? Absolutely. But what are we doing about the young? Why are we not more evangelistic? Ask someone young at church to tell you what they think. I'm afraid that many of our styles from preaching to music to programs may eclipse the gospel from young people. To be evangelistic today, we will have to communicate the gospel in such a way that young people will actually hear. Young Christians need a voice in how we minister and worship if we are going to be serious about reaching their peers. And those of us who are older will have to decide if we will allow change for the sake of the mission. I heard another statistic recently that was more current and even more sobering. Thom Rainer in his book, Closing the Back Door, states that in America, 82 percent of the people who become Christians do so before the age of 20. It just keeps getting younger and younger. And if that wasn't enough, he expanded his study and found that 75 percent of Americans who become Christians do so between the ages of 9 and 14. If we do not reach the young, we will not be seeing many people come to the Lord in our country. These statistics prompt us to reconsider the importance of children's ministry, youth ministry, and campus ministry. And it also calls us to examine whether these ministries in our churches are designed simply for "us" or do they also have an evangelistic thrust. If our ministries in the church for young people aren't outreach-oriented, when will evangelism happen? Many of our churches are waiting until it's too late. Paul teaches us to preach the word "in season" and "out of season." In America the most "open" season seems to be very related to a person's age. I want everyone to hear, but I especially want to get the word out where it is "in season." 1 Milton Jones is from Seattle, Washington. This article was first printed in 21st Century Christian Magazine then in Church Growth Magazine 15 (April - June): 3.

DiscipleMaker.com

This blog can now be accessed via "disciplemaker.com"  

Pass the word.

Youth and Church Graphics

The following QuickTime movie represents the current state of youth ministry in America. Please feel free to share this as long as it is unaltered and for non commercial purposes. 

A higher resolution version is available here.

Your comments would be appreciated.

Simple Truths: Here I Am, Send Me!

Simple Truths: Here I Am, Send Me!


This is a good blog by a missionary about being gripped by vision and the call of God to pursue that vision even though we feel unprepared and ill qualified.

He talks about the "Ready, Shoot, Aim" approach of launching out even if we don't have a clear idea where we are going.

It is good to be reminded that we may not have all the answers we would like at times and often can't wait for the perfect plan to come together before proceeding. The plan may not develop until we are already well on our way.

Yet, God does not need our plan or our skill... only our willingness to follow him.

Stats on Perceptions of Church and Responses to Christians

America's Unchurched are willing to hear what people have to say about Christianity, but a majority also sees the church as a place full of hypocrites, finds a LifeWay Research study.

• 72% of those interviewed think the church "is full of hypocrites."
• Yet 71% said they believe Jesus "makes a positive difference in a person's life"
• 78% would "be willing to listen" to someone who wanted to share what they believed about Christianity.
• 64% think "the Christian religion is relevant and viable for today"
• 72% of un-churched adults believe God, a higher or supreme being actually exists.
• Only 48% agree there is only one God as described in the Bible
• 61% believe the God of the Bible is no different from gods or spiritual beings depicted in non-Christian religions.
• 22% of Americans say they never go to church (highest ever recorded by the General Social Survey), up from 17% in '04.
• 79% of unchurched Americans think Christianity today is more about organized religion than about loving God and loving people;
• 86% believe they can have a good relationship with God without being involved in church
• 44% said Christians "get on my nerves."
• Yet, 89% of the unchurched have at least 1 close Christian friend
• And while turned off by church, 78% are willing to listen to someone who wants to talk about their Christian beliefs. The number rose to 89% among adults ages 18-29.
• Additionally, 78% said they would enjoy an honest conversation with a friend about religious and spiritual beliefs, even if they disagreed.
• Only 28% think Christians they know talk to them too much about their beliefs.

(BP News 1/9/08)

Excerpt from a February 2008 Mission America Newsletter

People Leaving Church

Steve posted a blog about the alarming number of people (70%) leaving church between ages 18-22. There were many comments following his post, many of which were quite insightful. Here are my thoughts:

1. Our objective is people who love Jesus.

It is important to note that while church attendance may facilitate this objective, it its not the objective. It is also not a prerequisite to the objective of loving and pleasing Jesus.

If they love Him, they will seek to please Him by obeying Him. The goal of our teaching is to teach them how to please Him.

However, it is very difficult to objectively measure someone's love for Jesus. Therefore, we instead measure things that can be objectively determined, like church attendance. George Barna and Ed Setzer, who work hard to objectively measure everything, say that a growing number of evangelicals are following God apart from the conventional church

2. "Church" as it exists today bears little resemblance to the "gathering of believers" in the New Testament.

Today, a "church" is a legal entity with its own needs. It requires a steady diet of money and a variety of staff to care for it. Regardless of its creeds and assertions to the contrary, for many churches their primary function is not training Lovers of God but rather self-perpetuation. With staff to pay, mortgages to pay, buildings to build and/or maintain it is inevitable that budgetary matters become a central issue in many churches. How many times has a church's direction been altered to satisfy a key (read: wealthy) member? More often than any of us would like to admit.

I can remember when I first got the revelation that a church was not a building. Once freed from that constraint, the concept of church became much broader and I believe more Biblical. I cannot help but wonder if we are now due for another redefining of church which eliminates the formal organizational entity.

The fastest growing church in the world today is the underground church in China. I may be mistaken, but it it my understanding that for the most part, it has no formal organizational entity, staff, property or budget. It is simply a set of people who love Jesus and gather together when possible to share their love for Him and each other. This appears to be the closest thing to the new testament church around today.

3. People (Christians) in the church tend to be more healthy, mature, fruitful and productive than those outside the church.

The simple reality is that, far too often, Christians outside the church do not gather together informally and fulfill the functions of the body. They lack for input in their lives and output of their gifts. They become distracted, scattered and ineffective.

We need each other and do not function well as "Lone Rangers." We were never intended to do so.

An organized group of people (an organization) is able to pool resources to accomplish things that individuals or unorganized groups cannot.

Perhaps even an organizational legal entity is consistent with Paul's admonition that everything should done "decently and in order." Even the church in Acts had an administrative staff (deacons overseeing food distribution).

For all its flaws, the reality is that the church is the best thing going.... so far.

4. Ride the Wave

If the current trend of people leaving the church in droves continues, then there are two ways to deal with it.

1. Try to change the way we do church so that people don't leave.
2. Prepare people to survive and thrive and minister in the world to come... one in which the conventional church is less significant than it has historically been.

I think the answer is both...

More to come.

In the mean time check out Spiritual Obesity and A Time to Leave.

A Time to Leave?

As a parent, my goal is to prepare my children for the day that they will leave my household and establish their own household. If they are 40 yrs old and still living with me, something is wrong. My household would be very dysfunctional at that point.

I wonder if there is a spiritual parallel here. Do we have churches full of adult children who need to launch out and create their own spiritual households?

One common reason why adult children continue living with their parents is the high cost of home ownership and associated living expenses. It is more cost effective to stay with Mom and Dad than it is to move out. They have become accustomed to the luxuries (read: non-essential, but nice to have stuff) that Mom and Dad have but that they could not afford on their own.

Is the same true of spiritual adult children? Starting a traditional church (spiritual household) is very expensive... it requires facilities, audio/visual equipment, staff, expensive and time consuming seminary training, etc. The barriers to entry are intimidating. Could this partially explain why many Adult Children prefer to stay at home and help mom and dad do an extension to the house rather than move out and start their own household?

It is interesting to note that new church plants grow at much faster rates than established churches. In the same way, Adult Children don't usually produce a lot of children while they living with their parents. It is not until they get out on their own and get their own place that their own family starts growing.

Many of the "conventional" churches that do grow seem to be those that find a way for people to start their own spiritual households. One way of doing this is through small groups (cell groups, home groups, etc).  These might be compared to living on the family estate, but having your own house there apart from Mom and Dad. There can be numerous advantages to this type of situation, but there is also a great temptation to only half-way grow up. The pattern is that a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. 

Could it be that God's pattern is for us to stay at home (or church) for a season of preparation and then to launch out on our own and start our own households (both natural and spiritual)?

If this were the pattern, wouldn't it make sense for people to leave the church at some point?

The question then becomes, What SHOULD happen to people when they leave home or church?

1. They should feed and sustain themselves. They should have learned this at home during their preparation phase. This is the most basic measure of maturity... to be able to take care of yourself.
2. They should maintain mutually supportive contact with their extended family.  The relationship evolves to more of a peer to peer relationship than a provider/beneficiary relationship. There should be give and take, not just take. No man is an island and we all need other people in our lives.
3. They should establish their own households and families. They should then begin the process of preparing a new generation to one day leave and start their own households. Reproduction is another measure of  maturity. Without it, the cycle ends.

Once upon a time, people tended to stay close to their family and place of origin. They might live out their whole lives and never travel more than a few miles from their birthplace. Some might have lived in the same house or on the same property with multiple generations of extended family. Households were large.

As time went on, these customs changed. People moved away and settled in cities. Houses were replaced with apartments. Households became more numerous while at the same time becoming more compact.

As the nature of households has changed in response to a changing culture, should we now be open to redefining the nature of the spiritual household? (See Barna Update: Americans Embrace Various Alternatives to a Conventional Church Experience as Being Fully Biblical)

The data indicates that more and more people are in fact leaving the traditional church. It also indicates that almost 1/4th of Americans now get their primary spiritual nourishment from a small group of 20 or less each week and that 6 million are meeting is these small groups but rarely going to traditional church.

Rather than attempting to change the trend, it there a way to take advantage of it? Could this be God's way of pushing us out of our church nests?

In the first century, the disciples were comfortable in Jerusalem and neglected the great commission. So God allowed persecution to drive them from their comfort zones and they took the gospel with them, creating new spiritual households all along the way.

If the current trends hold true, the spiritual landscape will be radically different in a few years.  If we focus our efforts on preparing people to start their own spiritual households while remaining connected to their extended spiritual family, this could be a very fruitful season.