'Why Youth Leave the Church\r'

'Introduction â€Å"With much(prenominal) an army of workers as our y turn outh, rightly trained, skill furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Savior qualification be carried to the whole world! ” (Education, p. 271). Wow, what a statement. This is probably the to the highest degree well k instantlyn statement by babe Ellen White concerning the younker. These words are so mightily and motivating, that they inspire the imagination to look forward to it’s fulfillment, to the day when this army of dedicated Christian vernal the great unwashed will be spread out around the world to bring the message of deliverer’ soon return to everyone.I must confess that entirely the thought of this sends shivers down my spine. I am, however, forced to call into question whether this dream will ever become a reality. The church, it seems, is facing a dilemma, in that we are losing the youth. many an(prenominal) of our young people are lea ving the church, and in seeking to answer the question of why this is happening, I would like to share with you the imaging that I think 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 pick(s)The main resource that I believe to be the best and that I would like to preach, is the book, why our Teenagers Leave the church service, written by author Roger L. Dudley. I will alike be referring to two other resources that I used, both of which is found on the above mentioned book. The first and most distinguished is an denomination with the same title, and by the same author. It is essentially a condensed version of the book, and it covers the basics of the research through, 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 a just nowting generation: XNY 101. In t he sermon Pastor Nelson briefly explains how the study was done, the results attained, and the recreate to the problem. I will now proceed to discuss the two secondary resources (Article: why our teenagers leave the church; Sermon: Primer for the neighboring generation: XNY 101), based on the premise of the aboriginal resource (Book: Why our teenagers leave the church). Primary Resource Roger Dudley’s 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. harmonise to his book, Dudley asserts that 40 to 50 percent of Adventist youth leave the church before their mid twenties. junior-grade 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 manipulation of the study was to attempt to discover the extent of the church’s loss o f it’s young adults. According to the article, 40 to 50 percent of baptized one-seventh Day Adventist teenagers either dropped their membership, or became inactive in the church, in their mid twenties.According to Dudley, there are atomic number 23 influences that determines the continuation or discontinuation of young people in the church, and they are as follows: Home Influences insular 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 withdrawed facts right from the start, allowing the subscriber to look at the all the determinants and then wanton away a plan on how to proceed to controvert or minimize the loss of young people.Primer for the coterminous generation: XNY 101 (Sermon: Audio) Pastor Dwight K. Nelson starts of by explaining the expatiate of the study that was done. He quotes the following from the book: â €Å" legion(predicate) teenagers and young adults are leaving the church because they discriminate it to be behavior centered when they are tone for relationships. ” (Why Our Teenagers Leave the Church, P58) â€Å"We confound seen that though our youth have heard the words of the gospel of righteousness by grace through faith, . . . [our] emphasis on behavioral standards has led the majority to believe that they must somehow merit salvation. . . Through precept and example, we must do everything possible to clarify grace and to break the bear out of legalism. We must communicate a gospel of hope. Without this effort we will never retain our youth. They will non continue to struggle in a get by 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 â€Å"We cannot always build the risi ng 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 clear that the future is uncertain. It is also clear that the youth are the leadership of tomorrows church, and in order for them to lead, they need to be there. We need to realize that we cannot necessarily set everything in calculate for our youth, but, what we can however do, is to develop our youth for the future, for the termination’s that they will have to make. We can prepare them for this uncertain future by laying a good foundation 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 reorganize it. â€Å"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 come Ellen G. White, Education ( Washington, D. C. : Review 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, evenfall 2000)\r\n'