Youth ministry summit to explore mass exodus of young from churches

By Jerry Pierce
November 6, 2006
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FORT WORTH?The death knell of Western Christianity may be the mass exodus of young people from evangelical churches within a year of high school graduation. At least that’s the contention of some youth experts familiar with church statistics.

Somewhere between 75 to 88 percent of young people leave the church in their late teens and aren’t reconnecting later.

The low number, 75 percent, represents the findings reported by LifeWay Christian Resources’ Glenn Schultz in his book “Kingdom Education.” The 2002 report of the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life stated a higher number?88 percent?of young people from evangelical homes who leave the church.

Similar numbers are getting the news media’s attention, prompting questions about Christianity’s viability in North America.

The statistics alarmed SBTC Youth Evangelism Associate Brad Bunting enough to organize a summit next month of some of the leading youth experts to tackle the problem.

That summit, called “Discovering a Biblical Paradigm for Youth Ministry,” is planned for Dec. 7 at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth and is sponsored by the SBTC. It is free of charge and will attempt to answer why churches are not retaining their young adults and to formulate solutions, Bunting said.

The eight-person panel includes Southwestern professor and True Love Waits founder Richard Ross; Houston pastor Voddie Baucham; Mark Matlock, founder of Wisdom Works and a youth ministry author and speaker; Eric Bancroft, youth minister at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif., and professor at The Master’s College; Bubba Thurman, youth minister at LakePointe Church in Rockwall; Alvin Reid, evangelism professor at Southeastern Seminary; Jeff Pratt, managing director of student ministry publishing at LifeWay Christian Resources; and Johnny Derouen, youth ministry professor at Southwestern.

According to promotional material, the topics will address:

?What should biblically principled youth ministry look like?

?Is there a biblical model for youth ministry?

?What is the greatest role that youth ministry can play in the local church?

?Does contemporary youth ministry usurp the role of parents in the discipleship of students?

?What needs to change in the current youth ministry paradigm?

“Our current approach to youth ministry is unbiblical, unhealthy and unsuccessful,”

Baucham said in a statement printed on the conference flyer. “The overwhelming majority of teens in our churches are biblically illiterate, steeped in secular humanism, and are not likely to stay in the faith past their freshman year in college. We can no longer turn a blind eye and conduct ‘business as usual’ if we are serious about our future.”

Bunting said in 1972 Southern Baptist churches baptized 138,000 young people?the highest number on record. Since then youth baptisms have dropped dramatically while the United States population has increased to more than 300 million. In 2004, the number had dropped to 84,000 baptisms. In 2005, the number was 81,000.

“So what we’ve been doing is not effective,” Bunting said.

Not that the blame belongs entirely to youth ministers, Bunting added. The family breakdown and cultural rot also have played negative roles in reaching and discipling students, he said.