“I sincerely believe unless something is done now to change the spiritual state of our young people - you will become the last Christian generation!"

Josh McDowell

How are we doing at converting church involvement by teens into a lifelong relationship with Christ? A 2006 study indicates that over eighty percent of today's teens attend church for a period of at least two months during their high school years. What an opportunity! The bad news is that only one out of four of those churched youth are still spiritually engaged by age twenty-nine. Meaning that they are still actively attending church, reading the Bible, &/or praying. In comparison, roughly twice as many adults in their forties are spiritually engaged.

An earlier study looked at the beliefs of teens involved in evangelical churches. Over two-thirds of these young people believe

· that there is no absolute moral truth

· that Christianity is about showing bad people how to live better

· that there is no way to tell which religion is true

· that Jesus is not the Son of the one true God

· and, over half believe that Jesus did not rise from the dead.

Is it any wonder that these young people readily abandon their Christian involvement when confronted with a hostile culture?

One reason why three out of four churched teens become disengaged from Christianity during their twenties may be the way we define and measure youth ministry. As fewer parents seriously engage their training responsibilities, our youth are isolated into their own congregation. The measure of success is numerical attendance rather than instilling a life-long discipline for spiritual growth. Church becomes a series of fun activities interspersed with encouragement to avoid risky behaviors.

So, how should we respond to this disturbing trend? I believe by grounding students in the Truth of Scripture, connecting them to meaningful Christ-centered relationships inside and outside the church, developing them as leaders, encouraging them to engage their local campuses, and creating genuinely authentic worship experiences, they will be better prepared for life beyond the youth group.

Inside this website you will find a process driven student ministry, not a prepackaged program. It will take time, energy, effort, prayer and teamwork to connect our students to God, to one another and the local church to develop them into the leaders God has created them to be.

Our students are worth it!